Movies - Zulu

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	Movies - Zulu

Zulu is a 1964 film depicting the 22 January and 23 January 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Army of the Zulus. The film was directed by Cy Endfield and starred Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins and Michael Caine (in his first starring role). The film has sometimes been compared to a Western movie, with the traditional roles of the United States and Native Americans taken by the British and the Zulus respectively. While lacking any significant Zulu point of view, the film acknowledges the Zulu's bravery. Most of the characters in the movie were based on real participants of the battle but their behavior is mostly fictional. - In 1979, a prequel Zulu Dawn
was produced.

Tagline: Dwarfing The Mightiest! Towering Over The Greatest!

The Battle of Rorke's Drift was part of the Anglo-Zulu War, where 150 British redcoats held off 4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses were won in the action, the most in a single battle, thus ensuring its place in British military history.

Awards & Homages

In 2004, the magazine Total Film named Zulu the 37th greatest British film of all time.
"Zulu" was voted eight in the British television programme "The 100 Greatest War Films".

Historical inaccuracies

The film contains a number of factual errors, including:

#The Swedish missionaries (the Witts) were not at the Battle of Rorke's Drift. Witt, his wife and infant daughter were 30 km away. They had put Rorke's Drift at Lord Chelmsford's disposal. #The 24th Regiment of Foot is described as a Welsh regiment: in fact, although based in Brecon, its designation was the 2nd Warwickshire Regiment; it did not become the South Wales Borderers until 1881. Only 11 of the defenders were Welsh. #The song Men of Harlech features prominently as the regimental song; it did not become so until later. #The actors have a more modern appearance than their characters did. Michael Caine, for example, with his shiny teeth and groomed blonde hair, bore little resemblance to the real Gonville Bromhead, who was rather old for his rank and had begun to go deaf. Many of the men, including Bromhead and Chard, wore full beards. #The British infantrymen of the Anglo-Zulu War did not wear sparkling white helmets and scarlet uniforms — their uniforms were always covered in dust, and the soldiers dyed their helmets brown with tea, as white helmets could easily be seen from miles away in South Africa. #The seniority of Chard and Bromhead (measured by their dates of commission) was three years, not three months as in the film. #There was no dispute over command. Lieutenant Chard had been left in command, due to seniority, by Major Henry Spalding, well before the battle. Spalding had ridden off to get reinforcements but his motives have been questioned. Spalding claimed that he did not anticipate an imminent attack. #Private Henry Hook VC is depicted as a rogue; in fact he was a model soldier who later became a sergeant (and a 'teetotaller'). While the film has him in the hospital "malingering, under arrest", he had actually been assigned there specifically to guard the hospital building. #Conversely, Corporal Allen is depicted as a model soldier; in fact, he had recently been demoted from sergeant for drunkenness. #Colour Sergeant Bourne is depicted as a big, hardened, middle-aged veteran; in fact, he was a small man and, aged 23, the youngest colour sergeant in the British Army. #The role of Reverend "Ammunition" Smith is completely overlooked. #The building of defensive ramparts and initial defence of Rorke's Drift was in actual fact organized by Acting Assistant Commissary James Langley Dalton. His distinction was ignored until several years after the battle and the credit was given to Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead. The real Dalton had retired as a Quartermaster Sergeant after 22 years of service in the British Army before joining 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 of a VC, as recounted at the film's end by Richard Burton, something of a mystery. #The column of cavalry seen in the film actually was at Rorke's Drift. However, Chard ordered them to leave after seeing that they had little of their own ammunition. #The real Sergeant Maxfield, like the film version, 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. He 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 Scheiss 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 of age. #Private Hitch was shot through the shoulder, not the leg. #The rifles used by the Zulus were not taken from the British column at Isandlwana, as the film implies, but had been purchased much earlier. The Zulu impis that attacked Rorke's Drift had not participated in the Battle of Isandlwana. #The ending is somewhat fictional. The Zulus did not sing a song saluting fellow braves and depart. They fled at the approach of a British relief column. This concession was made during filming for the current Zulu Chief, Mangosuthu Buthelezi who appears in the film as the Zulu leader King Cetshwayo kaMpande. #The story of the black auxiliaries deserting is true, though, as Mr Witt was 30 km away at the time, he did not cause this. They left on their own will, with two white men, a civilian and a member of the Army Commissariat Department. Shots were fired at these deserters and the ACD member was killed. #The film omits the killing of 500 wounded Zulus by British soldiers after the battle. #The pistols used by the officers were Webley pistols not the correct Adams revolver, and several men can be seen using Lee Enfield Mk. 1 bolt action rifles and not the Martini-Henry. #There was no Zulu attact at dawn of the 23rd January. There was only sparse fighting with some left behind Zulu soldiers. Leading to the second course of not singing of Men of Harlech.

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Movies - Zulu

Awards & Homages

Historical inaccuracies

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