55 Days at Peking

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

1963 2h 34m EN

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6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 193

HistoryWarDrama

Synopsis

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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.

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

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nicholas Ray
Writers: Bernard Gordon, Philip Yordan
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 154 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 59% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

63 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nicholas Ray, shot by Jack Hildyard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Lawrence shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner and David Niven carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A handful of men and women held out against the frenzied hordes of bloodthirsty fanatics!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nicholas Ray directs. Jack Hildyard behind the camera. Dimitri Tiomkin scores. Robert Lawrence cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 154 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Earned back only 59% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
363 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Nicholas Ray, shot by Jack Hildyard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Robert Lawrence shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner and David Niven carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A handful of men and women held out against the frenzied hordes of bloodthirsty fanatics!".
9IMDB entry: tt0056800 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Original score: Dimitri Tiomkin
Editing: Robert Lawrence
Production design: Veniero Colasanti
Costume design: Veniero Colasanti
Makeup / hair: Mario Van Riel
Runtime: 154 min · 2h 34m
Status: Released
Budget: $17,000,000
Box office: $10,000,000
Return: 59% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: 55 Days at Peking (1963)

Also by

Nicholas Ray

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-03-27
★ 7/10
It is tempting just to look upon this as an imperialist (Western, not Chinese) costume drama with fireworks. I think, however, it does merit a little more credit than that. Samuel Bronston pulls together quite a cast as Hollywood (via Madrid and Valencia) gives us it's version of the failed/foiled Boxer rebellion that lead to the ultimate decline of the Dragon Throne. Charlton Heston and David Niven develop a decent enough chemistry as the story takes shape, and Ava Gardner, Flora Robson, Leo Genn and Paul Lukas ensure there is some strength and depth to the supporting cast, and therefore to the story of the siege of the diplomatic compound in Peking by Chinese rebels in 1900. The sets are testament to what could be done in a world before CGI (and I bet the budgets wouldn't be that much different, either) and the mass-participation scenes are colourful, noisy and look good. As ever with these kind of films, there is an inevitability around the outcome; however preposterous the odds - but this is still a commendable effort to enlighten us, a little, as to the attitude of the colonial powers to China at the turn of the 20th Century.

Production companies