In Which Cary Grant Uses the Force

Also: Harpo shot first.

To Celebrate the Inauguration of a New President...

I'll probably be doing this all night long.

Gunga Din (1939)

Based on the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name,1939's Gunga Din is a by-the-book adventure film. Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Victor McLaglen star as a trio of British officers of the Royal Engineers stationed in India in the service of her majesty the Queen. Sam Jaffe plays the titular role of Gunga Din, the regimental water-bearer who dreams of becoming a proper soldier. When a small army of Thuggee (cf. the English "thug") marauders attack and eliminate a British outpost at Tandipur, the Engineers Regiment is sent to investigate and is subsequently ambushed by the Thugs. After surviving the ambush, the regiment returns to base, at which point an expedition is organized with the intent of putting down the Thuggee revolt. Sgt. Cutter (Cary Grant) and Din strike out for a hidden temple of gold, and adventure and misadventure ensues as the temple turns out to be the nexus of the Thuggee army.

Three things in particular stood out to me while watching. First of all, the bad British accents of Cary Grant and Doug 2.0 and the worse Indian accents by just about everyone else. Second, copious amounts of good, old-fashioned masculinism. Finally--and perhaps most importantly--the film manages to venture beyond the typical "noble savage" fair in its depiction of the Indians. The first bit is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll gloss over that in favor of more profound topics of discussion.

Sgt. Ballantine (Doug 2.0) is coming upon the end of his period of enlistment in the army, and is considering settling down with his sweetheart Emmy (Joan Fontaine) and getting into the tea business once he musters out. Mortified at the prospect of such a fate befalling their war buddy, Cutter and MacChesney (McLaglen) are determined to keep Ballantine in the service. Ballantine, of course, comes around and decides to put bros (not to mention Queen and Country) before hoes.

Aside from Gunga Din's noble self-sacrifice to prevent the ambush and annihilation of the British Army, Eduardo Cianelli turns in an admirable performance as the Guru (the leader of the Thuggee rebels, who looks rather like an evil version of Mohandas Gandhi). The Guru is the sort of villain who is clearly evil, but is quite dignified in his wickedness (of course, any villain who can work references to Hannibal, Caesar and Alexander into his rhetoric immediately gets points in my book). On the other hand, he and his followers do possess a strong penchant for violence and bloodshed--they are Thugs, after all.

In many ways, Gunga Din is the spiritual predecessor of the Indiana Jones movies, Temple of Doom in particular. From the Kali-worshipping Indian death cult to the protagonist's fear of snakes, one can easily see how the earlier film influenced the later ones (although nobody in Gunga Din tries to rip out Cary Grant's heart through his ribcage). Gunga Din also has a climactic, large-scale battle, which is quite well-done, especially considering the massive number of extras who appear. There's also a great cavalry charge, courtesy of a unit of Sikh lancers. I'm a sucker for a good cavalry charge, let me tell you.

Thought it might be a bit dated in its technology and its social mores, Gunga Din is a highly enjoyable bit of movie adventuring in the tradition of the first Douglas Fairbanks (in that respect, it's appropriate that Doug 2.0 gets in his fair share of derring-doery). Definitely a classic.

I only wish I had been able to work in a "Thug Life" pun somewhere...

Topper (1937)

Topper (1937) chronicles the postmortem adventures and misadventures of George and Marian Kerby (played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennet, respectively) as they attempt to inject a healthy dose of liveliness into the humdrum life of banker Cosmo Topper (played by Roland Young). It is a film that is widely loved by old movie fans, and understandably so--it's downright charming throughout.

Cosmo Topper is a banker who lives a bland and boring life, which centers around a boring routine proscribed by his wife (played by Billie Burke). It is a stark contrast to the freewheeling lifestyle led by the Kerbys, who drink hard, drive fast and sleep comfortably under the stars in their mammoth customized 1936 Buick Roadmaster. However, the two take the old adage of living fast, dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse to heart, as George's reckless driving winds up killing the happy couple in a crash.

George and Marian soon come to the realization that they are deceased, but deduce that they must do a good deed in order to earn a trip to the great gig in the sky. They determine that their good deed ought to be helping Topper (whom Marian affectionately names "Toppy") learn how to enjoy life. Hilarity, of course, ensues.

As the Kerbys are phantoms, they are capable of becoming invisible at will. As a result, they are capable of wreaking havoc undetected--the source of much of the film's comedy. Cary Grant and Constance Bennet are rather charming, and are a pleasure to watch--Cary Grant, lady killer that he is, drives with his feet in the opening scene of the film, and Constance Bennet vamps it up with tongue planted firmly in cheek, and to great effect. Roland Young does a great job as the stuffy banker, and serves as a great foil for the Kerbys.

One of my favorite details of the movie, however, has to be the Buick. Truly the land-yacht of land-yachts, this immense beast of an automobile looks as though it could take a round from a Panzerfaust and remain unscratched (it is, after all, a relic from the days when American car manufacturers were still making good cars!). Should I ever become a millionaire with dollars to burn, you can rest assured that I'd get that car, if only for the novelty of it all.

Like many classic comedies, Topper has withstood the test of time. The forthcoming remake won't have a quarter of the charm that the 1937 original has.