Zulu (1964)
Director:
Cy Endfield
Tagline:
« Excitement Fills the Screen in This Towering African Adventure! »
Actors:
Lt. John Chard R. E.
Otto Witt
Margareta Witt
Pvt. Henry Hook
Lt. Gonville Bromhead
Colour-Sergeant Bourne
Pvt. Owen
Sgt. Maxfield
Cpl. Allen
Pvt. Thomas
Genres:Drama, History, War
Production company:
"A Diamond Films Production"
Writers:
original screenplay, article 'Slaughter in the Sun'
original screenplay
Trailer:
Official Trailer
Keywords:zulu, british army, military tactics, anglo zulu war, historical event, bayonet fight, british colonialism, colonial war, africa, year 1879
Trivias:
uncategorized: One of this movie's technical advisors was a Zulu Princess, and the tribe's historian. She knew the battle strategy perfectly, and drew it on the sand. Director Cy Endfield shot it exactly as she drew it.
uncategorized: Director Cy Endfield wanted a camera crane that was lightweight when disassembled, so it could be packed and transported through the African bush. Ken Eddy designed the first Filmair Giraffe camera crane for the job, starting the world's best-known camera crane company. This key piece of gear is still used in the film industry.
uncategorized: The Zulu extras, who had never seen a movie, had trouble understanding what they were doing playing to a camera. Stanley Baker sent to Johannesburg for silent movies, and showed Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Buster Keaton, which the Zulus loved.
uncategorized: One of this movie's technical advisors was a Zulu Princess, and the tribe's historian. She knew the battle strategy perfectly, and drew it on the sand. Director Cy Endfield shot it exactly as she drew it.
uncategorized: Director Cy Endfield wanted a camera crane that was lightweight when disassembled, so it could be packed and transported through the African bush. Ken Eddy designed the first Filmair Giraffe camera crane for the job, starting the world's best-known camera crane company. This key piece of gear is still used in the film industry.
uncategorized: The Zulu extras, who had never seen a movie, had trouble understanding what they were doing playing to a camera. Stanley Baker sent to Johannesburg for silent movies, and showed Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Buster Keaton, which the Zulus loved.
Goofs:
continuity: After Pvt. Hook breaks into the doctor's cabinet and steals the brandy, he smashes the top off. When he takes a drink, the bottle's shape has changed.
continuity: When Chard fights the two Zulus who break through the line, a soldier near him is shot and slumps over the sandbag wall. In the next shot, Chard picks up the soldier's rifle, which has a bayonet attached, and uses it to fight the Zulus. When the stricken soldier fell, his rifle didn't have a bayonet, and was slung over the soldier's right shoulder.
continuity: When Cpl. Allen is shot while helping Hitch, he grasps the right side of his chest. In all other scenes the wound is on the left side.
factual error: The Zulu chief Cetewayo did not send his impi to attack Rorke's Drift; he ordered that the installation be left alone. One of his half-brothers ordered and led the attack, figuring he would get a quick victory and impress the king.
factual error: The final salute by the Zulus did not take place. Some warriors appeared on the hill the following morning, but they observed the British in silence for a while before leaving again.
factual error: The Natal Native Horse regiment did not just show up and then ride off. They volunteered to picket, which they did until the Zulu force showed up, at which point they engaged them briefly. At that point, worn out from the battle earlier that morning at Isandlwana and being short of carbine ammunition they rode on to Helpmekaar.
revealing mistake: To simulate 4,000 Zulu warriors lining up on a ridge, with only 500 Zulu extras, long wooden frames were used with twelve Zulu shields attached to the front with ostrich feathers at the tops and one Zulu at each end. As the Zulus line up for the final "Fellow Braves" chant, the shield frames are obvious in one shot.
revealing mistake: In the opening scene showing the aftermath of the battle of Isandlwana, there is no blood visible on the corpses of the dead British soldiers or on the ground beneath them and no visible wounds although most of them were killed by Zulu spears. Nor are there any Zulu casualties although over 1000 of them were killed in this battle.
revealing mistake: When Rev. Otto Witt flees Cetewayo's kraal after the report of the massacre at Isandlwana, the driver in the wagon has a beard, while Jack Hawkins does not.
anachronism: Some of the young women dancing in the open mass wedding wear black panties. At the time of the battle, they would have danced nude. This was done as a concession to western audiences of the time.
anachronism: When a Zulu warrior in the hospital is shot and falls backwards, he is wearing a pair of red flip-flops.
anachronism: Several Zulu warriors wear wrist watches.
error in geography: When Lt. Bromhead returns from his hunt, the bearers are carrying a dead cheetah and a springbok. The springbok is an antelope that lives in arid areas in the northwest of South Africa, and has never lived in Natal.
error in geography: The area surrounding the actual Rorke's Drift is nowhere near as mountainous as in this movie.
error in geography: An early scene with soldiers working on a dam at the base shows the Drakensberg Amphitheatre in the background. The scene was shot in the upper Tugela river valley, miles from the actual site of Rorke's Drift.
continuity: After Pvt. Hook breaks into the doctor's cabinet and steals the brandy, he smashes the top off. When he takes a drink, the bottle's shape has changed.
continuity: When Chard fights the two Zulus who break through the line, a soldier near him is shot and slumps over the sandbag wall. In the next shot, Chard picks up the soldier's rifle, which has a bayonet attached, and uses it to fight the Zulus. When the stricken soldier fell, his rifle didn't have a bayonet, and was slung over the soldier's right shoulder.
continuity: When Cpl. Allen is shot while helping Hitch, he grasps the right side of his chest. In all other scenes the wound is on the left side.
factual error: The Zulu chief Cetewayo did not send his impi to attack Rorke's Drift; he ordered that the installation be left alone. One of his half-brothers ordered and led the attack, figuring he would get a quick victory and impress the king.
factual error: The final salute by the Zulus did not take place. Some warriors appeared on the hill the following morning, but they observed the British in silence for a while before leaving again.
factual error: The Natal Native Horse regiment did not just show up and then ride off. They volunteered to picket, which they did until the Zulu force showed up, at which point they engaged them briefly. At that point, worn out from the battle earlier that morning at Isandlwana and being short of carbine ammunition they rode on to Helpmekaar.
revealing mistake: To simulate 4,000 Zulu warriors lining up on a ridge, with only 500 Zulu extras, long wooden frames were used with twelve Zulu shields attached to the front with ostrich feathers at the tops and one Zulu at each end. As the Zulus line up for the final "Fellow Braves" chant, the shield frames are obvious in one shot.
revealing mistake: In the opening scene showing the aftermath of the battle of Isandlwana, there is no blood visible on the corpses of the dead British soldiers or on the ground beneath them and no visible wounds although most of them were killed by Zulu spears. Nor are there any Zulu casualties although over 1000 of them were killed in this battle.
revealing mistake: When Rev. Otto Witt flees Cetewayo's kraal after the report of the massacre at Isandlwana, the driver in the wagon has a beard, while Jack Hawkins does not.
anachronism: Some of the young women dancing in the open mass wedding wear black panties. At the time of the battle, they would have danced nude. This was done as a concession to western audiences of the time.
anachronism: When a Zulu warrior in the hospital is shot and falls backwards, he is wearing a pair of red flip-flops.
anachronism: Several Zulu warriors wear wrist watches.
error in geography: When Lt. Bromhead returns from his hunt, the bearers are carrying a dead cheetah and a springbok. The springbok is an antelope that lives in arid areas in the northwest of South Africa, and has never lived in Natal.
error in geography: The area surrounding the actual Rorke's Drift is nowhere near as mountainous as in this movie.
error in geography: An early scene with soldiers working on a dam at the base shows the Drakensberg Amphitheatre in the background. The scene was shot in the upper Tugela river valley, miles from the actual site of Rorke's Drift.
Plots:
Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
In 1879 Zululand, South Africa, the British are fighting the Zulus, and one of their columns has just been wiped out at Isandlwana. The Zulus next fix their sights on the small British outpost at Rorke's Drift. At the outpost are 150 British troops under the command of Lieutenants Bromhead and Chard. In the next few days, these 150 troops will fight about 4,000 Zulus in one of the most courageous battles in history.
Two Lieutenants, Chard of Engineers and Bromhead, find that their 150-man contingent in Natal has been isolated by the destruction of the main British Army column, and that 4,000 Zulu warriors will descend on them in a few hours. Each has a different military background in tactics, and they are immediately in conflict on how to prepare for the attack. Nearly a third of the men are in the infirmary, as the Welsh company tries to somehow survive with no help in sight. Based on a true story.
In 1879 Zululand, South Africa, the British are fighting the Zulus, and one of their columns has just been wiped out at Isandlwana. The Zulus next fix their sights on the small British outpost at Rorke's Drift. At the outpost are 150 British troops under the command of Lieutenants Bromhead and Chard. In the next few days, these 150 troops will fight about 4,000 Zulus in one of the most courageous battles in history.
Two Lieutenants, Chard of Engineers and Bromhead, find that their 150-man contingent in Natal has been isolated by the destruction of the main British Army column, and that 4,000 Zulu warriors will descend on them in a few hours. Each has a different military background in tactics, and they are immediately in conflict on how to prepare for the attack. Nearly a third of the men are in the infirmary, as the Welsh company tries to somehow survive with no help in sight. Based on a true story.
Related movies:
Featured in: Episode #7.28 (A clip is shown, with Chris Tarrant claiming Lenny had a bit role in the film.) , Comic Relief: The Invasion of the Comic Tomatoes (Clip used in Attack of the Comic Tomato bumper (with tomatoes superimposed over it)) , Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold (Scenes with Michael Caine and Stanley Baker are shown.)
Followed by: Zulu Dawn
Featured in: Episode #7.28 (A clip is shown, with Chris Tarrant claiming Lenny had a bit role in the film.) , Comic Relief: The Invasion of the Comic Tomatoes (Clip used in Attack of the Comic Tomato bumper (with tomatoes superimposed over it)) , Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold (Scenes with Michael Caine and Stanley Baker are shown.)
Followed by: Zulu Dawn
YouTube
Zulu -1964 -Michael Caine -Full Movie
