"Gunga Din" was actually an unlikely Indian name; "Gunga" is the Hindu name for the Ganges River, while "Din" is an Arabic word which translates into "faith."

Shortly before location filming on Gunga Din was to begin, fire broke out on the very large Tantapur Village set, destroying an entire block and many props. Lloyd's of London had to pay out on one of the biggest movie-related claims up to that time, and a small army of builders was sent from Hollywood to restore the set in just 10 days.

The scene showing a deep gorge underneath the rope bridge in Gunga Din was accomplished with a matte painting by RKO studio technician Mario Larrinaga. Larrinaga was brought to RKO by special effects genius Willis O'Brien to work on King Kong (1933), for which he created many matte paintings. Larrinaga also lent his talents to The Most Dangerous Game (1932), The Son of Kong (1933), She (1935), and Citizen Kane (1941).

Annie the elephant in Gunga Din was played by Anna Mae, a seasoned animal actor with credits dating back to silent era. Aside from the expected variety of Jungle movies, one of Anna Mae's most high profile appearances was with Charles Chaplin in City Lights (1931).

To properly capture the sound of the British bagpipe corps during the climactic battle scenes in Gunga Din, composer Alfred Newman recorded the bagpipe compositions outdoors - in Bronson Canyon in Los Angeles.

The opening titles of Gunga Din appeared in a huge gong; the words on the gong changed in a rippling sound-wave effect each time a turbaned man hit the gong. The ripple effect was accomplished by RKO effects chief Linwood Dunn. The titles were reflected in a smooth pool of mercury photographed from above, and jostled each time the ripple was required. In the mid-1940s, the J. Arthur Rank company of England adopted a man-hitting-a-gong motif for their opening logo.

Gunga Din co-screenwriter Fred Guiol was a long-time friend and associate of George Stevens. The two met when Guiol was a director at Hal Roach and later at RKO. Stevens served as cinematographer for such Guiol two-reelers as Slipping Wives (1927), one of the first pairings of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Guiol was a contract director at RKO, until he was let go after going over budget and schedule on the Wheeler and Woolsey feature Mummy's Boys (1936). Stevens made sure to find work for his mentor for years; Guiol's name pops up in association with several major Stevens films: as a screenwriter on both Gunga Din and Giant (1956), as associate producer on Penny Serenade (1941) and The Talk of the Town (1942), and even as associate director on A Place in the Sun (1951) and Shane (1953).

Memorable Quotes from GUNGA DIN

Colonel Weed (Montagu Love): I need all three of you at Tantapur.
Sgt. Thomas 'Tommy' Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.): Are we going out on a job sir?
Col. Weed: Of the most vital importance. You leave for Tantapur with a detachment in the morning. To repair the telegraph, and keep it open. That is all.

Sgt. Archibald Cutter (Cary Grant): What's the matter Bal? You've been wool-gathering ever since we crawled out of the river.
Sgt. Ballantine: Well, uh, you know that my time is up on May 14th.
Sgt. 'Mac' MacChesney (Victor McLaglen): Well, what of that? You can sign on for another nine years, can't you? Make a man out of 'im, eh?
Sgt. Ballantine: Well, uhm, I'm leaving the service.
Sgt. MacChesney: Leavin' the service?
Sgt. Ballantine: That's right. I'm uhm, I'm getting married and I'm going into the tea business!
Sgt. MacChesney: Married?
Sgt. Cutter: Tea Business?
Sgt. MacChesney: Why, you're Mad!

Sgt. Cutter: You're looking very regimental, Din.
Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe): Thank you, Sergeant... Thank you. The salute satisfactory?
Sgt. Cutter: That's the idea. Only...you want these fingers to fan the eyebrows more like this. [makes a salute] The breeze from them fingers oughta almost blow this eyebrow off. Now try it again.
[Din salutes again]
Sgt. Cutter: Very good. Very good indeed. Eh... That one almost blew your turban off, didn't it?

Sgt. MacChesney (to Cutter): You ain't so stupid as you look.

Sgt. Ballantine: Oh yes, on the last roof we almost lost MacChesney. His great elephant hoof crashed through and stuck.
Emmy Stebbins (Joan Fontaine): How did you get him out?
Sgt. Ballantine: We had to saw his leg off at the 'ip. And if you don't believe me, just look behind that shrub. (indicates where MacChesney and Cutter are eavesdropping).

Sgt. MacChesney: Blast them Thuggees - why don't they come and give us a good fight? Then Bal'll be a pipe to re-enlist.
Sgt. Cutter: How can we get a nice little war going?

Sgt. MacChesney: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Cutter, you ain't leaving this village without my permission. Give me that bottle.
Sgt. Cutter: MacChesney, I've been a soldier for fourteen years. I know my duties as well as you do. But you're not talking to a soldier now, you're talking to an expedition. I'm an expedition! Out of me way!

Sgt. Cutter: Now get me some tools. Something to rip these blinking bars out with.
Gunga Din: Already bring all tools could find. Is this satisfactory, sahib? [holds up a fork]
Sgt. Cutter: Look...What do you think I want to break out of - a bloomin' pudding? Now go on, get something big!
[Din leaves, returns with an elephant]
Sgt. Cutter: Annie! What are you doing, Din?
Gunga Din: The large tool you asked for, sahib.

Guru (Eduardo Ciannelli): Let the neophytes and their teachers draw near. Where are the stranglers? (to assembled Thuggees) Give them their strangling cloths!
Thuggees: KALIIII!
Guru: Give them their burial picks!
Thuggees: KALIIII!
Guru: Swear by our mother Kali to be thrice faithful to her and to me and to our order and to all of us.
[Thuggees pray in Hindi]
Guru: Rise, our new-made brothers. Rise and kill. Kill, lest you be killed yourselves. Kill for the love of killing. Kill for the love of Kali. Kill! Kill! Kill!

Sgt. Cutter: You must get there, Din. The Colonel's got to know.
Gunga Din: The Colonel? I will run quick.
Sgt. Cutter: (Marches amid the Thuggees, singing an English pub song). Now you're all under arrest. The whole bunch of you. You too, and you know why. Her Majesty's very touchy about having her subjects strangled.

Sgt. Ballantine: In those dreary grey hours before dawn just go out and chase elephants. Beats counting sheep a million miles.
Sgt. MacChesney: What do you mean "elephants"? This ain't elephants. This is Annie. My Annie.

Guru: I want to know about your army.
Sgt. Cutter: Why don't you enlist, Mate?
Guru: LASH!

Sgt. Cutter: Eight feet away from where I'm sitting, right here, there's enough gold to make me sole owner and proprietor of a pub as big as the Crystal Palace. Best pub in Hampshire. And here I am. You Torturer!

Guru: You seem to think warfare an English invention. Have you never heard of Chandragupta Maurya? He slaughtered all the armies left in India by Alexander the Great. India was a mighty nation then while Englishmen still dwelt in caves and painted themselves blue.

Sgt MacChesney: You're mad! Guru: Mad? Mad. Hannibal was mad, Caesar was mad, and Napoleon surely was the maddest of the lot. Ever since time began, they've called mad all the great soldiers in this world. Mad? We shall see what wisdom lies within my madness. For this is but the spring flash that precedes the flood. From here we roll on. From village to town. From town to mighty city. Ever mounting, ever widening, until at last my wave engulfs all India!

Colonel Weed: Though I've belted you and flayed you / By the living Gawd that made you / You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

Compiled by John M. Miller