In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, man-of-the-people Lt. Chard and snooty Lt. Bromhead are in charge of defending the isolated and vastly outnumbered Natal outpost of Rorke's Drift from tribal hordes.
Acting
Caine's debut: aristocratic panic meets reluctant courage.
Direction
Endfield builds dread through silence, then releases hell.
Score
Those Zulu war chants? Still chill-inducing sixty years later.
Director
Cy Endfield
Stanley Baker
Lt. John Chard R.E.
Jack Hawkins
Rev. Otto Witt
Ulla Jacobsson
Margareta Witt
James Booth
Pte. Henry Hook
Michael Caine
Lt. Gonville Bromhead
Nigel Green
Colour Sgt. Frank Bourne
Paul Daneman
Sgt. Maxfield
Patrick Magee
Surgeon Reynolds
Glynn Edwards
Cpl. Allen
Neil McCarthy
Pvt. Thomas
Gary Bond
Pvt. Cole
Richard Burton
Narration spoken (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Rorke's Drift had no attempted rape subplot; that was added for grim 'realism.' The actual Private Hook was a teetotaler, not the film's malingering drunk.
Zulu became a cult favorite among actual Zulu people—paradoxically celebrated for depicting their ancestors' disciplined warrior culture, despite the British perspective.
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