Appearance
Zulu
Produced by and starring Stanley Baker, and directed by Cy Endfield, Zulu (1964) dramatizes the Battle of Rorke's Drift in January 1879, in which a garrison of around 150 British soldiers successfully defended a remote mission station against an attacking force of approximately 4,000 Zulu warriors. The film introduced Michael Caine to international audiences in his first major role, as the aristocratic Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead. The opening and closing narration is spoken by Richard Burton.
Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi — a future South African political leader — appeared in the film as his own great-grandfather, King Cetshwayo kaMpande. Around 240 Zulu extras were bused in from their tribal homes more than 100 miles away to participate in the battle sequences. Interior scenes and all the sequences featuring James Booth were completed at Twickenham Film Studios in England.
Location(s)
The film was shot on location in South Africa, primarily in the Royal Natal National Park in the Drakensberg Mountains — approximately 90 miles from the actual site of the battle, which had changed beyond recognition. Interiors were completed at Twickenham Film Studios in Middlesex, England.
Royal Natal National Park, Drakensberg Mountains, KwaZulu-Natal
The British mission depot and field hospital at Rorke's Drift were recreated on a purpose-built set near the Tugela River, beneath the dramatic natural Amphitheatre in the Drakensberg Mountains, approximately 10,000 feet above Durban. The real Rorke's Drift site, on the Buffalo River, had been built over and was considered insufficiently dramatic compared to the Drakensberg's precipitous landscape. Map Location
Natal Province (KwaZulu-Natal), South Africa
Additional outdoor scenes — including cavalry sequences and wider landscape shots — were filmed within the national parks of what was then the Province of Natal. The production had the cooperation of the South African government, though the apartheid laws of the period meant that none of the Zulu extras were permitted to attend the film's premiere. Map Location
Twickenham Film Studios, Middlesex, England
All interior sequences, including those featuring James Booth's Private Henry Hook in the field hospital, were shot at Twickenham Film Studios. The Afro-Caribbean actors who worked at Twickenham did not travel to South Africa for the location shoot. Map Location
Director
Cy Endfield
Cast
Stanley Baker
Michael Caine
Jack Hawkins
Ulla Jacobsson
James Booth
Nigel Green
IMDB
Contact Us
For any errors contact us at filmsetseeker@proton.me