MovieChat Forums > Gunga Din (1939) Discussion > Gunga Din vs. Temple of Doom

Gunga Din vs. Temple of Doom

posted 17 years ago by Rob-120
15 replies | jump to latest

Okay. I'm not going to say that Lucas and Spielberg "ripped off" the 1939 movie "Gunga Din" when they made "Temple of Doom" in 1984. "Temple of Doom" has a halfway-original plot at least.

But it's obvious that Lucas and Spielberg "borrowed" quite a bit from "Gunga Din." If we compare "Gunga Din" with "Temple of Doom:"

1. Both films begin with a muscular man striking a gong

2. Both films are set in British India (although "Temple" opens in Shanghai)

3. Both films involve the Thuggee cult

4. Both films center around a huge, scary temple devoted to the goddess Kali

5. Both films feature a fanatical Thuggee leader with dreams of world conquest

(The Thuggee Guru in "Gunga Din" -- played by Italian opera singer Eduardo Cianelli -- is a veiled caricature of Hitler, with his military strategies and fanatical legions of troops.)

6. Both films feature a hero who is a treasure hunter (Cary Grant as Sgt. Cutter in "Gunga Din," Indiana Jones in "Temple")

7. In both films, the treasure hunting hero has a sidekick (Gunga Din in "Gunga Din," Short Round in "Temple")

8. In both films, the hero and his sidekick infiltrate the Thuggee temple and are captured

9. In both films, the sidekick saves the hero in the temple.

10. Both films feature a torture scene where the heroes are whipped by the Thuggees

11. Both films feature a journey by elephant, and a comedy bit with the elephant

12. In both films, one character is dragged along on the adventure who doesn't want to be there. (Sgt. Ballantine in "Gunga Din," Willie Scott in "Temple")

13. In both films, early in the film, the characters fall off an exceptionally high cliff into water. (In "Gunga Din," the three soldiers jump off a high cliff during a battle. In "Temple," Indy and his friends fall off a high cliff into a river in an inflatable raft.)

14. Both films feature a scene with a rope bridge over a high gorge. And in both films, the sidekick insists the bridge is strong. But when the characters try to cross it, a plank on the bridge breaks under their feet.

15. In both films, the Thuggee cult leader falls to his death at the hands of animals. (In "Gunga Din," the Thuggee leader throws himself into a pit of cobras. In "Temple," the Thuggee leader falls into a river of crocodiles.)

16. And finally, in both films, the heroes are saved from the Thuggees by the arrival of the British army.

[–] the35mmman65 17 years ago

In other words, the perfect double feature.

Never send a duck to do a rabbit's job.

[–] da_doc2099 17 years ago

In a way its actually a prequel of sorts to gunga din, when theyre at the dining table in temple of doom the british guy mentions something about the british army wiping out the thuggee cult years ago

[–] nahuil 17 years ago

Awesome listing. I liked reading it. Thanks!

[–] da_doc2099 17 years ago

their is also a film called the stranglers of bombay that resembles temple of doom as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBhJpR_h1b8

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] morlock9 16 years ago

If you won't say it, then I will: Temple of Doom rips off Gunga Din big time!!!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Skye_Reynolds 16 years ago

Great list. I'm also pretty sure that Chatter Lal was named after Panda Lal, the "miserable seller of trinkets" who acted as the Guru's scout. They both have similar roles as well. I rather enjoyed Temple of Doom, but after seeing this, I think they should have paid a little more attention to detail and not made the film as campy as it was. This film's depiction of the Thuggee silently strangling the regiment, as the real Thugge had done to hapless travelers in times past, and Panda Lal's blood curdling cry of "Ma Kaliiiiii" out-shined anything done by the Thuggee in Temple of Doom.

As for Temple of Doom being a rip off, I think it's just borrowed heavily from it, much like Star Wars did with the Flash Gordon serials or in the same way that Disney's Aladdin borrowed from the 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad.

Oh, and I second the notion that Gunga Din and Temple of Doom would make for an awesome double feature.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] calishreveguy 16 years ago

I just wattch Gunga Din all the way through for the first time. I had a blast pointing out all the similarities between it and ToD. I also loved how both were slapstick the first half and dead serious for the second half. I've been Tracking down as many of the inspirations of Indy I can find. So far i've seen Treasure of the Sierra Madre, China, Secret of the Incas, The Naked Juncle, and now GD. I haven't seen the previously mentioned "Valley of the Kings" so I'll have to check that out as well. Can anyone else let me know some more inspirations I may have missed?

Dr. Peter Venkman: NOBODY steps on a church in my town.

[–] wdskinner77 16 years ago

The Thuggee cult are also featured in Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

[–] da_doc2099 16 years ago

calish if you want a good indy inspiration i suggest you buy the complete serial to Zorros fighting legion, which also has similarities to ToD and Raiders, plus its one of if not the greatest action serials of all time

[–] RParmly-3 14 years ago

I just assumed it was common knowledge among fans that this WAS the inspiration behind Temple Of Doom. I think all 4 Indy films have a clear inspiration, be it the serials, Zorro, Harry Steele, Valley of the Kings and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and of course Gunga Din. Just watch 1954's Secret Of The Incas or 1943's China. Those characters ARE Indiana Jones. Ya, ToD ripped off GD, but to me that term is if they're trying to hide the fact they re-imagined Gunga Din, but with Indiana Jones instead. I've always been a huge Indy fan, and as far back as I can remember from reading interviews with Lucas and Spielberg in movie magazines (Oh, how the Internet has changed everything) Gunga Din was almost always mentioned when talking about their inspirations.

Exactly. The Indy producers have never hidden the fact that Indiana Jones was supposed to be an homage to mid-20th century TV serials, treasure hunter movies, and the like, or the fact that they lifted a lot of things straight out of that source materials (e.g. Indy leaping off the horse onto the Nazi truck being like a thousand stagecoach chases in old westerns). That's the whole point of those movies and probably a big part of their appeal.

There's a plan in everything, kid. And I love it when a plan comes together!

[–] LightningLad 14 years ago

Definitely. I remember seeing GD for the first time when I was about 13 and realizing the influence. I really like both films, both villains are very effective.

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Reason is a pursuit, not a conclusion.