| Date | Original Topic |
| 15th January 2005 | srg bourn
By kieran
hi im only 14 but i love history i very itrested mind my spelling the british empire i love the film zulu ive watched since i was 3 in the film color srg bourn was very good do u think he schould of got a vc aswell i think he schould of i dont know if he did tho |
| Date | Replies |
| 15th January 2005 | Martin Boyle
Hello, Kieran. Frank Bourne was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. I read somewhere that he was offered the chance of a VC or promotion, and he chose promotion. I don't know if this is true. Someone else might be able to comment. He did, eventually, become an officer. At the time of the battle he was only 24. He lived until nearly the end of the Second World War. He is my favourite in the film, too.
Best Regards,
Martin. |
| 15th January 2005 | Richard
Sorry to spoil a good story but no one would be given the choice promotion or a VC! As has been said on other posts on this site Frank Bourne was doing his job, and did nothing to merit the VC. And yes he's my favourite, both in the film and for real. |
| 15th January 2005 | Martin Everett
Kieran,
CSgt Bourne received the same gratuity with the DCM as the VC - £10 per annum - lot of money in those days as a soldier's annual pay was £36. This sum was more important than the actual medal/decoration. He was offered DCM plus commission but turned down the commission. In stature, he was nothing like actor Nigel Green. |
| 15th January 2005 | Martin Everett
Kieran,
CSgt Bourne received the same gratuity with the DCM as the VC - £10 per annum - lot of money in those days as a soldier's annual pay was £36. This sum was more important than the actual medal/decoration. He was offered DCM plus commission but turned down the commission. In stature, he was nothing like actor Nigel Green. |
| 15th January 2005 | kieran
yea k i no that srg bourns looked nothing like nigel green but in the film nigel green look like a british officer he just did |
| 15th January 2005 | Paul Cubbin
CSgt Bourne is definitely the best character in the film. I suspect that one reason Bourne got the DCM rather than the VC is that he acted exactly how you would want your Csgt to act - he was stolid, dependable and looked after the lads. His responsibility was to the boys, not to earning himself a bright, shiny gong, and he appears to have carried it out in the perfect fashion.
Nice one Kieran, Bourne is top....and his sideburns/lambchops were a thing of beauty too. |
| 15th January 2005 | kieran
lol yes he doest look solid and fearless to me doesnt anyone else think# |
| 15th January 2005 | Michael Boyle
Kieran,
I agree Green's portrayal ranks way up there as does Hoskin's in Zulu Dawn, however my favourite character remains Booth's 'Hooky'( I saw the film first around your age and was more drawn to the 'anti-hero'.) CSgt Bourne was referred to as 'The Kid' by his men prior to the battle however I like to think his conduct that day proved otherwise and would be surprised if the nick-name held!
I understand he turned down the promotion because he couldn't afford it then (at the time it cost more to be an officer than the position paid) but of course later accepted it.
Best
Michael |
| 15th January 2005 | Martin Boyle
That's right, Kieran and M.E., Green was about 9 inches taller and 20 years older than Bourne. |
| 16th January 2005 | kieran
yer but green did play the role very well he did look like an officer in that age |
| 16th January 2005 | Martin Boyle
Have a look on this site, at the page called 'The Film "Zulu" ', for pictures of Green in the role. |
| 16th January 2005 | Richard
Dont get me started about James Booths potrayal of Hook! I used to think his potrayal was good, until I found out what the real Henry Hook was like. |
| 16th January 2005 | kieran
i agree with richard hook was nothing like that he was kind of a hero in his own right he became an officer later on |
| 16th January 2005 | Michael Boyle
Sorry should have put it -with Booth's portrayal of the character of Hook which had nothing to do with the actual man.(A little help here Diana!)
And yes Pte.Hook was most certainly a hero in his own right.(Athough I was unaware that he'd joined the 'dark side' later on!)
Best
Michael |
| 16th January 2005 | kieran
do u mean the darkside as in the officers well he did if u got zulu on dvd it shows u on the special bit i think |
| 17th January 2005 | Diana Blackwell
Michael,
"Oh, *you* want some help. Why didn't you say so? " :)
I'm happy to echo your sentiments about Hookie--he's my favorite character too. Yes, his subplot is pretty much made up out of whole cloth…but all the characterizations in “Zulu” are made up. A less rebellious, more respectable characterization of Hook would have been more accurate, but not nearly as fun or as richly suggestive.
While I can understand why Hookie's detractors might object to his disreputable qualities, I cannot understand their complaint that he isn't heroic enough. Hookie is portrayed in a supremely heroic light in "Zulu," from the way his fight scenes are choreographed to the fire that surrounds him to the wildly romantic, gratuitous brandy scene. Zulu isn't really trying to tell us what the historical Pte. Hook was like; it's trying to express something noble and untamed in human nature, using the irrepressible Hookie as an illustration. (Thus Hookie's perennial appeal as a special favorite of many fans--a cult within a cult, so to speak.) But using (and sometimes twisting) history to make larger points about human nature is what "Zulu" does all the time.
Bourne is a magnificent character; no argument there!
|
| 17th January 2005 | kieran
tes i aggree it woulded be as funny even tho zulu is a comedy |
| 19th January 2005 | Julian whybra
Kieran
You're mistaken - Hook never became an officer. |
| 23rd January 2005 | Michael Boyle
Thanks Diana, knowing I would be gone for the week I just knew that you could be counted upon to 'fill the breach'!
It should also be remembered that 'Zulu' was filmed in the early sixties, at the cusp between old-time morality plays and modern immorality plays. Cy Endfield could have as easily picked any of the 'other ranks' V.C. awardees to represent the 'soldier who overcomes his baser instincts and rises to the occaision' character(a common motif in most war films that continues right up to the present). A 'hookie-with-a-heart-of-gold' perhaps.
As Diana points out none of the characterizations in 'Zulu' were intended as biography.Nor were they intended to give offence, they were simply plot devices used to illustrate the improbable story of a small band of soldiers who managed to over-come seemingly impossible odds to wrest a victory through sheer guts and determination.Before the film's release few people outside the Commonwealth had even heard of Rorke's Drift (or Isandhlwana), certainly no longer the case, and on this 126th anniversary (Zulu Time minus 6) I can think of no greater vehicle that has so guaranteed the continued memory of the honour and bravery of the men (of both sides) upon 'that fateful day'.
Best
Michael
|
