''Major Wilson's Last Stand'' is an 1899 British short silent

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

based upon the historical accounts of the Shangani Patrol. The film was adapted from ''Savage South Africa'', a stage show depicting scenes from both the First Matabele War and the

Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company and the Mata ...

which opened at the Empress Theatre, Earls Court, on 8 May 1899. It was shot by Joseph Rosenthal for Warwick Trading Co. Ltd. Copies of the film originally sold for £3. It was shown to audiences at the Olympic Theatre in London and at the Refined Concert Company in New Zealand.

Story

The studio's original description is as follows:

Major Wilson and his brave men are seen in laager in order to snatch a brief rest after a long, forced march. They are suddenly awakened by the shouts of the savages, who surround them on all sides. The expected reinforcements arrived too late. The Major calls upon his men to show the enemy how a handful of British soldiers can play a losing game as well as a winning one. He bids them to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight and die for their queen. The horses are seen to fall, and from the rampart of dead horses, the heroic band fights to the last round of revolver ammunition. The Major, who is the last to fall, crawls to the top of the heads of dead men, savages, and horses and makes every one of the few remaining cartridges find its mark until his life is cut short by the thrust of an assegai in the hands of a savage, who attacks him from behind. Before he falls, however, he fires his last bullet into the fleeing carcass of the savage, who drops dead. The Major also expires, and death-like silence prevails. The most awe-inspiring cinematograph picture ever produced.

Cast

* Texas Jack, as

Frederick Russell Burnham Major (rank), Major Frederick Russell Burnham Distinguished Service Order, DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to t ...

, the American Chief of Scouts * Peter Lobengula (the son of the real-life Matabele King) as King

Lobengula Lobengula Khumalo ( 1835 – 1894) was the second and last official king of the Northern Ndebele people (historically called Matabele in English). Both names in the Zimbabwean Ndebele language, Ndebele language mean "the men of the long shields ...

* Frank E. Fillis as Major Allan Wilson * Cecil William Coleman as Captain Greenless * Ndebele warriors—played by Zulu predominantly from the

Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies t ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Authority control 1899 films 1899 short films 1890s war films 1890s British films British black-and-white films British silent short films British war drama films Films set in 1893 Films set in Rhodesia War films based on actual events British films based on plays Silent war drama films

Story

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links