Underplayed Gems

Shangani Patrol (1970)

Shangani Patrol poster
Directed by
David Millin
Genre
history, war
Country
Rhodesia
Runtime
1h 34m
Rating
6.5 of 10 from 2 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A small British patrol chases a fleeing Ndebele king across a river in 1890s Africa. Cut off from their army, they are surrounded and killed by Ndebele warriors. The film tells this story as a last stand and a military mistake.

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What happens

Shangani Patrol is a war film based upon the non-fiction book A Time to Die by Robert Cary (1968), and the historical accounts of the Shangani Patrol, with Brian O'Shaughnessy as Major Allan Wilson and Will Hutchins as the lead Scout Frederick Russell Burnham. Also includes the song "Shangani Patrol" by Nick Taylor (1966 recording). Under the command of Major Wilson, the patrol tracks the fleeing Ndebele King Lobengula across the Shangani River. Cut off from the main force, they are ambushed by the Ndebele impi and, except for the few men sent as reinforcements, all are killed. Such was the bravery of the Shangani Patrol that the victorious Ndebele said, "They were men of men and their fathers were men before them." Depending on one's viewpoint, this event was one of the great mistakes and military blunders of this time in history, or the last heroic stand of a gallant few. The incident had lasting significance in England, South Africa, and Rhodesia as the equivalent of 'Custer's Last Stand'. This is their story, told in a 1970 film shot on location in Matabeleland, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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