55 Days at Peking (1963)

During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion against foreigners in China, U.S. Marine Major Matt Lewis, aided by British Consul Sir Arthur Robertson, devises a strategy to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force arrives.

Directors:

Nicholas Ray, Guy Green (uncredited)

Writers:

Robert Hamer (additional dialogue), Philip Yordan (screenplay)

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlton Heston	...	Maj. Matt Lewis
Ava Gardner	...	Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
David Niven	...	Sir Arthur Robertson
Flora Robson	...	Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi
John Ireland	...	Sgt. Harry
Harry Andrews	...	Father de Bearn
Leo Genn	...	Gen. Jung-Lu
Robert Helpmann	...	Prince Tuan
Kurt Kasznar	...	Baron Sergei Ivanoff
Philippe Leroy	...	Julliard
Paul Lukas	...	Dr. Steinfeldt
Elizabeth Sellars	...	Lady Sarah Robertson
Massimo Serato	...	Garibaldi
Jacques Sernas	...	Maj. Bobrinski
Jerome Thor	...	Capt. Andy Marshall

Storyline

Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.

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Plot Keywords:

boxer rebellion | china | ambassador | colonialism | peking china | 

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Taglines:

A handful of men and women held out against the frenzied hordes of bloodthirsty fanatics!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1963 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Fifty Five Days at Peking

Filming Locations:

Las Matas, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Bronston Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

154 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It is still possible to walk around the area of Beijing which was the actual location of the Siege of the Peking Legations in 1900, and to recognize sites and street layout depicted with admirable accuracy by the sets constructed in Spain for '55 Days At Peking'. The former legation quarter is east of Tiananmen Square, bounded in the north by Changan Avenue and south by Qianmen Street. One such important site is the gate of the former British Legation in Zhengyi Road, looking remarkably as it did in photos taken in 1900. Much of the area has been occupied for many years by Chinese Government agencies. Most of the heritage buildings remaining of the old legation quarter are reconstructions after the Boxer uprising. The area's tourist potential has been little exploited. The post-Boxer former French Legation post office is the foyer of the Dongjiaominxiang Hotel. The site of the former US Legation has been renovated for up-market restaurants, bars and event venues.

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Goofs

In the opening prologue scenes inside the legation compound the shadow of the top of the camera can clearly be seen passing over a large bass drum in a military band as the camera cranes up marring what is otherwise a very complicated shot covering several areas of action with no cuts.

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Quotes

Tommy, Sir Arthur Robertson's son: [Arguing with his sister about the family's pet dog, Ming] Mother says we can't take Ming back to England with us.
Sir Arthur Robertson's daughter: I *won't* leave my dog!
Tommy, Sir Arthur Robertson's son: He's *my* dog!
Sir Arthur Robertson's daughter: [indignant] Who feeds him?
Tommy, Sir Arthur Robertson's son: Who taught him to sit up? He's *mine*!
Sir Arthur Robertson: I'll tell you what: we'll cut him exactly in two, and you'll each get half.
Sir Arthur Robertson's daughter: Oh, father, don't play King Solomon.
Sir Arthur Robertson: [chuckles] I tried...

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Connections

Referenced in Dragon Flies (1975)

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Soundtracks

So Little Time
(The Peking Theme)
Recorded by Andy Williams on CBS Records
Words by Paul Francis Webster
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin

User Reviews

Not A Racist Film

Watching this film in a PC era like today you may find allegations of racism being made against it , but you have to remember that 55 DAYS AT PEKING was made in 1963 . The war in the Pacific had ended less than 20 years earlier and the horrors of the Burma railway and the Bataan death march were still fresh in the memory . Likewise the UN had fought a dirty and bloody war against North Korea and Communist China ten years earlier and 1963 was a year when America started committing ground troops to South Vietnam , so this was an era where many people were worried about " the yellow peril " . One thing you can't really accuse the film of being is geo-nationalist , a coalition featuring diverse nations like Germany , Russia , Italy and France fighting alongside Britain and America ! You can tell this was made a long time ago and if it was made today the Americans would have saved the day single handed while portraying everyone else as total cowards . At least the makers of 55 DAYS AT PEKING had the decency of showing a factual historical event without having to totally rewrite history . I do hope present day Hollywood producers will take note .

My only problem with this film is that the main story is held up with a romantic subplot featuring Charlton Heston who's not exactly romantic material , but this is soon forgiven when the battle scenes arrive and what battle scenes they are . Watching these scenes today I was struck as to how they were achieved by a combination of stuntmen and stuffed dummies . That's what I hate about modern day blockbusters that rely on cartoonish CGI figures running around . It's a lot more fun seeing a couple of man sized dolls falling a couple of hundred feet with dubbed screams on the soundtrack , Hollywood doesn't seem to do this type of action sequence anymore which is a great pity