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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:55 pm

Rich,
I think he was the security guard on a factory gate. I may be wrong.

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:24 pm

Mmmm close Alan. He's listed as being a copper.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000323/

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:43 pm

very good!.....thx....did he impress as a copper????...I guess he went as Mickelwhite then, no or was he a "Caine"????

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 5:42 am

A bit more specifically, from another website:

Michael Caine appears about an hour in as a policeman trying to halt Judd's character at a road block. You don't see much of his face, but the voice is unmistakeable.

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 11:08 am

I used to have The Man Who Would Be King on video but I have long since given it away. It is one of my all time favourites. Just read this thread and decided to fork out for the DVD. However, IMDB list the film as 129 mins but the DVD on sale is 124 mins. Anyone any ideas as to the cuts?

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:59 pm

In his ZULU book, Sheldon mentions that the Region 2 DVD of ZULU runs several minutes shorter than the Region 1 DVD because the PAL system "speeds up" the running time of the theatrical release a bit (unlike the NTSC system), although the footage is all there. Since the running time of the Region 1 DVD of THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING is 129 minutes, if you're talking about the Region 2 release, I suspect it's the same explanation for that film. But you might be interested in this comment among the MAN WHO WOULD BE KING customer reviews at amazon.com:

I was astonished to see that on this DVD (issued almost ten years ago) a key scene near the end of the film is deleted. A character is falling in slow motion while there is voice-over narration by Michael Caine.

The scene is incredibly powerful and among the most memorable cinema moments I've had. But gone from this print. Evidently still on old VHS versions.

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:21 pm

What Peter says about divergent running times for PAL and NTSC is quite correct. However, you might want to wait before buying the Region 2 DVD. A Region 1 Special Edition is about to be released, with extra features (the first release was a 'flipper', i.e. the film was broken into two parts, one on each side of a single disc). The first R1 release also had a trailer gallery and vintage featurette showing the staging of the climactic stunt fall involving Sean Connery (though the documentary doesn't say so, Connery's stunt double for this fall was actually Joe Powell - Sgt. Windridge himself!); the R2 release is 'vanilla' and it's unlikely that the new R1 SE will be duplicated with a R2 release (like "ZULU" the film is distributed by different companies in Britain and America).

As for that shot deleted from the end of some versions of the film: I too remember this shot from early TV broadcasts, though it is missing from versions of the film I've seen subsequently. It may be that the shot was cut after early screenings because audiences responded unfavourably to it (I can see why they would, though I rather liked it). It's also worth noting that, for the film's British re-release, some 20 minutes were cut out to enable double-billing, though I'm not aware that this version has ever made it to TV or video.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:52 pm

Sheldon...maybe you know the ways of the BBC...off topic....
Back in '75 or '76, "Poldark" was on the screen here as well as in Britain.
I'm puzzled though why they haven't issued a region 1 dvd. I figure they can make some money and it was a popular series I think? It's available in Region 2.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 5:48 pm

No idea re. Poldark DVDs. Not my field, I'm afraid (though I remember the series on TV in the 70s - BBC1, Sundays at 7.25pm...).

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:21 pm

Yes, series based on those novels of Cornwall by the late Winston Graham (fellow who wrote the novel "Marnie")..

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:32 pm

The Man Who Would Be King is one of my all-time favourites. John Huston originally wanted Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable as his leads. When they died (Bogart in 1957, Gable in 1960) the project slowed right down until 1973 when the two actors in line were Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It was Newman who suggested that two Britons should really play the lead roles, and he then suggested Michael Caine and Sean Connery. I really like Christopher Plummer in it too (as Kipling).

Didn't Maichael Caine meet his wife-to-be on the film, Shakira? Or were they already married? It would certainly mirror the plot, itself a mirror of Alexander's time in Afghanistan.

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:43 am

I agree with you on TMWWBK and I do hate to spoil the historic parallels but...... Imdb gives his date of marriage to Shakira as 8 Jan 73 and the film as 1975 but no date of shooting but it would mean stretching the production time unrealistically.

Her entry in the Imdb however gives the game away .......
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0129008/

Miss Guyana 1967

Mother, with Michael Caine, of Natasha.

(Always lots of statistics on this forum but these are my favourite - Wink

)

Measurements: 36-24-35 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

She met her husband, Michael Caine, after he became obsessed with meeting "the most beautiful woman he had ever seen" in a "Maxwell House" commercial. He was planning on going to Brazil to track her down but it turned she was living in London, England. A friend gave him her phone number and the rest is history.....

Aaah. Bless 'em all. A story of history as great as the one you suggested. Not many people know that.

Regards

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:58 am

True - just as good a story. There's me getting reality and fantasy mixed up... again!

http://www.shakiracaine.com/

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:03 am

Sir Michael Caine appeared in Parkinson again last week and he seemed to indicate that a remake of 'Zulu' WAS being contemplated.
Did anyone else see the interview?

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 12:54 pm

Paul

That's very interesting. I never saw the interview, but I read the transcript.

Apparently, someone told Michael they were remaking 'Zulu', but from the Zulu perspective. (unless the other person was joking)

Personally, if they were wishing to show a battle from the Zulu perspective, the determination of the warriors, etc., I would have thought Isandlwana would have been more suited.

I'd be delighted, of course, if another movie about Rorke's Drift was made.

However, there is the chance that if there was a successful new film about this specific engagement, Isandlwana may be considered afterwards. (a prequel)

There does indeed appear to be a run of Michael Caine film remakes - Get Carter, Alfie, The Italian Job. So, maybe 'Zulu' will also be included, although a variation on the original.

I'm also wondering if money may be the issue, as the sheer scale of a film about Isandlwana may be beyond available finances.

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