Behind the scenes: Zulu

Features

Six rare images of Michael Caine and the cast and crew grappling with the heat and dust of South Africa during the making of the now 50-year-old British classic.

Michael Caine enjoys a moment out of full costume, as the lighting crew prepare the next shot on location for Zulu (1964). Top-billed Stanley Baker (right), meanwhile, is top-to-toe in helmet and bright red uniform.
All dressed up for stardom: Caine poses in uniform for a portrait between takes. He quickly found himself one of the biggest actors in 1960 British cinema, after his star-making turn here playing infantry officer Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead.
Newsletter subscription is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

 

Say ‘cheese’! A group portrait of the actors playing the British army regiment who find themselves struggling to fend off an attack from 4,000 Zulu warriors at Rorke’s Drift.
Director Cy Endfield dressed for the South African heat in short shorts. Endfield had previously directed Stanley Baker (second left) in the cult truck-driving thriller Hell Drivers (1957).
The great character actor Jack Hawkins in costume between takes. Hawkins plays Reverend Otto Witt, a Swedish missionary stationed at Rorke’s Drift.
Director Cy Endfield with one of the huge cameras used for the Zulu shoot. The film was shot in the Technirama, an anamorphic, widescreen technology similar to CinemaScope. Other recent Technirama productions included El Cid (1961) and The Leopard (1963).
BFI Player logo

See something different

Stream hand-picked films from £6.99 per month.

Try 14 days free