Near Lone Pine in Inyo County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

"Gunga Din" Filmed Here

Gunga Din Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker

1. Gunga Din Marker

Inscription. In 1938, this hill area, among many others in these Alabama Hills, served as a stand-in for the hill country of northern India when RKO made the classic adventure film, 'Gunga Din,' on location in Lone Pine. Hundreds of horsemen raced across the hills and elaborate sets were built here and nearby while the cast and crew lived for weeks in a tent city off Movie Road. Directed by George Stevens, the epic starred Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Victor McLaglen and Joan Fontaine with Sam Jaffe as Gunga Din, the waterboy who wanted so much to be a soldier.

Erected 1992 by Lone Pine Sierra Film Festival, and the People of Lone Pine.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Entertainment • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1938.

Location. 36° 35.076′ N, 118° 6.929′ W. Marker is near Lone Pine, California, in Inyo County. It is on Horseshoe Meadow Road half a mile south of Whitney Portal Road, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lone Pine CA 93545, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in California’s Sierra Nevada.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Movie Flats (approx. 0.8 miles away); Mt. Whitney Pack Trains (approx. 2.8 miles away); Lone Pine Film Museum (approx.

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3.2 miles away); The Adobe Wall (approx. 3.2 miles away); The Duke and the Dow (approx. 3.2 miles away); Lone Pine's 'Movie Man' (approx. 3.2 miles away); Wedding of the Waters Pageant (approx. 3.3 miles away); Fred French Family Oak (approx. 3½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lone Pine.

Regarding "Gunga Din" Filmed Here. California prospectors sympathetic to the South during the American Civil War named the Alabama Hills for the CSS Alabama, a Confederate warship.

When the CSS Alabama was sunk off the coast of Normandy by the USS Kearsarge in 1864, prospectors sympathetic to the North named a mining district, a mountain pass, a mountain peak and a town after the USS Kearsarge

The movie Gunga Din was inspired by a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1892.

The poem Gunga Din is narrated by an English soldier who is wounded in battle in India. Gunga Din, an Indian water-bearer (bhishti), saves the soldier's life but is himself shot and killed.

The 1939 movie was remade in 1961 as Sergeants 3, a western starring the Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter

Photographed by Alvis Hendley, March 5, 2016

2. Gunga Din Marker

Lawford, and Joey Bishop. The Gunga Din character was played by Sammy Davis, Jr.

Many elements of the 1939 film were also incorporated into Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

This marker was dedicated by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. on October 11, 1992.

Photographed by Alvis Hendley, March 5, 2016

3. Gunga Din Marker

Alabama Hills in the foreground, Sierra Nevada in the background.

Photographed by Craig Baker, May 14, 2026

4. Gunga Din Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on May 14, 2026. It was originally submitted on March 30, 2016, by Alvis Hendley of San Francisco, California. This page has been viewed 1,548 times since then and 93 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on October 23, 2025, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 2, 3. submitted on March 30, 2016, by Alvis Hendley of San Francisco, California. 4. submitted on October 23, 2025, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.