Zulu Dawn

Zulu Dawn is a 1979 American adventure war film directed by Douglas Hickox and written by Anthony Storey and Cy Endfield. It is based on Endfield's book of the same name about the historical Battle of Isandlwana in 1879 between British and Zulu forces in South Africa.

Zulu Dawn
Film poster by Tom Chantrell
Directed by	Douglas Hickox
Written by	Cy Endfield Anthony Storey
Produced by	Nate Kohn James Sebastian Faulkner
Starring	Burt Lancaster Peter O'Toole Simon Ward Nigel Davenport Michael Jayston Peter Vaughan Denholm Elliott James Faulkner John Mills
Cinematography	Ousama Rawi
Edited by	Malcolm Cooke
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Distributed by	American Cinema Releasing Orion Pictures (through Warner Bros.)
Release date	15 May 1979 (1979-05-15)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11.75 million($48.3 million in 2023 dollars)

Zulu Dawn features an ensemble cast led by Burt Lancaster, Peter O'Toole, Simon Ward, and Nigel Davenport. Chronologically it precedes the smaller Battle of Rorke's Drift, which also had opposing British and Zulu forces. Zulu (1964) was a film about the latter battle.

Plot

In the Cape Colony in January 1879, British Army officer Lord Chelmsford plots with diplomat Sir Henry Bartle Frere to annex the neighbouring Zulu Empire, which they perceive as a threat to the Cape Colony's emerging industrial economy.

Frere issues an ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, demanding that he dissolve the Zulu military; an indignant Cetshwayo rebuffs the demand, providing Lord Chelmsford and Frere with a casus belli against the Zulu. Despite objections from prominent individuals in the Cape Colony and Britain, Frere authorises Lord Chelmsford to command a British expeditionary force to invade the Zulu Empire.

The British expeditionary force marches into the Zulu Empire, with Lord Chelmsford directing it towards the Zulu capital, Ulundi. Eager to bring the war to a swift conclusion, the British become increasingly frustrated as the Zulu military adopted a Fabian strategy, refusing to engage in a pitched battle; a few skirmishes occurred between British and Zulu scouts with indecisive results. Three Zulu warriors allowed themselves to be captured in a skirmish and are interrogated by the British, but refused to divulge any information and eventually escape, informing their commander of the British dispositions. Halfway to Ulundi, Lord Chelmsford ordered the British force to make camp at the base of Mount Isandlwana, ignoring the advice of his Boer attendants to fortify the camp and transform his supply wagons into a laager.

Upon receiving inaccurate reports from his scouts concerning the Zulus' dispositions, Lord Chelmsford leads half the British force on a wild goose chase far from the camp against a phantom Zulu force. The next day, the British camp receives reinforcements led by Colonel Durnford, who dispatches scouts to reconnoiter the surrounding area before leaving the camp to personally scout the region. One of the British scouting parties discovers a Zulu force massing at the bottom of a nearby valley. The Zulu force quickly attacks the British camp, but are initially repulsed; however, they spread out and adopt a strategy of encircling the British, who are eventually pushed back after they run out of ammunition. A massed infantry charge by the Zulu force breaks the British lines, causing them to retreat back towards their camp. Overwhelmed by the attacking Zulus, the British force collapses and is quickly massacred.

Zulu warriors quickly hunt down any British survivors fleeing the battle, while several British soldiers attempt an unsuccessful last stand. The British camp's commander, Colonel Pulleine, entrusts a regimental colour to his soldiers, who attempt to carry it safely back to the Cape Colony; they pass numerous dead and dying British soldiers during their journey. Eventually reaching the Buffalo River, the British soldiers are discovered and killed by Zulu warriors; the colour is captured by a Zulu. Lieutenant Vereker, who lies wounded and trapped under his fallen horse, shoots and kills the Zulu wielding the colour, who drops it into the river, where it floats out of reach of the Zulu force.

In the evening, Lord Chelmsford returns to the scene of the battle, and receives news that a Zulu force has attacked Rorke's Drift. Zulu warriors drag captured artillery back to Ulundi.

Cast

• Peter O'Toole as Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford
• Burt Lancaster as Colonel Anthony Durnford
• Denholm Elliott as Colonel Henry Pulleine
• James Faulkner as Lieutenant Teignmouth Melvill
• Christopher Cazenove as Lieutenant Coghill
• Simon Ward as Lieutenant William Vereker
• Bob Hoskins as Colour Sergeant Williams
• Nigel Davenport as Colonel Hamilton-Brown
• Peter Vaughan as Quartermaster Bloomfield
• Michael Jayston as Colonel Henry Hope Crealock
• Ronald Pickup as Lieutenant Harford
• Ronald Lacey as Norris "Noggs" Newman
• John Mills as Sir Henry Bartle Frere
• Simon Sabela as King Cetshwayo
• Ken Gampu as Mantshonga
• Abe Temba as Uhama
• Gilbert Tiabane as Bayele
• Dai Bradley as Private Williams
• Paul Copley as Corporal Storey
• Donald Pickering as Major Russell R.A.
• Nicholas Clay as Lieutenant Raw
• Phil Daniels as Boy Pullen
• Ian Yule as Corporal Fields
• Peter J. Elliott as Sentry
• Brian O'Shaughnessy as Major Smith R.A.
• Freddie Jones as Bishop John Colenso

Production

The script was originally written by Cy Endfield.

The Lamitas Property Investment Corporation financed a series of films, including several in South Africa, such as The Wild Geese (1978). The company committed about £5 million to Zulu Dawn, most of it raised from a Swiss bank, the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. HBO helped guarantee finance. Initially set at $6.5 million, the budget kept increasing. The film ultimately cost $11.75 million, despite coming in only two days over schedule. Jake Eberts was involved in raising financing; he had to guarantee Lancaster's salary when Lancaster's agent insisted on one. This meant Eberts was liable for the loan. In 1983, interest made this £450,000. Eberts spent years paying it back.

John Hurt was cast in a lead role but was refused entry to South Africa. This confused Hurt, who was not particularly active politically. It was thought South African Intelligence may have confused him with the actor John Heard, who had been arrested in an anti-Apartheid march.

Shooting

Every day of filming, more than 1,000 people were involved. Zulu extras were paid £2.70 per day.

In 1978, producers and financiers agreed to defer fees and no completion guarantee was in place. Norma Foster was a liaison between the South African government (notably the Minister of Information, Dr Connie Mulder) and the filmmakers; she later claimed the producers owed £20,000. Co-producers James Faulkner and Barrie Saint Clair claim they were owed £100,000 in deferred fees. Over 100 South African creditors allege they were owed £250,000. Faulkner and Saint Clair sought an injunction to block screenings until they were paid. Lamitas denied liability, claiming expenses exceeded the agreed budget, and the injunction was lifted May 21, 1979. They later offered to settle for £25 on the pound.

Music

In 1978, David Japp, founder and MD of London-based composers agency The First Composers Company, met producer Nate Kohn and suggested he use composer Mike Batt – an accomplished composer and arranger of orchestral music best known for his pop compositions for children's TV series The Wombles and the pop-chart hits of the songs from the series, and, in particular, for the song "Bright Eyes" from the animated film Watership Down (1978) – to commission to the score. However, shortly after the agreement was signed and the first third of the fee paid, Kohn informed Japp that the producers had changed their minds and wanted a "name" to help with the film's promotion. Devastated, Batt refused to accept the rest of the "pay or play" fee, due under the terms of the signed agreement.

Japp sent his US client list to Kohn, who selected Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven, The Ten Commandments, The Great Escape, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Thoroughly Modern Millie, for the last of which Bernstein had won an Oscar). Japp negotiated the highest fee that Bernstein had ever been paid. Only after the score had been recorded at Abbey Road Studios and the film shown at Cannes did Japp find out the producers mistakenly thought they were hiring Leonard Bernstein, famed conductor and composer of dozens of orchestral compositions and film scores, notably West Side Story.

Reception

The film has received mixed reviews. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Zulu Dawn has an approval rating of 50% based on 8 reviews and an average rating of 6.03/10.

External links

• Zulu Dawn at IMDb
• Zulu Dawn at Rotten Tomatoes
• Zulu Dawn at AllMovie
• http://www.takeoneinplease.com for commentary in British film section on how Victorians managed to change perceptions of battles of Rorke's Drift and Isandhlwana.