Zulu (1964 film) Zulu (1964 film) Zulu is a 1964 British epic war film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War. It depicts 150 British soldiers, many of whom were sick and wounded patients in a field hospital, who successfully held off a force of 4,000 Zulu warriors. The film is notable for showing the Zulu army as disciplined and governed by strategy. The film was directed by American screenwriter Cy Endfield and produced by Stanley Baker and Endfield, with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer. The screenplay is by
Jack Hawkins to be Jack Hawkins. If he hadn't been free to play the part, then there wouldn't have been a film." "The Cruel Sea" was the most successful film of the year and saw Hawkins voted the most popular star in Britain regardless of nationality. According to one obituary he "exemplified for many cinemagoers the stiff upper lip tradition prevalent in post war British films. His craggy looks and authoritative bearing were used to good effect whatever branch of the services he represented." "Malta Story" (1953) was another military story, with Hawkins as an RAF officer in the Siege of Malta