55 Days at Peking
A handful of men and women held out against the frenzied hordes of bloodthirsty fanatics!
1963 | 154m | English
Popularity: 4 (history)
| Director: | Guy Green, Nicholas Ray |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Philip Yordan, Bernard Gordon |
| Staring: |
| 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. | |
| Release Date: | May 06, 1963 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Guy Green, Nicholas Ray |
| Writer: | Philip Yordan, Bernard Gordon |
| Genres: | Drama, History, War |
| Keywords | siege, epic, beijing, china, 1900s, boxer rebellion |
| Production Companies | Allied Artists Pictures, Samuel Bronston Productions |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $10,000,000
Budget: $17,000,000 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 01, 2025 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Geoffrey Bayldon | Smythe |
| Joseph Fürst | Capt. Hanselman |
| Walter Gotell | Capt. Hoffman |
| Jūzō Itami | Col. Shiba |
| Mervyn Johns | Clergyman |
| Alfredo Mayo | Spanish Minister |
| Martin Miller | Hugo Bergmann |
| Conchita Montes | Mme Gaumaire |
| José Nieto | Italian Minister |
| Eric Pohlmann | Baron von Meck |
| Aram Stephan | Gaumaire |
| Robert Urquhart | Capt. Hanley |
| Lynne Sue Moon | Teresa |
| Burt Kwouk | Old Man (voice) |
| Mike Steen | Undetermined Role (uncredited) |
| Lucy Appleby | Martha (uncredited) |
| Félix Dafauce | Dutch Minister (uncredited) |
| Andrea Esterhazy | Austrian Minister (uncredited) |
| Carlos Casaravilla | Japanese Minister (uncredited) |
| R.S.M. Brittain | Sergeant Major (uncredited) |
| Michael Chow | Chiang (uncredited) |
| Chow Siu-Loi | Court Boxer (uncredited) |
| Mitchell Kowall | US Marine (uncredited) |
| Paul Naschy | Extra (uncredited) |
| Fernando Sancho | Belgian Minister (uncredited) |
| Lucille Soong | Concubine (uncredited) |
| Robert Rietti | Spanish Minister (voice) (uncredited) |
| Milton Reid | Boxer (uncredited) |
| Nicholas Ray | US Minister (uncredited) |
| Alfred Lynch | Gerald (uncredited) |
| John Moulder-Brown | Tommy (uncredited) |
| Guillermo Vera | El hombre del carrito (uncredited) |
| George Wang | Boxer Chief (uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Philip Yordan | Screenplay |
| Jack Hildyard | Director of Photography |
| Guy Green | Co-Director |
| Dimitri Tiomkin | Original Music Composer |
| Jesús Franco | Assistant Production Manager |
| Nicholas Ray | Director |
| Maude Spector | Casting |
| Bernard Gordon | Screenplay |
| Robert Lawrence | Editor |
| Veniero Colasanti | Production Design |
| John Moore | Production Design |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Michał Waszyński | Producer |
| Samuel Bronston | Producer |
| Alan Brown | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 17 | 23 | 12 |
| 2024 | 5 | 18 | 27 | 12 |
| 2024 | 6 | 16 | 33 | 10 |
| 2024 | 7 | 20 | 49 | 10 |
| 2024 | 8 | 15 | 27 | 10 |
| 2024 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 7 |
| 2024 | 10 | 12 | 23 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 | 12 | 25 | 7 |
| 2024 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 9 |
| 2025 | 1 | 13 | 21 | 9 |
| 2025 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 3 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2025 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Trending Position
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 B ... oxer 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.