the late 30 and early 40 be a golden age for adventure movie and what with the rise in budget during the economic recovery and the change to screen entertainment since the production code become enforced and the general carefree optimism of the time . while most of these be rip roar swashbuckler about the wild and superhuman and often frankly misogynistic exploit of heartthrob like errol flynn and tyrone power and gunga din be very different in it focus and scope and tone . part of gunga din secret be the division of labour in it writing team . the original story be by ben hecht and charles macarthur and two of the most skilled and celebrated writer of hollywood golden age . however the actual screenplay be the work of joel sayre and fred guiol and both of whom and guiol especially and have a background in comedy . what we get from these four be a plot that be well balance and engage and yet also cleverly spice up with comical touch . most of the adventure flick of this time be at least partly comedy and usually feature one or two comic relief support player and but they do not use laugh in the way gunga din do . here and all the main character be capable of be object or originator of joke . we see the sinister menace of the bad guy suddenly diffuse a the scene dissolve into a light hearted brawl . the first main battle scene be an even hand blend of action and gag and in the style of the silent swashbuckler of douglas fairbanks and sr. and something which the flynn and power vehicle largely fail to replicate . towards the middle of gunga din the action must necessarily take a break and there be lot of talky scene for the sake of the plot . however the continual foray into comedy such a the spiked punch routine make this slow portion bearable . producer director george stevens be a natural when it come to this sort of thing and himself have cut his teeth at the hal roach studio and and almost exclusively have direct comedy up to this point . this be his first full on action feature and and he do a startlingly good job . in particular his use of move point of view shot make the battle scenes extra exhilarating . he also bring something you seldom see in action picture of this era a sense of real dread and fear . he set this up with those stark and foreboding mountain dominate many of the shot and dwarf the character . the portrayal of the abandon village and the thuggee cultists cry of kali . be genuinely haunt . this dimension of fear play into all the other emotion that be at work here and cause u to worry for these likable character and and make the comedy a great relief of tension . a real touch of genius be in the way the eponymous hero be introduce to the audience . we be make aware of din visually and a he be prominent in a number of scene before any of the character actually address him or verbally refer to him . because of this and we be give the impression that din be not an important figure within the regiment and but he quickly become a notable character to u and and crucially a sympathetic one and a we see him risk his life and give water to die men . but the best effort of writer and director be all for nought without a capable cast . fear not and for gunga din have a top notch one . victor mclaglan and cary grant be ideally suit to the material and since their best role be generally find somewhere on the spectrum between drama and comedy . grant in particular be at his best and largely believable but just occasionally break into that over the top whooping and capering that be his trademark . douglas fairbanks and jr. be not quite up to the standard of his heavyweight companion and but he be by no mean bad . and of course there be sam jaffe and curse by his look to forever play these wizened little oddball and but who else could play them with such dignity and humanity . i have not set out to bash the swashbuckling adventure of errol flynn and tyrone power and and indeed many of their picture be absolute classic that i love absolutely . but gunga din do thing that even the best of those swashbuckler could never achieve . not only do it dispense with the dash male lead or the clichéd defiant damsel and it successfully merge the action genre with comedy and poignancy and in a way that few picture have do before or since . and that fabulous .