Zulu

The period drama and war film Zulu is a British film that depicts the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift between a detachment of the British Army and the Zulu, in the Anglo-Zulu War. The film was directed and co-written by American screenwriter Cy Endfield who had moved to the UK in 1951 after being blacklisted in Hollywood. Produced by Stanley Baker and Endfield, with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer, the screenplay was by Endfield and John Prebble, based on Prebble's 1958 Lilliput article "Slaughter in the Sun".

The film stars Stanley Baker and introduces Michael Caine in his first major role, with a supporting cast that includes Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Nigel Green, Paul Daneman, Glynn Edwards, Ivor Emmanuel and Patrick Magee. Zulu chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi (a future South African political leader) played Zulu King Cetshwayo kaMpande, his great-grandfather. The opening and closing narration is spoken by Richard Burton.

First shown on the 85th anniversary of the battle, 22 January 1964, at the Plaza Theatre in the West End, it received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for its sets, soundtrack, cinematography, action sequences and the cast's performances, particularly Baker, Booth, Green and Caine. The film brought Caine international fame.

New Beatles Documentary

A Martin Scorsese produced documentary, directed by David Tedesch, has appeared and is on Disney+. It documents the cultural impact of the Beatles on the USA in the aftermath of their first three-week visit to the country in February, 1964, which included their historic first performances on The Ed Sullivan Show. It includes archival footage from the Beatlemania era. Scorses and Tedeschi did a orevious documentary on George Harrison, which I have not seen. The film features footage shot by Albert and David Maysles originally for the 1964 documentary What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A., digitally restored. New interviews with McCartney and Starr were also filmed. Footage of the Beatles' February 1964 performances on The Ed Sullivan Show and at the Washington Coliseum has also been restored, with audio from these performances remixed by Giles Martin using de-mixing technology developed by Peter Jackson's WingNut Films and previously used for Beatles releases on the 2022 reissue of Revolver and the 2023 reissue of 1962–1966. A soundtrack album from the film has been released digitally and on streaming platforms. The album contains studio recordings by the Beatles of songs featured in the film, as well as the original versions of tracks covered by the Beatles (eg the Chuck Berry recording of "Roll Over Beethoven," the Little Richard recording of "Long Tall Sally"). The compilation also includes a striking cover of "Yesterday" performed by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968.

Castro

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, 1964. A Marxist revolutionary, instrumental in developing the Soviet-Cuban relationship in the early 60s. By 1964 he was acting as head of the Cuban delegation to speak at the UN. 

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Zanzibar

 

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Mac 64

It was in 1964 that Paul McCartney apparently bought this appropriately

number plated Aston Martin DB6.

British Pathé Road Manners (1964)

The Seekers - I'll Never Find Another You