Zulu Dawn

"The sun dawned bloodied... two great armies met face to face... and the earth trembled to the sound of the Zulu death chant!"

1979 1h 57m EN

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6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 122

AdventureDramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

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In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.

“The sun dawned bloodied... two great armies met face to face... and the earth trembled to the sound of the Zulu death chant!”

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Cast

Burt Lancaster
Col. Anthony Durnford
Peter O'Toole
Lord Chelmsford
John Mills
Sir Henry Bartle Frere
Denholm Elliott
Colonel Pulleine
Simon Ward
Lt. Vereker
Nigel Davenport
Col. Hamilton-Brown
Michael Jayston
Col. Crealock
Peter Vaughan
QSM Bloomfield

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Douglas Hickox
Writers: Cy Endfield, Anthony Story, Cy Endfield
Languages: Zulu, English
Countries: Netherlands, United States of America, South Africa

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 16% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

47 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Zulu, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Netherlands, United States of America, South Africa.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Zulu Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Douglas Hickox, shot by Ousama Rawi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Malcolm Cooke shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Douglas Hickox directs. Ousama Rawi behind the camera. Elmer Bernstein scores. Malcolm Cooke cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Netherlands, United States of America, South Africa. Dialogue in Zulu, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 16% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
247 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Zulu, English.
4International production across 3 countries: Netherlands, United States of America, South Africa.
5Part of the "Zulu Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Douglas Hickox, shot by Ousama Rawi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Malcolm Cooke shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Burt Lancaster and Peter O'Toole and John Mills carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "The sun dawned bloodied... two great armies met face to face... and the earth trembled to the sound of the Zulu death chant!".
11IMDB entry: tt0080180 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 15 themes, including "fight", "british empire", "victory", "prequel".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ousama Rawi
Original score: Elmer Bernstein
Editing: Malcolm Cooke
Production design: John Rosewarne
Costume design: John Buckley
Makeup / hair: Colin Polson
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,750,000
Box office: $1,875,000
Return: 16% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Zulu Dawn (1979)

Part of

Zulu Collection

The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the British North America Act of 1867 for the federation in Canada, by Lord Carnarvon, it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African Kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa. In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand. Frere, on his own initiative, sent a provocative ultimatum on 11 December 1878 to the Zulu king Cetshwayo and upon its rejection sent Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand. The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles.

Also by

Douglas Hickox

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-12-03
★ 6/10
Though certainly epic in cinematographic terms, this is a really meandering and over-cast depiction of the Zulu defeat of the British garrison at Isandlwana at the end of the 19th century. I'm assuming it was made as a precursor of - and to capitalise upon - the far superior "Zulu" (1964) but right from the get-go it's just wordy and ponderous and, well, lacklustre. Peter O'Toole does exude a certain arrogance in his role as the Commander of the army (Lord Chelmsford) but Burt Lancaster - and his distinctly ropey accent - as "Col. Durnford", features all too sparingly to offer much more than a casual dig at the incompetencies of his boss as the Zulu and the soldiers of the Queen square up. This cast list is impressive but none of the assembled stars of stage and screen are really used to any great effect. History tells us what happens next, and the colourful action scenes are well put together with enthusiastic efforts from the Zulu themselves delivering well staged combat scenes. Sadly, though, we have to wait far too long for these to rescue this from the doldrums of colourful but procedural cinema that offers us little to nourish either our interest in the characters or in the colonial and ambitious politics of the region that prevailed at the time. Underwhelming, sorry!

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