Zulu Dawn

Zulu Dawn is a 1979 book and motion picture about the Battle of Isandlwana between British and Zulu military units in 1879 in South Africa. The film is available on tape or DVD, and frequently appears on television.

The book was written by Cy Endfield who co-wrote the screenplay with Anthony Story. The film was directed by Douglas Hickox, with music scored by Elmer Bernstein.

Primary cast

• Burt Lancaster : Colonel Durnford. Commander of a large force of the Natal Native Contingent, Britain's African allies, Durnford is a humane officer who expresses deep concern for the lives and welfare of his African troops, who are otherwise treated as little better than slaves. When war breaks out, Durnford, much to his chagrin, is ordered to remain in Natal and defend the border rather than accompany the invasion force. His troops are ultimately called to reinforce the invasion army, and on the day of battle, Durnford and his African cavalrymen are driven into the camp. As the British force breaks apart, Durnford becomes trapped in the camp, and is killed amongst his infantrymen.
• Simon Ward  : Lt. William Vereker. A junior officer who has recently attached to Durnford's command, Lt Vereker is a light-hearted cavalry officer eager to see war. Vereker's enthusiasm, though, evaporates as he sees Zulu warriors tortured and slain by British troops. Vereker and his men discover the main Zulu army on the morning of the battle, and as British battle lines collapse, Vereker accompanies Lts. Melvill and Coghill in an effort to return the army's flags to Natal. ALthough Zulu warriors capture the Union Flag, Vereker, in his dying moments, shoots the lead Zulu warrior, ensuring that the flag falls into the Zambezi River, where it is washed out of the reach of Zulu forces.
• Denholm Elliott  : Colonel Pulleine. A mild-mannered and indecisive man, Pulleine is a military bureaucrat who accompanys the army into Zululand, and finds himself left in command of the camp at Isandlwana after Chelmsford leaves on a sortie. News of the approaching Zulu army unnerves Pulleine, and his overstretched troops are unable to defend the camp. After having entrusted the Union Flag to Lts. Melvill and Coghill, Pulleine returns to his tent to pen a last letter to his wife. He is discovered in his tent by one of the Zulu warriors who had escaped the British torturers, and unwilling to end the young soldier's life, the elderly Pulleine allows himself to be killed in his tent.
• Peter Vaughan  : Quarter Sergeant-Major Bloomfield. An elderly and jovial sergeant, QSM Bloomfield, who claims (somewhat dubiously) to have joined the army during the Napoleonic Wars some sixty years earlier, is a military administrator responsible for overseeing the invasion force's complex supply network. Bloomfield takes a young teenage soldier under his wing, but his compassion and concern does not extend to the Natal Native Contingent's black soldiers, who he sees as little more than animals. During the battle, Bloomfield refuses to dispense ammunition to troops from other units, contributing to chronic ammunition shortages which oblige British troops to retreat. Bloomfield is badly injured when his ammunition wagon explodes, and is killed by a Zulu warrior's assegai.
• James Faulkner  : Lieutenant Melvill. An arrogant, conceited, and unpleasant man, Melvill first displays his extreme arrogance when British troops cross the Zambezi River into Zululand - when a lone Zulu warrior calls from a mountaintop, asking why British forces are invading, Melvill shouts back "we come in the name of Queen Victoria, Queen of all Africa". During the invasion, Melvill expresses a complete lack of sympathy for African soldiers who drown in the river, and encourages the torture of Zulu prisoners. Towards the end of the battle, Melvill carries the Union Flag back towards Natal, ignoring British infantrymen being killed as they escape on foot. Melvill reaches the border between Zululand and Natal, but is stabbed to death by Zulu warriors while crossing the Zambezi River.
• Christopher Cazenove  : Lieutenant Coghill. A polite and well-educated young officer, Lieutenant Coghill is temporarily attached to Colonel Pulleine's staff, due to an injured leg which requires him to ride on horseback. Coghill has a close friendship with Lt. Melvill, and during the invasion he expresses deep dissatisfaction at Chelmsford's strategy. Towards the end of the battle, Coghill accompanies Melvill in his attempt to gallop the Union Flag back towards Natal. When Melvill nearly drowns while trying to cross the Zambezi River, Coghill turns to help him, and is ambushed by Zulu warriors. Coghill attempts to defend himself with his sword, but is killed.
• Bob Hoskins  : Colour-Sergeant-Major Williams. The loud, aggressive Williams, a high-ranking NCO, is viewed by his soldiers with a mixture of fear and respect, but displays genuine concern for his troops. During the battle, Williams loses many of his infantrymen during hand-to-hand fighting, and is badly injured while defending a group of unarmed artillerymen. Williams is killed while attempting to save the life of one of his young soldiers, and having killed several Zulu soldiers with his bayonet, Williams dies at the hands of a large group of fanatical Zulu infantrymen.
• Peter O'Toole : Lord Chelmsford. The supremely arrogant commander of British forces in South Africa, Lord Chelmsford is eager to advance his military career by crushing neighbouring Zululand, believing that "for the savage as for the child, chastisement is sometimes a blessing". During the invasion, Chelmsford arrogantly refuses to listen to advice from his British and Boer advisors, and from the comfort of his luxurious tent and personal coach, authorises his troops to torture young Zulu captives. On the day of the battle, Chelmsford commits a cardinal error in splitting his forces. While the troops at Isandlwana fight for their lives, Chelmsford and his officers, a few miles away, enjoy a silver-service luncheon, laughing sardonically at increasingly urgent reports of the battle a few miles away. Chelmsford is last seen arriving at the site of the battle several hours later, staring emptily at the bodies of his soldiers.
• John Mills  : Sir Henry Bartle Frere. An arrogant, self-important, and deeply racist administrator, Bartle Frere, the British High Commissioner for South Africa, provokes the war by issuing King Cetshwayo with an impossible ultimatum. Viewing the Zulus as savage barbarians, Bartle Frere believes that the war will provide "a Final Solution to the Zulu Question". Frere is last seen on the night of the British invasion, and does not appear again in the film.

Plot

Template:Spoiler The film is set in British South Africa, in the province of Natal, in January 1879. The first half of the film revolves around the administrators and officials of Cape Colony, notably the supremely arrogant Lord Chelmsford and the scheming Sir Henry Bartle Frere, who both wish to crush the neighbouring Zulu Empire, perceived as a threat to Cape Colony's emerging industrial economy. Eager to crush the Zulus, Bartle Frere issues an impossible ultimatum to the Zulu King, Cetshwayo, demanding that he dissolves the Zulu Empire. Cetshwayo refuses, providing Cape Colony with a pretext to invade Zululand. Despite objections from leading members of Cape Colony's high society and from Great Britain itself, Bartle Frere authorises Lord Chelmsford to lead a British invasion force into Zululand.

The second half of the film focuses on the British invasion of Zululand and the lead-up to the Battle of Isandhlwana. The invading British army, laden down with an immense network of supply wagons, invades Zululand and marches in the direction of Ulundi, the Zulu capital. British forces, eager to fight a large battle in which they can unleash their cutting-edge military technology against the vast Zulu army, become increasingly frustrated as the main Zulu army refuses to attack the British, and fighting is restricted to a few small skirmishes between British and Zulu scouts. Concerned that their supply lines are becoming overstretched and that the main Zulu army is still at large, British troops begin torturing captive Zulu warriors in an effort to learn the location and tactics of the Zulu field army. The Zulu captives, though, escape their torturers and regroup with the Zulu army, informing them of the British army's direction and strength. Halfway to Ulundi, Chelmsford halts his army at the base of Mount Isandhlwana, ignoring the advice of Boer attendants to entrench the camp and laager his supply wagons, leaving the camp dangerously exposed. Reacting to false intelligence, Chelmsford leads half of the British army, including the best infantry, cavalry, and artillery units, on a wild goose chase far from the camp, in pursuit of a phantom Zulu army. With the British camp at Isandhlwana defended by only half the British invasion force, the main Zulu army launches an attack on the camp.

Initially, the British infantry succeed in defending the camp, and Zulu forces retreat under a hail of rifle and artillery fire. However, British units defending the camp are dangerously spread-out, and do not notice Zulu forces sneaking round the sides of the mountain in an encircling move. As British infantrymen begin to run out of ammunition and the British cavalry are driven back towards the camp, Zulu warriors charge the British troops en masse, sustaining horrific casualties, but succeed in breaking the British lines. As British troops break and flee towards the camp, the battle breaks down into hand-to-hand fighting between British and Zulu soldiers, amongst the débris of tents, wagons, and supply dumps. Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Zulu warriors, British soldiers and their African allies are slaughtered in the camp, or cut down as they attempt to flee back towards Cape Colony. During the last minutes of the battle, the camp's commander, Colonel Pulleine, entrusts the Union Jack to two junior officers, who attempt to carry it to safety in Cape Colony, passing gruesome scenes as Zulu warriors hunt down British and African infantrymen attempting to flee towards Natal. In the evening, Chelmsford and the rest of the British army return to Isandhlwana, to be greeted by the sight of their slaughtered comrades, and the news that a mass Zulu army has invaded Cape Colony and lain siege to Rorke's Drift. The film ends with Zulu warriors in a silhouetted victory procession, dragging captured British artillery back to Ulundi.

Reception

Despite having a large budget and being designed to complement the hugely successful film Zulu the film was not well received and did not fare particularly well at the box office. The uniforms of the British soldiers appeared to have been made of nylon which made them not only inaccurate but also cheap looking. The rifles carried by the soldiers are also inaccurate as they are, in fact, cavalry carbines and not the longer rifles to which a bayonet could be fixed. The film also made use of wide and mid shots but few close ups. This did not have the same feel as the earlier film and the huge scenery where the film was shot swallowed up the several thousand Zulu extras

External links

• Zulu Dawn at IMDb

Related titles

This film is a prequel to another film of the Anglo-Zulu War, Zulu released in 1964, dealing with the Battle of Rorke's Drift. Zulu was directed and co-written by Cy Endfield, and was more popular.