Themes: Heroic Mission, Colonialism, Great Battles
Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson, John Ireland
Release Year: 1963
Country: US
Run Time: 150 minutes
Plot
Samuel Bronston produced this extravagant blockbuster, shot in Super Technirama 70. Nominally directed by Nicholas Ray (who makes a brief appearance as the U.S. ambassador), Ray was taken off the film and replaced by the more pliable directorial touches of Andrew Marton. Charlton Heston stars as Maj. Matt Lewis, the leader of an army of multinational soldiers who head to Peking during the infamous Boxer Rebellion of 1900. As the film unfolds, the foreign embassies in Peking are being held in a grip of terror as the Boxers set about massacring Christians in an anti-Christian nationalistic fever. Inside the besieged compound, the finicky British ambassador (David Niven) gathers the beleaguered ambassadors into a defensive formation. Included in the group of high-level dignitaries is a sultry Russian Baroness (Ava Gardner) who takes a shine to Lewis upon his arrival at the embassy compound with his group of soldiers. As Lewis and the group conserve food and water and try to save some hungry children, they await the arrival of expected reinforcements, but the tricky Chinese Empress Tzu Hsi (Flora Robson) is, in the meantime, plotting with the Boxers to break the siege at the compound with the aid of Chinese recruits. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
55 Days at Peking is an odd movie in director Nicholas Ray's canon, although it is questionable as to whether it should be included among his works, as he was removed from it halfway through filming. Peking certainly feels like a movie guided by more than one hand, which ultimately impacts it effectiveness. Despite its ups and downs, there's enough to make Peking worth watching, especially from those who have a fondness for historical war epics. Peking gets off to a smashing start., with a beautiful presentation of the colors of the various nations involve din the story. Many of the battle and action sequences are also exciting, and the physical production is often stunning. These are balanced by some rather stilted attempts at humanizing the characters involved, an attempt that is scuttled by uninspired writing, curiously detached (for Ray) direction and an annoying performance from Charlton Heston. Ava Gardner does manage to find some interesting variations on a stock character. Even better is Flora Robson, whose Chinese empress is sinister and duplicitous; the best work comes from David Niven, giving the kind of light, witty performance he had practically patented by this point. Although anyone with a desire to get a fully-rounded picture of the Boxer rebellion should avoid Peking, there's enough action to satisfy fans on big battle flicks. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Maude Spector - Casting, John J. Moore - Costume Designer, Veniero Colasanti - Costume Designer, Lucie Lichtig - Continuity, José Lopez Rodero - First Assistant Director, Nicholas Ray - Director, Andrew Marton - Second Unit Director, Robert Lawrence - Editor, Dimitri Tiomkin - Composer (Music Score), Dimitri Tiomkin - Musical Direction/Supervision, Dimitri Tiomkin - Songwriter, Paul Francis Webster - Songwriter, Mario Van Riel - Makeup, John J. Moore - Production Designer, Veniero Colasanti - Production Designer, Jack Hildyard - Cinematographer, Manuel Berenguer - Cinematographer, Samuel Bronston - Producer, John J. Moore - Set Designer, Veniero Colasanti - Set Designer, Alex C. Weldon - Special Effects, Bernard Gordon - Screenwriter, Robert Hamer - Screenwriter, Philip Yordan - Screenwriter, S. Edwards - Book Author
55 Days at Peking is a dramatization of the Boxer Rebellion which took place in 1900 China. Fed up by foreign encroachment, the Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi uses the Boxer secret societies to attack the foreigners within China, culminating in the siege of the foreign legations' compounds in Peking (now Beijing). The film concentrates on the defense of the legations from the point of view of the foreign powers, and the title refers to the length of the defense by the colonial powers of the legations district of Peking.
The foreign embassies in Peking are being held in a grip of terror as the Boxers set about massacring Christians in an anti-Christian nationalistic fever. U. S. Marine Corps Major Matt Lewis heads an army of multinational soldiers and Marines defending the foreign compound in Peking. Inside the besieged compound, the British ambassador gathers the beleaguered ambassadors into a defensive formation. Included in the group of high-level dignitaries is the sultry Russian Baroness Natalie Ivanoff who begins a romantic liaison with Lewis. As Lewis and the group conserve food and water and try to save some hungry children, they await the arrival of expected reinforcements, but the wily Empress Tzu Hsi is, in the meantime, plotting with the Boxers to break the siege at the compound with the aid of Chinese troops. Eventually however, the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance arrive and lift the siege over the legations district and put down the rebellion, an event which foreshadowed the demise of the Qing Dynasty.
The film maintains a certain curiosity value for cinephiles due to its credited director Nicholas Ray. Best known for his 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, Ray was a tortured individual at the time of the production of 55 Days at Peking, somewhat akin to the Dean persona he helped to create for Rebel. Paid a very high salary by producer Samuel Bronston to direct 55 Days, Ray had an inkling that taking on the project, a massive epic, would mean the end of him and that he would never direct another film again. The premonition proved correct when Ray collapsed on the set, half-way through the shooting. Unable to resume working (the film was finished by Andrew Marton and Guy Green), he never received another directorial assignment. In the final months of his life, he collaborated with Wim Wenders, on the 1979 feature Lightning Over Water aka Nick's Film/Nick's Movie, which recorded his last moments.
The film was shot in the vicinity of Madrid, and most (thousands) of the Chinese residents ofSpain, and some from other parts of Europe were hired as extras[1].
The film gives little background of the humiliating military defeats suffered during the Opium Wars, Sino-French War and Sino-Japanese war or the effect of the Taiping Rebellion in weakening the Qing Dynasty. However, situations in which the various colonial powers exerted influence over China (great source of outrage that drove many Chinese to violence) are alluded to in the scene in which Sir Arthur Robinson and Major Lewis visit the Empress after the assassination of the German minister.
Dowager Empress - "....the boxer bandits will be dealt with, but the anger of the Chinese people cannot be quieted so easily. The Germans have seized Kiaochow, the Russians have seized Port Arthur, the French have obtained concessions in Yunnan, Kwan See and Kwantang. In all, 13 of the 18 provinces of China are under foreign control. Foreign warships occupy our harbours, foreign armies occupy our forts, foreign merchants administer our banks, foreign gods disturb the spirit of our ancestors. Is it surprising that our people are aroused?"
Sir Arthur Robinson - "Your Majesty if you permit me to observe, the violence of the Boxers will not redress the grievences of China"
Dowager Empress - "China is a prostrate cow, the powers are not content milking her, but must also butcher her."
Sir Arthur Robinson - "If China is a cow your majesty, she is indeed a marvelous animal. She gives meat as well as milk...."
According to Charlton Heston, the working relationship between himself and Ava Gardner was very bad, in large part, according to Heston, because Gardner was very difficult to work with and that she behaved unprofessionally throughout filming. By contrast, Heston said he greatly enjoyed working with David Niven.
55 Days at Peking was filmed in Technicolor and Technirama, which involved the horizontal use of 35-millimeter film, resulting in 70-millimeter printed film format. The aspect ratio was 2.20:1, with the image viewed at 2.35:1 on 35-millimeter prints.
