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Real fighting
Martin Everett


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 786
Location: Brecon
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I was travelling home from the museum last Saturday evening and was listening to the car radio ' 'Simon Bates and Classic FM at the Movies'. Just after 5 pm, Simon introduced John Barry's music from 'Zulu'.

Simon always being full of anecdotes said the Stanley Baker had difficulties with the Zulu extras when making the film as the Zulus thought that this was going to be an actual re-run of the Defence of Rorke's Drift - with real fighting. Thereupon Stanley Baker called on his actor/soldier friend Audie Murphy (was he there at the filming?) to help. The Zulus then realised this was only a film. A good story, but is it true?

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Martin Everett
Brecon, Powys
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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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Hi Martin,

Unfortunately this well-known story seems to have got garbled in the telling. There is plenty of testimony from cast and crew to suggest that (1) the Zulus didn't really understand what a film was, and (2) they were concerned that the fighting might involve real bullets, etc. Stanley and second-unit director Bob Porter convinced them that the latter fear was groundless by play-acting death scenes, but had to show them an actual film to demonstrate what it was all for. Apparently they showed a Gene Autry (not Audie Murphy - the names sound alike) Western, to the Zulus' delight and thereafter had regular out-of-doors screenings for the Zulu cast during filming (see the photo illustration in my book). No-one has suggested that the real Gene Autry (or Audie Murphy) was present for either the screenings or the shooting!

Sheldon
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Real fighting
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