Gunga Din: From Kipling's Poem to Hollywood's Action-Adventure Classic

"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."

Those most famous words from the 1892 poem by Rudyard Kipling have reverberated through cinema sound speakers for nearly eighty years since the RKO release of George Steven's Gunga Din starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. , Joan Fontaine, and Sam Jaffe.

The realization of the movie was as much of an epic quest as the heroic journeys of the story's characters. Author William Chemerka's new research work unfolds as more than just another "making of the movie" book. He explores the complete production history of the motion picture, examines the film's influence on other films and television programs, and extolls through detailed notes the film's socio-political legacy.

Illustrated. Contains a Bibliography, Index, and Appendices (including Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din, Cast and Crew Credits, film production costs, and the Eulogy for Sam Jaffe).

About the author: William R. Chemerka has published Fess Parker: TV's Frontier Hero, The Battle of Bunker Hill: A novella based upon the docudrama "The Battle of Bunker Hill"; General Joseph Warren Revere: The Gothic Saga of Paul Revere's Grandson; Rock & Roll Recollections: A Journalist's 50-Year Diary.