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| 1918 film Isandhlwana | |
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+13Dave Kenny John 24th Chelmsfordthescapegoat Mr Greaves ADMIN littlehand Peter 90th SirDCC JohnB Younghusband 17 posters | |
Author | Message |
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Younghusband
Posts : 60 Join date : 2010-08-17 Location : Southampton
| Subject: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Sep 29, 2010 11:41 am | |
| Just saw a reference made to a film, presumably made in 1918 about Isandhlwana - I think that Lock and Quantrill have used excerpts from it.
Are there any copies available? On teh same point are there any pre 'Zulu' and 'Zulu Dawn' films that attempted to capture the conflict? |
| | | JohnB
Posts : 95 Join date : 2010-01-10 Age : 73 Location : Taunton
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:51 pm | |
| Hi Younghusband, The film you refer to is called Symbol of Sacrifice. I am not aware the original is available but the reworking is available through the Royal Regiment of Wales online shop at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] As for other films related to the AZW, have a look at this link - you will need to scroll about 1/3rd down the page for the comprehensive listing:- [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Hope this is of use. JohnB |
| | | Younghusband
Posts : 60 Join date : 2010-08-17 Location : Southampton
| Subject: Zulu films Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:40 pm | |
| Fantastic thanks - as always it is a surprise to see so much material there is about this conflict.
Oh for a big budget/digitally enhanced film covering the main battles...
Regards and many thanks |
| | | SirDCC
Posts : 96 Join date : 2010-03-28 Location : England
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:24 am | |
| Just a head's up on Isandlwana : Zulu Battlefield. It has very little footage from 'Symbol of Sacrifice' but that said, it remains one of my fave Zulu war documentaries so don't let that put you off buying it (I'm sure I read somewhere that the film 'Symbol of Sacrifice' was never finished) |
| | | 90th
Posts : 10909 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 68 Location : Melbourne, Australia
| Subject: Symbol Of Sacrifice Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:01 am | |
| Hi All . I think we may have covered this film in an earlier topic ?. But for those who are interested , There is a review section in Ian Knight's book ' The Zul War Then And Now ' which covers all feature films of the war . This also includes ' Stills ' from the Symbol Of Sacrifice and other more well known movies . A collegue has contacted me with the following . ' There is an article on the film written by Mark Coghlan which appeared a while back in the Victorian Military Society's Journal - Soldiers Of The Queen ' . It is of interest that Lord Chelmesford was played by John Colenbrander , who as a young man served in one of the volunteer units in the zulu war . He later went on to become a famous Adventurer and Frontiersman in the 1880 's 1890 's . Fighting in the zulu civil war and under Cecil Rhodes in Rhodesia / Zimbabwe . There is a book about him ' The White Whirlwind ' by T. Bulpin . Whilst filming a scene at Henley - on - Kip outside J ' Burg in which Chelmesford and his Staff cross a flooded River , Colenbrander was swept off his horse and drowned. Now if I remember rightly , I'm sure the director or someone involved in making the movie attempted to talk Colenbrander out of doing that scene at that time due to the danger involved , but he decided to press on anyway , and sadly lost his life . In reply to SirDcc not sure if it was unfinished ?. I thought it was , and was basically misplaced and lost for many years . I also seem to remember that some of the zulus in the film actually took part in the real battle 39 yrs earlier . cheers 90th.
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| | | Younghusband
Posts : 60 Join date : 2010-08-17 Location : Southampton
| Subject: Colenbrander Fri Oct 01, 2010 10:02 am | |
| I wonder if this is a relation to or the same Colenbrander that Bertram Mitford journeyed with as mentioned in his book Through the Zulu Country |
| | | 90th
Posts : 10909 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 68 Location : Melbourne, Australia
| Subject: 1918 film Isandlwana Fri Oct 01, 2010 10:31 am | |
| hi Younghusband . That's a very good point , I will go out on a limb and say it's the same chap . Happy to be corrected . cheers 90th. |
| | | 90th
Posts : 10909 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 68 Location : Melbourne, Australia
| Subject: 1918 film Isandlwana Fri Oct 01, 2010 10:59 am | |
| Hi all . This from a collegue . ' The film was finished but no intact copies have survived , only one copy in poor condition which turned up in Sth. africa . Mark Coghlan of KZN Museum Services patched it together as best he could . Apparantly it was common practise to recycle films in those days , chopping bits from one film and adding them to another , judging from what's missing that's what happened here . Sym Of Sac is the only film to attempt to cover the whole war . Included was Isandlwana , R.D , Hlobane , Death of the P.I. and Ulundi . It also attempted to cover both sides with the zulus given equal coverage ' . cheers 90th. |
| | | SirDCC
Posts : 96 Join date : 2010-03-28 Location : England
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Fri Oct 01, 2010 11:21 am | |
| I must have read that copies of the film were incomplete & took it to be unfinished. Cheers 90th Edit : Just come across this on google books : HEREIt says that there were around 25,000 people involved in the film & Colenbrander said he'd got the info' for the battle of Isandlwana from chief Usibepu who had commanded an impi at the battle ... |
| | | 90th
Posts : 10909 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 68 Location : Melbourne, Australia
| Subject: 1918 film Isandlwana Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:47 am | |
| Hi All . A collegue has sent me some more info on Colenbrander he is indeed the same chap who was with Mitford . ' Mitford says he was a man of some importance to Usibebu ( Zibhebhu kaMapitha ) and indeed he was . He was Zibhebhu's white man at the time John Dunn had been Ceteswayo's . The latest post on the film thread mentions Colenbrander heard the story of Isandlwana from Zibhebhu which is more than likely as Zibhebhu commanded the reserve as far as the river '
Now if I'm not mistaken Zibhebhu fell or slipped among the terrain near the river and either broke or dislocated a finger / fingers or wrist and therefore called his warriors back and they left the scene . cheers 90th.
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| | | 90th
Posts : 10909 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 68 Location : Melbourne, Australia
| Subject: 1918 film Isandlwana Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:16 am | |
| hi all. I was searching through the medal roll and came across the name J.W. Colenbrander STANGER MTD RIFLES 79 clasp TRUMPETER. This is the chap who we have been talking about . He played the part of the Good Lord in the 1918 movie Symbol Of Sacrifice . cheers 90th. |
| | | Peter
Posts : 5 Join date : 2011-01-11
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:48 pm | |
| Symbol of Sacrifice
I was interested to come across this discussion of the "Symbol of Sacrifice" and the role of my grandfather, Lt. Col. Johan Willem Colenbrander CB (as he was at the time) in it. Most of the information contained in the thread is consistent with what I remember of my own father's research into the life of his father (my father did the bulk of the research for TV Bulpin's "White Whirlwind").
However, I had not heard before that it was my grandfather who insisted, against the advice of Shaw, that he lead his "forces" through the river during the filming. It is quite possible that he did, but it is equally possible that the film makers had reason of their own to claim that he did. I wonder if the record of the inquest into my grandfather's death still survives, and if so, where? Any ideas?
As to the life and career of Zibhebhu kaMapitha, an invaluable source of information is the various volumes of the James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples, edited by Colin Webb and John Wright and published jointly by the University of Natal Press and the Killie Campbell Africana Library. As the title implies, this impressive collection is relevant to much more than the life of Zibhebhu. |
| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:02 pm | |
| Hi Peter. Welcome to the forum. It would be handy to know what information you have already, so we don't post the same. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] |
| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:39 pm | |
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| | | Peter
Posts : 5 Join date : 2011-01-11
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:33 pm | |
| Thanks, Littlehand, for the welcome and the prompt and helpful reply. I will look again at my own copy of the papers my father deposited at Rhodes House, but they do not appear to include the transcript of the evidence or findings of the inquest. If these still exist, I imagine they are in one or other of the archives in Pretoria, South Africa. By the way, my grandfather's career between 1879 and 1896 is the subject of Bernard Kemp's PhD thesis (1962), which is housed in the library of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. |
| | | ADMIN
Posts : 4358 Join date : 2008-11-01 Age : 65 Location : KENT
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:21 pm | |
| Peter. Good to have you on the forum. Thanks for your comments.
Do you have a photo of your grandfather.
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| | | Peter
Posts : 5 Join date : 2011-01-11
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:34 am | |
| I have only a framed photo dating from about the 1890s. Others may be unearthed as I go through the family papers. |
| | | Mr Greaves
Posts : 747 Join date : 2009-10-18
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:55 pm | |
| Peter. Is there any chance of posting the photo on the forum, as we all like to put a face against a name.. |
| | | Chelmsfordthescapegoat
Posts : 2593 Join date : 2009-04-24
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:32 pm | |
| Peter. If your not sure on how to post a photo. Drop Admin a P.M. |
| | | Peter
Posts : 5 Join date : 2011-01-11
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:51 pm | |
| Will do, once I have unearthed something that is suitable and can be readily scanned. |
| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:07 pm | |
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| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:57 pm | |
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| | | 24th
Posts : 1862 Join date : 2009-03-25
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:27 pm | |
| Good Work Littlehand. I see he knew Major Barrow's |
| | | Chelmsfordthescapegoat
Posts : 2593 Join date : 2009-04-24
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:34 pm | |
| Did we ever discover if Major Burrows was buried in Saltwood Kent. |
| | | Peter
Posts : 5 Join date : 2011-01-11
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:04 pm | |
| Thanks again, Littlehand, for this information. I am impressed by your productivity!
Well, you could share the New York newspaper's view of my grandfather as another neglected old soldier, but he was not a regular. There is plenty of evidence that he relished soldiering, but that was just something he did as the need or opportunity arose.
He is often described as a frontiersman, and there is merit in that description. Over most of his lifetime, he seems to have dabbled in gun-running, cattle-trading, land speculation and settlement schemes, mining concessions, hunting expeditions and even in Buffalo Bill-style showmanship. Most of these activities took place in areas where British rule and law had yet to be established or which had only recently been colonised. But while he had a sharp eye for new business opportunities and was undeniably adventurous and brave, he seems to have lacked the capital and solid business sense of the rest of the family. He certainly had a string of failed business ventures to his name.
Not all of his ventures failed, however. If Baden-Powell is to be believed, he did quite well out of supplying trek-oxen to the British Army in the Second Anglo-Boer War. According to B-P, the colonel was not too particular about the ownership of the oxen he sold! Whatever the truth of that allegation, you could say my grandfather profited by soldiering. In a way, he belonged to an older freebooting tradition, in which loyalty and profit were seldom widely separated.
He certainly was a colourful character and a capable (occasional) soldier. Unfortunately, he also had a very spotty record as a businessman.
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| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:07 pm | |
| Just out an observation. Over 25,000 White & Black people took part in the "Symbol of sacrifice" Thats more than actually took part in the Real Battle. Now that would have been worth watching!!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The first film made on the Zulu-British War was the epic Symbol of Sacrifice (1918) by African Film Productions. Little of the original exists, though a video reconstruction does exist from the out-takes. The reconstruction is located at the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg and the original 35mm footage at the National Film Archives in Pretoria. |
| | | 90th
Posts : 10909 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 68 Location : Melbourne, Australia
| Subject: symbol of sacrifice Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:28 am | |
| hi littlehand . I'm sure we have covered this before but if not here it is again . The Royal Regt Of Wales online shop did sell a DVD on Isandlwana which actually used some of the 1918 film and it was known that some who where in the film actually took part in the real battle back in 1879 !. I have just looked at the on - line shop and noticed the dvd is no longer for sale . If you are after a copy maybe drop them an email and they can tell you if they will be getting them back on the shelf . cheers 90th. |
| | | JohnB
Posts : 95 Join date : 2010-01-10 Age : 73 Location : Taunton
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:23 pm | |
| The DVD is still advertised on Lock and Quantrill's South AFrican website at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Do any of our South African members know if it is still available from that source? Would the DVD be compatible with UK systems? JohnB |
| | | John
Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 62 Location : UK
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sun Dec 01, 2013 6:58 pm | |
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| | | Kenny
Posts : 615 Join date : 2013-05-07 Location : Brecon
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:15 pm | |
| In the making of the 1918 film, they used the Klip River to represent the Buffalo River. Colonel Colenbrander drowned in the Klip River at 'Henley on Klip' which is now an up market suburb of Johannesburg - so nowhere near the real Rorke's Drift. Another spot to visit. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:40 pm | |
| if anybody has news of how, any, of this footage could be seen! i would very interested. cheers |
| | | Dave
Posts : 1603 Join date : 2009-09-21
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:57 pm | |
| "Col. Johan Colenbrander, as his name implies, was of Dutch origin. He was born at Pinetown, Natal, in 1859. At the age of twenty he was a skilled shot and hunter, and kept a general store in Swaziland close to the King's kraal. His first wife Maria was then the only white woman in Swaziland. She was a beautiful woman, one of the daughters of Mr. John Mullins, of Natal, and was an expert rider and rifle-shot. Colenbrander was a born hunter and fighter and took part in all the recent wars in South Africa. He was also an excellent linguist, speaking fluently several native dialects. He served with distinction in the Zulu War, and in 1889 and again in 1890 accompanied the Matabele envoys to England as guide and interpreter. From 1895 he held several positions under the Chartered Company. In 1893 he remained with Lobengula as peace envoy when the Pioneers entered Mashunaland. In 1896 he organized and officered "Colenbrander's Boys," and in the second Boer War in 1901 he took command of Kitchener's Fighting Scouts and rendered good service, being mentioned in despatches and receiving the C.B. His second wife was Yvonne, daughter of Captain Loftus Nunn, and she died after two years of marriage, whilst his third wife Kathleen, daughter of Mr. James Gloster, survives him. Colenbrander all his life liked to go where sport, life, war and adventure called, and was ever a loyal friend to Britain. As a hunter Selous reckoned him as one of the most experienced in South Africa. He was unfortunately drowned in Feb., 1918, whilst taking part in a cinema performance representing the Zulu War. As he was crossing the Klip river his horse became restive, and he threw himself off and tried to swim to the bank; when on the point of being rescued he threw up his arms and sank" |
| | | Kenny
Posts : 615 Join date : 2013-05-07 Location : Brecon
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Thu Dec 19, 2013 11:58 pm | |
| Try contacting Mark Coghlan (if he is still there) - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] |
| | | impi
Posts : 2308 Join date : 2010-07-02 Age : 44
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:26 am | |
| [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]"What we're seeing here are the queues for a private screening of the film "The Symbol of Sacrifice" on 13 September 1918, (allowing a reduction of the current date range)" Source:above |
| | | Kenny
Posts : 615 Join date : 2013-05-07 Location : Brecon
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:00 am | |
| Impi Difficult to compete with that clip...............but last parade in April 1934 (not 1933 as stated by Pathe) of the Zulu war colours saved by Melvill & Coghill: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] |
| | | Mr M. Cooper
Posts : 2591 Join date : 2011-09-29 Location : Lancashire, England.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:57 am | |
| A couple of very interesting film clips there, thank you.
Notice the silver wreath atop the colour of the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment.
The original (a wreath of immortelles), being placed there by the hand of HM Queen Victoria herself to honour the memory of the men of the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment.
I believe that it was the wife of Colonel Glynn (24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment), who made some repairs to the colour whilst on the ship sailing back home to England.
Nice to see old clips like these.
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| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sat Dec 21, 2013 12:22 pm | |
| Martin impi nice one mate oh for a time machine..just makes this film a little bit closer, i heard their was a copy doing the rounds years ago, surely some one some where in the world has material from this epic movie.. |
| | | Mr M. Cooper
Posts : 2591 Join date : 2011-09-29 Location : Lancashire, England.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Sat Dec 21, 2013 12:48 pm | |
| Hi Les. You will have to contact Dr Who and arrange for a trip in the tardis mate You are right though, it would be great to see this old film, and like Gary said, some of the men who took part in the actual battle were involved in the film, mind you, they would have been getting old boys by then, but it would be nice to see them. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:39 am | |
| Bang on Mr M, grey beards..it was one of my very few real heroes who made me aware of this! Mr Kenneth Griffith! regard's to you and the ' Mrs Shifter ' this festive time. my mrs is having kitten's in case everthing is'nt done..it is.Hmm things are looking up. we live in a great country,through challenging times..c'mon uk. Scotland.Al Green..Lets stay together.. |
| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:52 am | |
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| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:08 am | |
| "THE South African film industry is one of the oldest in the world and the first films were shot by Edgar Hyman, manager of Johannesburg’s Empire Palace of Varieties, where the kinetoscope projector invented by Thomas A. Edison was up and running in 1895, just six years after its introduction in New York.
"Hyman shot short non-fiction films between 1896 and 1899 for the Warwick Trading Company of London. These included A Rickshaw Ride in Commissioner Street, The Cyanide Plant on the Crown Deep and, most famously, Paul Kruger, then president of the Transvaal, leaving his home and getting into a carriage. Hyman, along with several other camera operators, also shot footage during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Actual combat was rarely filmed, so actions were “reconstructed” back in England and the resulting films subsequently used for propaganda purposes. The Great Kimberley Diamond Robbery (1910) is considered to be the first feature film made in South Africa, although its producer, despite being called the Springbok Film Company, was based outside the country. Something of a trend in South African cinema to the present day. One of the earliest feature films shot in KwaZulu-Natal, at least in part, was the ground-breaking The Symbol of Sacrifice (1918), a melodrama set during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, directed by Dick Cruickshanks, scripted by Natal Witness editor F. Horace Rose, and starring Mabel May and Jack Montgomery. Despite the subject matter, much of the film was shot in the Transvaal, in and around Johannesburg, and at the Killarney studios of African Film Productions owned by Isadore William Schlesinger, which then dominated the South African feature-film industry. According to KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Museum Service historian Mark Coghlan, who researched and reconstructed the film in the nineties, The Symbol of Sacrifice “was the most ambitious film to date from African Film Productions”. The film’s length, over two hours, put it in the same league as the epics of the famous American director of the period, D.W. Griffith, whose Birth of a Nation (1915) ran for 185 minutes, and Intolerance (1916) for 115 minutes. The Symbol of Sacrifice sets a fictional plot against the key events of the war, including the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, and the death of Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial. According to Coghlan, in an article titled The World’s Biggest Battle Picture, the fictional plot contained two romantic triangles, one black and one white, “with hero, heroine, and villain in each”. Scenes involving the Prince Imperial were shot in KwaZulu-Natal and the actual sites in Pietermaritzburg were used for the recreation of his funeral procession following his death. Colonel Johan Colenbrander played Lord Chelmsford, commander of the British forces. “He was not only an Anglo-Zulu War veteran, having seen service with the Stanger Mounted Rifles at the Battle of Gingindlovu,” says Coghlan, “but was also a fluent Zulu linguist with a lifelong association with the black peoples of southern Africa”. Unfortunately, less than half of the film still exists. During his research, Coghlan tracked it down to the National Film, Video and Sound Archive in Pretoria, where only fragments remained. “The balance of the original nitrate-based film disintegrated in its canisters before it could be transferred to safety film,” he says. What was left was a jigsaw of takes in random order. Fortunately, a detailed 1918 programme brochure written by Rose was still extant and as a result, “the material was edited into a reasonably coherent and chronologically correct sequence” by Mayer Levy, assisted by Coghlan. Among the lost footage is most of the battle of Isandlwana, although a substantial amount of the Rorke’s Drift footage survives, along with the battles of Hlobane and Ulundi. In his article, Coghlan records the 1963 account of William Stone “who as a 16-year-old scout, spent six weekends on location at Rosettenville, near Johannesburg”. According to Stone, who played a doomed corporal-drummer in the battle, history nearly repeated itself on set. “The 300 ‘defenders’, issued with four rounds of blank ammunition apiece, heard a shot signalling the attack, followed by a roar from 2 000 Zulu extras as they stormed down from a distant koppie. “In their traditional war regalia, assegais drumming on their shields and uttering blood-curdling cries, they looked set for more than a mock battle. We experienced a real thrill of an impending clash. “A final rush and they were at the wagons. Roused as their ancestors must have been and disgusted on this occasion by the frailty of their rubber-tipped wooden assegais, the Natives lusted for battle. “Turning their assegais into knobkerries they slashed hard. The defenders had no alternative but to retaliate. Rifles were swung butt-side forward and used as defensive weapons. “In no time there was a fight never intended in the original script. Blood trickled freely from hands and faces. Whites and blacks. “Suddenly flames sprang up from the wagons. This was our signal to ‘drop dead’. We moved back several paces and died in various degrees of dramatic action.” Unfortunately, Colenbrander died for real, drowning during the filming of a river crossing at Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg. Witness editor Rose went on to write more film scripts, including a detective drama, Bond and Word, and The Voice of the Waters, directed by Joseph Albrecht and filmed in Howick in May 1918. It also starred Mabel May, along with Edward Vincent and Martha Rowson. Unfortunately, no print of the film has survived, all that remains are two production stills held by the National Film, Video and Sound Archive, and photographs reproduced in contemporary editions of The Natal Witness. Bill Bizley and Pat McKenzie record in An Historical Meander through the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal how The Witness of May 24, 1918, ran an article headlined “Wild Rumours at Howick. Awful Carnage in Film Production” concerning the response of Howick residents to the filming on Stocklands farm facing the falls. Apparently local emotions ran high when villagers got news that producer Albrecht had bought two horses with the plan to “send them over Howick Falls, attached to a wagonette”. Albrecht was shocked “to receive intimation by telephone” that the police and the SPCA were on his trail intent on preventing this from happening. “He desperately assured everyone that, while a wagonette was indeed to go over the falls as part of the story, it would do so “minus its human occupants and its horses”. When the completed film was shown at the Excelsior Bio in Maritzburg from September 19th, The Natal Witness critic found it to be “restrained and human” and “convincing, even during the most exciting episodes ...” According to the review, the first reel “was devoted to heroine Joyce’s upbringing in ‘Maritzburg, where her father, ‘Old Daddy Buchan’, throws a party in the Botanic Gardens.” In the remaining reels, “the action is centred largely at Howick where a library “interior” was cleverly built up opposite the falls, so that that magnificent sheet of water is seen through the library window ...” According to Bizley and McKenzie, in reels two to five “dastardly Cyril steals papers that contain a dreadful family secret. The secret is so dire that it threatens to obliterate any marital prospect between Joyce and the nice-man Vincent. The climax comes when Vincent and Cyril slug it out at the top of the falls, and eventually drop 300 feet into the gorge, where the villain — but not the hero — succumbs to the effects of mortality.”
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| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 12:55 pm | |
| Good post littlehand its so frustrating to know that someone out there might have access to what remain's of Symbol. the National Film, Video and Sound Archive in Pretoria! has any one been in touch with this organization?. |
| | | ADMIN
Posts : 4358 Join date : 2008-11-01 Age : 65 Location : KENT
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 12:59 pm | |
| I'm sure, there's a preview of this film on the forum somewhere! |
| | | Kenny
Posts : 615 Join date : 2013-05-07 Location : Brecon
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:41 pm | |
| xhosa2000
Surviving footage of this film are held by the KZN Museum in PMB. The contact there was historian Mark Goghlan (but I am not sure whether he is still at the Museum). |
| | | ADMIN
Posts : 4358 Join date : 2008-11-01 Age : 65 Location : KENT
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:13 pm | |
| Gents try this. I'm unable to at present. Supposed free movie! [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] |
| | | ADMIN
Posts : 4358 Join date : 2008-11-01 Age : 65 Location : KENT
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:23 pm | |
| From Peter Quantrill.
"All the battle scenes and live action in our DVD, titled: “Isandlwana Zulu Battlefield,” were extracted (royalty payments) from Symbols of Sacrifice. This include the 24th and artillery crossing the Buffalo at the start of the invasion and the Zulu army at Ulundi, followed by the assault on the camp and the burning of tents. Perhaps five to ten minutes of S of S film exposure."
Let me know if anyone wants purchasing information! |
| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:39 pm | |
| Peter, Got to the point where the movie loaded, then a request for credit card details came up. I would highly recommend no one submits their details. If is free why ask for credit card details. I'm sure you will agree!!!!!! |
| | | ADMIN
Posts : 4358 Join date : 2008-11-01 Age : 65 Location : KENT
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:00 pm | |
| Thanks LH totally agree. Just to put the record straight. This from Peter Quantrill!
"Our DVD was made in 2001. We originally marketed it in UK via a third party, which mandate expired years ago. We retain copyright. We have never sold any directly and would certainly never ask for monies to be paid to any credit card account. Neither Ron nor I possess one! Sales have been made in the past through Brecon, but I do not think that they now hold stock. Please ignore any other sales outlets that have appeared asking for monies to be paid. I doubt if anyone, other than Ron & I, have access to the reproduction of the DVD, as we have the “Master Copy.” We have given Rob Gerrard, at Isandlwana Lodge, a mandate to sell and provided him with copies. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:16 pm | |
| thank you all for that! yes liitlehand on the ball again! Admin would you please inform PQ that he would generate a few sales from this place! and would he please let us know when Mr Gerrard is in a position to make this material available again. cheers |
| | | ADMIN
Posts : 4358 Join date : 2008-11-01 Age : 65 Location : KENT
| Subject: Re: 1918 film Isandhlwana Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:19 pm | |
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