Michael Caine Stars in Zulu
“ What’s it all about?”
Although he’d spent years learning his craft in the theatre, and had appeared in numerous television shows and films, it would be the film Zulu that would rocket Michael Caine to stardom.
Michael Caine read the script of Zulu (sent to him by his agent, Dennis Selinger) in one sitting the night before the auditions and realised this was the chance of a lifetime, and the part he wanted was that of the Cockney soldier, Private Hook. But things were going to work out a bit differently.
The auditions for the film were held in the long bar beneath Robert Cromie’s beautiful Prince of Wales Theatre, situated between Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.
Caine, in his superb autobiography, What’s It All About, describes his meeting with the film’s producer: “ At ten o’clock sharp the next morning I arrived at the theatre bar and found Cy Endfield sitting there alone. He was a tubby, slow-speaking, slow-moving, middle-aged American. As he stood up and shook hands, his first words were: ‘I’m sorry to have wasted your time, Michael, but we have already given the part to James Booth. We figured that he looked more Cockney than you do.’ “
This was a dreadful blow for Caine, who nevertheless put a brave face on things, shook Endfield’s hand and headed for the door.
