I may be wrong with this statement, but I believe this could well be the only out and out War film on my list that I class as not fiction. It may be about a British victory in a war that they (the Brits) had brought upon themselves but still this battle stood out as British Steel against impossible odds. More history later as this movie is about the Battle of Rorke’s Drift and it is called ‘Zulu’ released in 1964. It tells the story of the battle which happened in January 1879 and was I think the second battle of the Anglo-Zulu war. The film was based on a story by John Prebble which was adapted into the screenplay by Prebble himself and Cy Endfield who went on to direct the movie. Produced by Cy Endfield and Stanley Baker its music score was by the legendary John Barry. Costing around $1.7m for a 1960’s movie is none-too shabby which had a return of $8m from the box office. The film introduced a young Michael Caine but starred Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, and James Booth whilst it was narrated by Richard Burton. Other members of the cast included Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Nigel Green, Ivor Emmanuel, Paul Daneman, Joe Powell, Neil McCarthy, David Kernan, Gary Bond, Peter Gill, Richard Davies, Denys Graham, Patrick Magee, and Dickie Owen. A critically loved movie as well with IMDb giving this one (out of 10) a score of 7.7 and a whopping 96% Rotten Tomatoes.
The film itself depicts the story of the Battle of Rorke’s Drift which after the crushing defeat of the British at the Battle of Isandlwana the victorious Zulu marched towards the British missionary station of Rorke’s Drift. In Natal it was a supply depot and hospital for the British invasion force across the border in Zululand. Receiving news of the defeat of Isandlwana from the Natal Native Contingent Commander Adendorff who tells the men of a 4000 strong force of Zulu warriors are heading straight for them. Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers assumes command of the Small British detachment. Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead an infantry officer is put out to realise he is subordinate to an engineer. As a hospital location they realise they would not be able to outrun the warriors and they do not want to leave them behind they decide to sit in and defend their small outpost. 120 fit soldiers and 30 wounded used turned over wagons, sacks of maize, and crates of biscuits to create a defensive perimeter to hold off 4,000 Zulu warriors armed with spears and rifles taken from the fallen soldiers of the previous battle. The battle raged from the 22nd to the 23rd of January and this film follows that battle.
Now the Zulu conflict is something that I am not going to lord up as I may not have agreed with the British political decisions for the invasion in the first place. The heavy defeat at Isandlwana was not helped by the Brits own brashness and lack of respect of the opposition forces in both their fight and their numbers. Defeated there and having the guns taken a group of between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulu warriors broke off from this battle and headed to Rorke’s Drift. This movie doesn’t look at the Zulu side of things but does depict one of the most accurate accounts of a battle in movie history. There are not too many factual inaccuracies in this movie, most would have some artistic licence but there is a minimal amount in this movie. The only war movie to compare would be Waterloo which pretty much surrendered artistic licence and went for a complete account. This movie was up there with the others. It shows the British bravery which is someone I am proud of. The fact they knew an insurmountable force was rolling towards them and they decide not to leave their comrades and run but to dig in and fight. Think of those numbers 150 v 4000 now I’ve heard the jokes about spears against guns but yes each of the British would have been armed with a gun and each of the warriors would have a shield and a spear. They also had guns and when we say guns its not a case of fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, reload, fire, fire, etc it would be a case of fire, release the shell, grab another bullet, reload the rifle, fire, release the shell. These guns were just shy of 50” long and for the time were a great longer-range weapon. Up close they had a Bayonet for close combat. I cannot image how they felt knowing and even hearing this wave of up to 4000 p!ssed off Zulu’s where heading their way baying for their blood must have been terrifying. Testament to them is the 11 Victoria crosses that were issued from this battle and I know its actors and make believe but when a movie follows that story so closely its hard not to feel for them and that is why this movie is so high on my list and if on tv on a Sunday afternoon and I flick over to it I will not flick away. Please watch this one and put yourself in those Welshman shoes as it must have taken some bravery to stand shoulder to shoulder knowing no help was on its way for a while and you were miles from safety yourself. On the other side and this is never mentioned that the Zulu’s had travelled for days to get there and not eaten properly for days also. They also knew they were a good, few days from their next full and proper meal so they were angry and possibly weakened with minds elsewhere but still it’s a hell of a force to be reckoned with. As I said I may not agree with the British being in that position in the first place but the bravery of those men on the front line has little to do with the politics of the day and they shouldn’t be associated with that.
Next up a movie that quotes Rorke’s Drift but this one is definitely, a fictional story!!
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