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Zulu With Some Guts Behind It
peterw


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 865
Location: UK
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My copy of Sheldon's book arrived on Saturday. After a quick scan through the chapter headings and illustrations I am settling down to give it my proper attention.

Even at this early stage I would like to give it an unashamed plug. It is a delightful book, packed full with never been seen shots taken during the making of the film.

Having been quite dismissive of the film in recent years as mis-representing the event, I have been reminded that it really was a drama, and a quite incredible one at that, and should be celebrated accordingly.

Peter
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Alan
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 1530
Location: Wales
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Peter, you're lucky. The website copy hasn't arrived yet.
Alan Sad
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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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Alan,

Have you ordered one?! If not it might be worth giving Tomahawk a call for a review copy. Others have gone out already.

Best, Sheldon
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Alan
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 1530
Location: Wales
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Sheldon,
no I haven't ordered one.
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Phil Read


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 38
Location: Epsom, Surrey.
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Sheldon

I'm going through the Tomahawk website to get a signed copy. Where do I put the request in? Does it come up automatically after I've put in the order, or is it in another area?

Regards


Phil
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peterw


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 865
Location: UK
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Phil

I asked the same question. If you send an email to Tomahawk at the same time as placing your order you should get a signed copy.

Peter
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Phil Read


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 38
Location: Epsom, Surrey.
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Peter

Received my signed copy today just 24 hours after ordering!


Phil
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Steve Moore


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 47
Location: West Midlands
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Hi, Sheldons book arrived yesterday, finally got to bed at 3am (ish) this morning! Sell the cat, do not miss this.
Cheers Steve
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David Glynne Fox


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 59
Location: Nottingham
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Hi Sheldon,
I received my copy of your long awaited tome from Tomahawk, signed copy too and have been glued to it ever since. Congratulations, it is every bit as good as I expected it would be when you told me about it at Firepower last year.

Like many in your book, I would almost certainly have had no interest in the Zulu War had it not been for viewing this film when it came out in 1964. I left that cinema that night not realising that it had changed my life. I know there are those who are interested in this campaign and the film they say had nothing to do with their interest, and that is quite probably true, but I for one am not ashamed in the least to admit that it was the be and end all for me.

Stanley Baker and Cy Endfield have a lot to answer for. The film has cost me a fortune in artefacts, medals and suchlike not to mention three degrees in the subject. I have just received my PhD certificate as a result of the interest this film gave me.

Despite the film script departing from fact, I still watch it very regularly, too regularly some might say, without the least bit detracted by it's innaccuracies. It was never intended to be a documentary, just a film based on fact, and that is how I believe it should be viewed. One of the papers for my BA(Hons) was all to do with analysing the film and its adherance, or not, to fact. I went through the whole film, freeze-framing it. One part which always makes me smile is Bromhead's remark, " You mean your only plan is to stand behind a few mealie bags and wait?" And this after he "Started the barricades though, managed to think of that." And "The runner brought orders to the commander of this post..viz.. to hold our ground." Why would he start on barricades and obey orders to hold their ground if he really planned to "take the Company up into the hills and cut them down in the passes". Or am I just sad.

I don't care what anyone says, I owe John Prebble,Joseph E. Levine, Stanley Baker and Cy Endfield an enormous debt. The music soundtrack from John Barry never ceases to stir me. I used it at a lecture I recently gave and thought it added a nice touch.

And now we owe Sheldon Hall a great debt too, for telling us how all this came to pass.
Already looking forward to the next one Sheldon. Well done.
Regards
David

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David Glynne Fox ZuluVentures.co.uk
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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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Hi David,

Many thanks for these generous words, and I'm glad the book lives up to your expectations. Fascinating to learn about your own academic interest in the film too. What was the subject of your PHD thesis? (Congratulations on it, BTW!)

Regards, Sheldon
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David Glynne Fox


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 59
Location: Nottingham
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Hi Sheldon,
The subject of my PhD thesis was "The Anglo-Zulu War unnecessarily destroyed the Zulu Nation."
I was reading the narration section of your book yesterday and noticed that Richard Burton recorded the narration for the title and VC roll in Paris. Is Lady Ellen Baker mistaken when she states on the Collectors Edition CD "Making of Zulu" that, and I quote, " Richard came down to Twickenham one afternoon and completed the narration there and then?" She seems quite certain that that is what took place. It is an interesting discrepancy, although I am sure your research is likely to be the correct version. I just wondered. I played the CD again just to be sure. There will no doubt be as many blanks remaining to be filled as in the real war.
Kindest regards
David

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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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Hi David,

Memories are of course notoriously unreliable, but Cy Endfield was there and Lady Baker wasn't. It is the director's own detailed, first-hand account which is reproduced in the book and his passport confirms that he was in France on the dates given. One sometimes encounters discrepancies like this where two (or more) people give entirely different accounts of one thing, with equal certainty that theirs is the true one; in most instances I have gone with the more likely scenario, as is the case here. And yes, though it is only 40-odd years ago, trying to reconstruct an accurate, reliable account is extremely hazardous!

Sheldon
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Zulu-With Some Guts Behind It
David Glynne Fox


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 59
Location: Nottingham
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Hi Sheldon,
Many thanks for clearing that up. It is as I suspected, a lapse of memory on Lady Ellen's part. As you say, 40 years is a long time.

I already knew many of the cast of Zulu had passed away, but didn't know about Simon Sabela, what a great shame. Having "grown up" with Zulu, these characters have become almost friends over the years, despite only having ever met James Booth and Joe Powell. Sad too about James, he looked so well at Firepower.
Kindest regards
David

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Sawubona


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1179
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Sheldon,
I finally got my copy of your book through "special order" at a local bookstore and have prettty much read it cover to cover (I'm now working from the back to the front!) You certainly have my humble respect for the depth of your research and that respect is only exceeded by my admiration for the easy flow of your presentation of the material.
You're certainly owed a debt of gratitude that such a wealth of primary material and minutae (sp?) is now available and preserved in one accessible source. Thanks!
And now I have some questions:
1) In your "Acknowledgements" you mention the Paramount collectors edition DVD with "the making of" bonus feature. Is this possibly the same as the elusive black and white documentary we hear about in the States? Is the CD mentioned above by David part of this same two disc set? Is my undertanding correct that this can't be had in the US? As I've the tools and the talent to view it regardless of format or "region", I'd like to acquire a legal copy of it, so any hints on this quest would be appreciated.
2) Am I the only one who feels that the rendering of Stanley Baker on the Plaza marquee photo (and by extension, many of the movie posters including the US one-sheet) isn't a particularly good likeness of him? It almost looks like a stand-in posed for the artist, but Stanley Baker must have approved it, right? I may be way out in left field on this, but I thought it noteworthy.
Thanks for the book and in abvance for your answers.
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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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Hi Sawubona,

Many thanks for your generous compliments - it's always nice to know that the years of hard work have paid off! To answer your questions:

(1) The DVD has a two-part documentary specially made for the disc in 2002, but not the 1963 b&w footage, though it is to be hoped that this marerial will be used in a NEW documentary building on my book and incorporating other rare on-set footage unearthed in the course of my research. For now, the Region 2 DVD is the best video material generally available; it also has an audio commentary by me and Bob Porter, the second-unit director, and two original trailers. It can be ordered very cheaply from the UK Amazon site, which will ship abroad: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059H27/ref%3Ded%5Ffelist%5F1%5F4/026-1757847-2065224

(2) I agree that the portrait of Baker in the marquee poster is not very good. It appears to be drawn from the still photo which appears at the bottom of page 90, though it has been reversed so that Baker's hair-parting is on the wrong side in the poster image. It certainly makes him look older and more gnarled!

Best regards, Sheldon
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Zulu With Some Guts Behind It
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