Zulu (1964 film) London. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for "Time Out" magazine ranked it the 93rd best British film ever. In 1879, a communiqué from Lord Chelmsford to the Secretary of State for War in London (voice-over narration by Richard Burton) details the crushing defeat of a British force at the hands of the Zulus at the Battle of Isandlwana. In the aftermath of the battle, the victorious Zulus walk amongst the scattered bodies of dead British soldiers and gather their rifles. At a mass Zulu marriage ceremony witnessed by missionary Otto Witt (Jack Hawkins)
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