Zulu (film)
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| Zulu | |
|---|---|
Original film poster for Zulu. |
|
| Directed by | Cy Endfield |
| Produced by | Stanley Baker Cy Endfield |
| Written by | John Prebble Cy Endfield |
| Narrated by | Richard Burton |
| Starring | Stanley Baker Jack Hawkins Michael Caine Ulla Jacobsson James Booth Nigel Green |
| Music by | John Barry |
| Cinematography | Stephen Dade |
| Editing by | John Jympson |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (non-USA) Embassy Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) | January 22, 1964 (UK) |
| Running time | 139 min. |
| Country | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$2,000,000[1] |
| Followed by | Zulu Dawn |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Zulu is a 1964 historical film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus. The film was made by Diamond Films and distributed by Paramount Pictures in all countries except the USA, where it was distributed by Embassy Pictures. It was co-written, produced and directed by Cy Endfield, co-produced by Stanley Baker, Basil Keys and Joseph E. Levine as executive producer. The screenplay was by John Prebble based on his article, the music by John Barry and the cinematography by Stephen Dade.
The film stars Stanley Baker and Michael Caine (in his first starring role), with a supporting cast that includes Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Nigel Green, Paul Daneman, Glynn Edwards and Patrick Magee. The opening and closing narration is spoken by Richard Burton.
The film was compared by Baker to a Western movie[citation needed], with the traditional roles of the United States Cavalry and Native Americans taken by the British and the Zulus respectively. The film acknowledges the Zulus' bravery. Baker showed a Western to Zulu extras to demonstrate the concept of film acting and how he wanted the warriors to conduct themselves.
Most of the characters in the film were based on actual participants of the battle, but their behaviour is mostly fictional—something that has provoked disapproval: in an interview on the DVD, the descendants of Private Hook object to his negative portrayal in the film (he is depicted as a thief and malingerer, though his character acts bravely near the end of the movie during some desperate fighting). Indeed, Hook's elderly daughters walked out of the film's 1964 London premiere, angry at the way their father had been depicted.
In 1979, a prequel, Zulu Dawn, was released.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
In 1879, a communiqué from British South Africa to the government in London, narrated by Richard Burton, details the crushing defeat of a British force at the hands of the Zulus at the Battle of Isandhlwana. The first scene shows a grassy landscape with many dead British soldiers, while victorious Zulus gather their weapons.
A mass Zulu marriage ceremony witnessed by missionary Otto Witt (Jack Hawkins), his daughter (Ulla Jacobsson) and Zulu King Cetshwayo (Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi) is interrupted by a messenger who informs Cetshwayo of the great victory earlier in the day.
The movie then shifts to the missionary station of Rorke's Drift in Natal, being used by the British army as a supply dump and hospital for their now-defeated invasion force across the border in Zululand. The commanders of the depot, Lieutenants John Chard (Stanley Baker) and Gonville Bromhead (Michael Caine), receive news of Isandhlwana and that a large enemy force is advancing their way. Realizing that they cannot outrun the Zulu army, especially with wagonloads of wounded soldiers, the commanders decide to fortify the station, using wagons, sacks of mealie, and crates of ship's biscuit, and await the assault. As the Zulu impis approach, soldiers of the Natal Native Contingent and British settlers flee the site. Zulu sharpshooters open fire on the station from a neighbouring hill. Over the next few hours, the main Zulu body launches wave after wave of attacks, which are repulsed, though the attackers 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. Attacks continue into the night, finally forcing the British to withdraw into a tiny redoubt built from supply crates and mealie bags.
The next morning, at dawn, the Zulus withdraw several hundred yards and begin singing a war chant; the British respond by singing "Men of Harlech". After a last failed assault, in which the defenders form into three ranks and pour volley after volley into the Zulus, they withdraw after sustaining heavy casualties and sing a song to honour the bravery of the British defenders, and leave. The film ends with a narration by Richard Burton, listing defenders who received the Victoria Cross-- including Private Hook. Eleven were awarded for the actual fighting at Rorke's Drift, the most ever for a regiment in a single battle in British military history.
[edit] Cast
- Stanley Baker as Lieutenant John Chard. An officer of the Royal Engineers, Chard assumes command of the mission station and organizes its fortification and defence.
- Michael Caine as Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead. A conceited and somewhat arrogant man, Bromhead, a young infantry officer, is first seen hunting cheetahs on the veld. He initially clashes with Lt. Chard, but soon accepts Chard's leadership. Bromhead initially appears panicked, criticizing his African troops and arguing with Chard, but displays personal bravery during the battle and eventually realizes how much he and the men need Chard.
- Jack Hawkins as Reverend Otto Witt. A Swedish missionary based at Rorke's Drift, Witt is first seen with his adult daughter Margaret at King Cetshwayo's kraal in the capital, Ulundi. When news of the Zulu victory at Isandhlwana reaches Ulundi, the Witts flee in their carriage to Rorke's Drift. When Lt. Chard denies him permission to evacuate the wounded on wagons, Witt breaks down and incites the British garrison's African allies to flee. When his interference becomes too much of a hazard, Chard has Witt and his hysterical daughter bundled onto their carriage and driven away from the battlefield.
- James Booth as Private Henry Hook. Described as"a thief, a coward, and an insubordinate barrack-room lawyer", Hook is a roguish character feigning illness in order to avoid work, where he is constantly tormented by his ill, delirious sergeant. Despite his apparent cowardice, Hook is rebellious enough to criticise the British Empire's foreign policy: "Did I ever see a Zulu walk down The City Road? No. So what am I doing here?" and insolent enough to insult and manhandle his ailing, intermittently-conscious sergeant. During the battle for the hospital, Hook displays great courage in trying to rescue that same sergeant, and although he is unable to save him, Hook earns his sergeant's respect. His friends nickname him "Hookie."
- Nigel Green as Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne. A loud, burly sergeant, Bourne is a key character in the fortification of the station, using his immense strength to assist with the fortifications, and displays immense personal courage during the battle. He is very by-the-book. He says "All right, nobody told you to stop working" whenever the soldiers are idle. (Green and Caine appeared in a number of films and TV episodes together. In this film, Green was Caine's subordinate, but in The Ipcress File and Play Dirty, he was Caine's superior.)
- Glynn Edwards as Corporal William Allen, portrayed as a model soldier. He is one of the defenders in the battle of the hospital.
- Ivor Emmanuel as Private Owen. A charismatic Welshman, Owen is immensely fond of singing (a baritone himself) and is very popular in the ranks. He is a great friend of Private Thomas, whom he affectionately calls Tommy. Owen leads the men to sing "Men of Harlech", the song originally featured in his choir.
- Neil McCarthy as Private John Thomas. John misses his home in Meirioneth, notably his lake and his calf.
- Patrick Magee as Surgeon-Major James Henry Reynolds, the overworked doctor. Reynolds provides vital medical aid to wounded soldiers during the battle, despite a total lack of anaesthetics or antiseptics, using the church's altar as an operating table.
- Gert Van den Bergh as Lieutenant Josef Adendorff. An Afrikaner officer serving with the Natal Native Contingent and a survivor of the battle at Isandhlwana, Adendorff provides valuable advice to Chard on Zulu tactics and optimum defence tactics. Surprisingly, Adendorff vigorously defends the bravery and utility of the army's black soldiers after Bromhead's criticisms. Adendorff remains at Rorke's Drift throughout the battle, fighting alongside the British.
[edit] Awards and homages
- In 2004, the magazine Total Film named Zulu the 37th greatest British movie of all time.
- "Zulu" was voted eighth in the British television programme "The 100 Greatest War Films".
- The "Battle of Helm's Deep" sequence in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was filmed in a manner deliberately reminiscent of Zulu, according to Jackson's comments in supplemental material included in the special extended DVD edition of The Two Towers.
- The Germanic war chant in the battle scene at the beginning of Ridley Scott's film Gladiator is the Zulu war chant from Zulu. In the video commentary, Scott revealed that Zulu was one of his favourite movies.
- The Battle of O'Rourke's Ford in S.M. Stirling's science fiction novel On the Ocean of Eternity is a recreation of the movie premise, right down to a malingering Private Hook.
[edit] Production
The film was made at Twickenham Film Studios, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK and at the following locations in South Africa: Drakensberg Mountains, KwaZulu-Natal, and the national parks of KwaZulu-Natal. The Super Technirama 70 cinematographic process was used.
[edit] Historical inaccuracies
The film contains a number of factual errors,[2] including:
- There are several errors concerning the Swedish missionaries, the Witts. In the film, Witt is depicted as a middle aged widower, a pacifist and drunkard, who has an adult daughter called Margareta. In reality, Otto Witt was aged 30, and had a wife, Elin, and two infant children. Witt's family were at Oskarsberg 30 km away at the time of the battle. On the morning of the battle, Otto Witt, with the chaplain, George Smith and Surgeon-Major James Henry Reynolds had ascended Shiyane, the large hill near the station, and noticed the approach of the Zulu force across the Buffalo River. Far from being a pacifist, Witt had cooperated closely with the army and negotiated a lease to put Rorke's Drift at Lord Chelmsford's disposal. Witt made it clear that he did not oppose British intervention against Cetshwayo. He had stayed at Rorke's Drift because he wished "to take part in the defence of my own house and at the same time in the defence of an important place for the whole colony, yet my thoughts went to my wife and to my children, who were at a short distance from there, and did not know anything of what was going on". He therefore left on horseback to join his family shortly before the battle.[3]
- The 24th Regiment of Foot is described as a Welsh regiment: in fact, although based in Brecon in south Wales, its designation was the 24th (The 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot. It did not become the South Wales Borderers until 1881. Of the soldiers present, 49 were English, 32 Welsh (18 from the county of Monmouthshire - not then classed as a "Welsh" county), 16 Irish and 22 others of indeterminate nationality.[4][5][6]
- The song "Men of Harlech" features prominently as the regimental song; it did not become so until later. At the time of the battle, the regimental song was "The Warwickshire Lad". There was no "battlefield singing contest" between the British and the Zulus.[7]
- Gonville Bromhead was partially deaf, a disability not mentioned in the film.
- Many of the men, including Bromhead and Chard, had full beards at the time of the battle. The film depicts them as largely clean shaven, with some sporting carefully-tended moustaches or sideburns.
- The British infantrymen of the Anglo-Zulu War did not wear sparkling white pith helmets. They were stained a tan colour (with tea or coffee) without helmet plates, and the bright scarlet uniforms were always covered in dust making them appear brown.[8]
- The seniority of Chard over Bromhead (measured by their dates of commission) was three years, not three months as in the film. Also, there was no dispute over command. Lieutenant Chard was left in charge, due to seniority, by Major Henry Spalding well before the battle. Spalding rode off to get reinforcements, but his motives have been questioned.[9]
- Private Henry Hook VC is depicted as a rogue; in fact he was a model soldier who later became a sergeant; he was also a teetotaller. While the film has him in the hospital "malingering, under arrest", he had actually been assigned there specifically to guard the building.[10]
- Conversely, Corporal William Allen is depicted as a model soldier; in fact, he had recently been demoted from sergeant for drunkenness.
- Colour Sergeant Bourne (1854-1945) is depicted as a big, hardened, middle-aged veteran; in fact, he was of smaller stature and, aged 23, the youngest colour sergeant in the British Army.[11] He was called 'The Kid' by his men.[12] Sergeant Bourne would not have worn medals on his duty uniform, and the medals used in the film appear to be of World War I issue. Moreover, Green's costume has the chevrons on the wrong arm.
- The role of Padre George Smith ["Ammunition" Smith] is completely ignored.[13]
- The building of defensive ramparts and initial defence of Rorke's Drift was organised by Acting Assistant Commissary James Langley Dalton. His distinction was rewarded with the Victoria Cross, presented a year after the battle. The film gives most of the credit to Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead. The real Dalton had retired in 1871 as a Quartermaster Sergeant after 22 years of service in the 85th Regiment of Foot of the British Army before volunteering for the Commissariat and Transport Department. The film, however, portrays Dalton as something of an effete character, who does little that might be called heroic. This makes his award seem something of a mystery.
- The column of British irregular cavalry seen briefly in the film was actually at Rorke's Drift. However, Chard ordered them to leave after finding that they had little ammunition of their own.[14]
- The uniforms of the Natal Native Contingent are inaccurate;
- NNC troops were not issued with European-style clothes.
- The real Sergeant Maxfield, as in the film, was delirious with fever. However, he was too weak to leave his bed and was stabbed to death by Zulus while the other sick and injured were being evacuated from the room.
- Private Cole was assigned to defend the hospital, not the perimeter.
- Cole was killed when he ran out of the hospital alone, possibly due to claustrophobia. Since he was killed by a bullet to the head, his last words in the film are unlikely to be authentic.
- Corporal Christian Ferdinand Schiess was significantly younger than the actor who portrayed him. At the time of his death in 1884 – five years after the battle – he was 28 years old.[15]
- Private Hitch was shot through the shoulder, not the leg.
- None of the rifles used by the Zulus were taken from dead British soldiers after the Battle of Isandlwana, as NNC Lieutenant Adendorff in the film suggests. The Zulus attacking Rorke's Drift were largely older and married regiments. Their assignment at Isandlwana had been to cut off retreat and they had not been on the battlefield itself. Most of their firearms were obsolete Brown Bess muskets, purchased decades earlier from traders, including James Rorke.
- The ending is somewhat fictitious. There was no Zulu attack at dawn on January 23, 1879, which in the film led to the singing of "Men of Harlech". There was only sparse fighting with a few remaining Zulus. The Zulus did not sing a song saluting fellow warriors, and they did not depart peacefully. They departed at the approach of a British relief column.[16][17]
- The story of the black Natal Native Contingent troops' desertion is true. However, as Witt had already left, he was not responsible for their departure. They left of their own will, with Stephenson and his European NCOs.[18] These deserters were shot at and one of the NCOs, Corporal Anderson, was killed. Stephenson was later convicted of desertion at court-martial and dismissed from the army.
- The film omits the killing of wounded Zulus by British soldiers after the battle. There has been speculation that many may have been bayonetted, clubbed or shot in the battle's aftermath. (This was common practice if a small force prevailed over a much larger one, as it would have been unable to guard all the prisoners.)
- The officers are shown using Webley Mk VI .455 revolvers which were not introduced until 1915 (36 years after the events depicted in the film) instead of the Beaumont-Adams revolvers that Bromhead and Chard actually used. However, the British officer of the time was allowed to use any sort of sidearm he wished, as long as it fired .455 ammunition. Officers often privately purchased Webley top-break revolvers (in 1879 not yet officially adopted for service) somewhat similar in appearance to the Mk VI Webley. These Webley models had been put on the market during the 1870s - such as the Webley-Green army model 1879 or the Webley-Pryse model. So the Webley model Mk VI was not yet developed when the film was set, but the design is typical of Webley revolvers of the period and can be seen as an example of artistic licence.
- Several men can be seen using Lee-Enfield Mk. I bolt-action rifles instead of the historically correct Martini-Henry.[19] Apparently, they ran out of .450/577 blanks during filming - close observation shows that, in many cases, the actors are simply dry-shooting the empty Martini-Henrys and simulating the recoil, with the gunshot sound effect dubbed in later.
- Surgeon-Major Reynolds is played by Patrick Magee as a middle-aged South African. In actuality Reynolds was a thirty-five year old Irishman. During the Battle of Rorke's Drift, Reynolds went round the barricades, distributing ammunition and tending to wounded there, something that is not shown in the film.[20]
- Whenever a Zulu falls to the bullets from Martini-Henry rifles in the film, they drop dead with small wounds visible and with only little trickles of blood (as when 612 Williams shoots a Zulu in the hospital who is in the act of stabbing Private Hook). But wounds inflicted from the heavy .45 ins lead bullets would create massive gaping holes and much tissue damage. Presumably, the film-makers would not wish to show this to an audience at the time.
- 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.
- During the period when the mission station is fortified, the wagons used in the barricades are seen to be tipped over onto their sides. In reality, they remained upright, and the gaps between were plugged with biscuit boxes and mealie bags (Chard had placed them this way so that the Zulus would have to climb over the wagons to engage the British soldiers standing behind them, thus giving the defenders more time to shoot).
- Captain Stephenson, and his detachment of cavalry, claim to have come from "Durnford's Horse" when they ride up to the mission station. In reality, they were members of the Natal Native Horse, mainly composed of black riders, who had survived the Battle of Isandlwana and had ridden to Rorke's Drift to warn and aid the garrison there.
- All the characters in the film pronounce Bromhead's name as it is spelt. In reality it was pronounced 'Brumhead'.
- Both Chard and Bromhead are portrayed as being intelligent and able officers. In reality, Chard was widely regarded as inefficient if not actually incompetent, and had a reputation for laziness.{see 'Zulu' by Saul David pp230} Bromhead was a popular officer within the 24th, acquiring the nickname 'Gunny,' however he never seems to have been trusted with any meaningful responsibilities. It was for this reason that his company was selected to guard Rorke's Drift, a position it was never imagined would be attacked.[citation needed] Much of the credit for the defence of the mission station must in fact go to Dunne and Dalton of the commissariat department.
[edit] Rights
In the U.S., Zulu officially lapsed into the public domain, meaning there have been several issues of the film on home video/LaserDisc/DVD in North America - most notably an LD release by the Criterion Collection which retains the original stereophonic soundtrack and taken from a 70mm print. An official DVD release (with a mono soundtrack as the original stereo tracks were not available) was later issued by Embassy's successor-in-interest, StudioCanal (with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer handling video distribution). StudioCanal (the current owner of the Embassy theatrical library) had acquired control of the film in 2000 after its copyright was restored. Outside the U.S., the film has always been owned by Paramount Pictures.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ BBC - Films - review - Zulu DVD, BBC, accessed 30 April 2007.
- ^ Summary of factual errors and links to many more
- ^ http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol104fh.html Journal of South African Military History Society Vol 10 No 4]
- ^ Information from Regiment of Wales
- ^ Several inaccuracies pointed out in Rorke's Drift VC.com
- ^ South African Military History Journal Vol 4 No 4
- ^ Rorke's Drift vc.com myths
- ^ Reference to tea stained pith helmets
- ^ Biography of John Chard
- ^ BBC News site
- ^ Biography of Frank Bourne
- ^ From Frank Bourne's account broadcast by the BBC in 1936
- ^ Brief bio of George Smith
- ^ Isibindi Africa
- ^ Brief bio of Christian Schiess
- ^ Rorke's Drift vc.com myths
- ^ BBC News site
- ^ Isibindi Africa
- ^ Rorke's Drift vc.com myths
- ^ Brief bio of James Reynolds

