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Zulu (1964 film)
| Zulu | |
|---|---|
| UK cinema release poster | |
| Directed by | Cy Endfield |
| Produced by | Stanley Baker Cy Endfield |
| Screenplay by | John Prebble Cy Endfield |
| Story by | John Prebble |
| Starring | Stanley BakerJack HawkinsUlla JacobssonJames BoothMichael Caine |
| Narrated by | Richard Burton |
| Music by | John Barry |
| Cinematography | Stephen Dade |
| Edited by | John Jympson |
| Production company | Diamond Films |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (UK) Embassy Pictures (US) |
| Release date | 22 January 1964(London) |
| Running time | 139 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$ 1,720,000. (666,554. GBP) |
| Box office | $8 million (US) |
Zulu is a 1964 British epic war film depicting the Battle of Rorke’s Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War. It depicts 150 British soldiers, many of whom were sick and wounded patients in a field hospital, who successfully held off a force of 4,000 Zulu warriors. The film is notable for showing the Zulu army as disciplined and governed by strategy.
The film was directed by American screenwriter Cy Endfield and produced by Stanley Baker and Endfield, with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer. The screenplay is by John Prebble and Endfield, based on an article by Prebble, a historical writer. The film stars Stanley Baker and introduces Michael Caine, in his first major role, with a supporting cast that includes Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Nigel Green, Paul Daneman, Glynn Edwards, Ivor Emmanuel and Patrick Magee. Future South African political leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi played Zulu King Cetshwayo kaMpande, his great-grandfather. The opening and closing narration is spoken by Richard Burton.
The film was first shown on the 85th anniversary of the actual battle, 22 January 1964, at the Plaza Theatre in the West End of London. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine ranked it the 93rd best British film ever.
Throughout the day and night, wave after wave of Zulu attackers are repelled. The Zulus succeed in setting fire to the hospital, leading to intense fighting between British patients and Zulu warriors as the former try to escape the flames. Private Henry Hook (James Booth) takes charge and leads the patients to safety.
The film ends with another narration by Richard Burton, listing the eleven defenders who received the Victoria Cross for the defence of Rorke’s Drift, the most awarded to a regiment in a single action up to that time.
Stanley Baker and Michael Caine
A break in shooting on location with stars Michael Caine and Stanley Baker present.
Michael Caine, who at this early stage in his career was primarily playing bit parts, was originally up for the role of Private Henry Hook, which went to James Booth. According to Caine, he was extremely nervous during his screen test for the part of Bromhead, and director Cy Endfield told him that it was the worst screen test he had ever seen, but they were casting Caine in the part anyway because the production was leaving for South Africa shortly and they had not found anyone else for the role. Caine also believed that he was fortunate that the film was directed by an American (Endfield), because “no English director would’ve cast me as an officer, I promise you, not one,” due to his Cockney roots.
Historical picture of Zulu warriors from about the same time as the events depicted in Zulu
The basic premises of the film are true and largely accurate, but is not a historical re-enactment of real events. The heavily outnumbered British successfully defended Rorke’s Drift more or less as portrayed in the film. Writer Cy Endfield even consulted a Zulu tribal historian for information from Zulu oral tradition about the attack. There are, however, a number of historical inaccuracies in the film, most notably; The film leaves out “the subsequent slaughter of hundreds of Zulus wounded, clubbed, shot and bayoneted to death, some hanged and others buried alive.”
The Zulus
The attack on the mission station was not ordered by King Cetshwayo, as the audience is led to believe in the film. Cetshwayo had specifically told his warriors not to invade Natal, the British Colony. The attack was led by Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande, the King’s half-brother, who pursued fleeing survivors at Isandlwana across the river and then moved on to attack Rorke’s Drift. Although almost 20,000 rounds of ammunition were fired by the defenders, just under 400 Zulus were killed at Rorke’s Drift. A similar number were left behind when the Zulus retreated, being too badly wounded to move. Comments from veterans many years after the event suggest the British killed many of these wounded men in the battle’s aftermath, raising the total number of Zulu deaths to over 700.
At roughly 7:00 a.m., an Impi appeared prompting the British to man their positions again. No attack materialised, as the Zulus had been on the move for six days prior to the battle. In their ranks were hundreds of wounded, and moreover they were several days march from any supplies.
Around 8:00am, another force appeared, the defenders abandoned their breakfast and manned their positions again. The approaching troops were the vanguard of Lord Chelmsford’s relief column.
The Zulus did not sing a song saluting fellow warriors, and departed at the approach of the British relief column. This inaccuracy has been praised for showing the Zulus in a positive light and for treating them and the British as equals, but it has also been criticised as undermining any anti-imperial message of the film by showing the Zulu warriors legitimising the presence of the British soldiers by saluting them as “fellow braves”, and for portraying the battle as a fair fight despite the superior British firearms.
On its initial release in 1964, it was one of the biggest box-office hits of all time in the British market. For the next 12 years it remained in constant cinema circulation before making its first appearance on television. It then went on to become a television perennial, and remains beloved by the British public.
When released in Apartheid South Africa in 1964 the film was banned for black audiences (as the government feared that its scenes of blacks killing whites might incite them to violence), apart from a few special screenings for its Zulu extras in Durban and some smaller Kwazulu towns.
Ernest Archer was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Colour Art Direction on the film. The magazine Total Film (2004) ranked Zulu the 37th greatest British movie of all time, and it was ranked eighth in the British television programme The 100 Greatest War Films. Empire magazine ranked Zulu 351st on their list of the 500 greatest films.
Watch the movie “Zulu”
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Zulu Dawn (Film)
| Zulu Dawn | |
|---|---|
| film poster by Tom Chantrell | |
| Directed by | Douglas Hickox |
| Produced by | Nate Kohn James Sebastian Faulkner |
| Written by | Cy Endfield Anthony Storey |
| Starring | Peter O’Toole Burt Lancaster John Mills Simon Ward Denholm Elliott Michael Jayston Ronald Pickup Bob Hoskins Ronald Lacey |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Ousama Rawi |
| Edited by | Malcolm Cooke |
| Distributed by | American Cinema Releasing |
| Release date | 15 May 1979 |
| Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8.5 million ($27.6 million in 2018 dollars.) |
Zulu Dawn is a 1979 American adventure war film about the historical Battle of Isandlwana between British and Zulu forces in 1879 in South Africa. The screenplay was by Cy Endfield, from his book, and Anthony Storey. The film was directed by Douglas Hickox. The score was composed by Elmer Bernstein.
Zulu Dawn is a prequel to Zulu, released in 1964, which depicts the historical Battle of Rorke’s Drift later the same day, and was co-written and directed by Cy Endfield.
Zulu Dawn soundtrack – Elmer Bernstein
The film is set in British South Africa, in the province of Natal, in January 1879. The first act of the film revolves around the administrators and officials of Cape Colony, notably the supremely arrogant Lord Chelmsford and the scheming Sir Henry Bartle Frere, who both wish to crush the neighbouring Zulu Empire, which is perceived as a threat to Cape Colony’s emerging industrial economy. Bartle Frere issues an impossible ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, demanding that he dissolve the Zulu Empire. Cetshwayo refuses, providing Cape Colony with a pretext to invade Zululand. Despite objections from leading members of Cape Colony’s high society and from Great Britain itself, Bartle Frere authorises Lord Chelmsford to lead a British invasion force into Zululand.
The rest of the film focuses on the British invasion of Zululand and the lead-up to the Battle of Isandlwana. The invading British army, laden with an immense network of supply wagons, invades Zululand and marches in the direction of Ulundi, the Zulu capital. British forces, eager to fight a large battle in which they can unleash their cutting-edge military technology against the vast Zulu army, become increasingly frustrated as the main Zulu army refuses to attack the British, and fighting is restricted to a few small skirmishes between British and Zulu scouts. Concerned that their supply lines are becoming overstretched and that the main Zulu army is still at large, British troops begin torturing captive Zulu warriors in an effort to learn the location and tactics of the Zulu army. Halfway to Ulundi, Chelmsford halts his army at the base of Mount Isandhlwana, ignoring the advice of Boer attendants to entrench the camp and laager the supply wagons, leaving the camp dangerously exposed. During the night, Colonel Durnford and an escort of fifty mounted Basutos approach the camp. Lord Chelmsford then orders Durnford to return to his unit, bringing them to the camp immediately to reinforce Colonel Pulleine. Lt. Vereker should join Durnford as aide-de-camp.
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