ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Leofwine_draca 55 DAYS AT PEKING is one of those all-star Hollywood historical adventure films made during the 1960s. It stars Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner as two of a huge cast of Western characters who are caught up in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China. This saw ordinary folk rise up at the behest of the Boxer revolutionaries in a tide of anti-Western sentiment to get rid of all the country's foreigners. The story is distracted by some 'yellow face' make up here and there but otherwise works well in terms of an epic-feeling setting and plenty of lavish action scenes which delight in an old-fashioned way. The ensemble cast contains at least 20 actors of note from the era and most of them give fun, straightforward performances. It's not a classic nor one of Heston's best movies, but at the same time it's not bad at all and I enjoyed it for the spectacle alone.

badajoz-1 I saw this movie in full cinemascope in 1963 - it was part of the epic assembly line through the fifties and sixties, especially form Samuel Bronston made in Spain studio. At the time I did not feel that it climbed the heights of 'El Cid' but that it was an attractive blockbuster with action, sub plots, decent acting and direction. It is a film about 1900 and it was made in the early sixties - so please let us not have the bleeding heart sensibilities of liberal anti-colonialists of modern times excusing Chinese violence but condemning Western atrocities. The story concerns the native Chinese Boxer Rebellion of 1900 against the West's trading and Christian influence in China - with not too much made of the violent killing of western missionaries and Chinese christians by the rebels - and the subsequent siege by the rebels of the Diplomatic Quarter in Peking for 55 days. The film focuses inwards rather than outwards, as against large odds the Westerners fight off the rebels (this is the truth by the way!). But on seeing it again almost 50 years on, the story and script have a lot more going on than seems at first viewing. There are lots of questions about why the US is on the Asian mainland (cue early Vietnam issues) and historically Western nations fighting each other in proxy wars on foreign soil - very relevant in the early sixties. the film itself allows Charlton Heston to inhabit a rather less than heroic role as he blunders through relationships knowing only how to fight battles as a marine. David Niven gives an old school charm and believability to the leading British diplomat faced with trying to keep rival nations together. Ava Gardner looks good and her part as fallen aristocrat who bedded a Chinese general can be seen as a parallel and touchstone to attitudes to the black struggle for equal rights in the US at the time. The action and script run out of steam towards the end but a satisfying re-watch with so much more to be understood in a very clever script.

Spikeopath 55 Days at Peking is directed by Nicholas Ray and Andrew Marton and collectively written by Philip Yordan, Bernard Gordon, Robert Hamer and Ben Barzman. It stars Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven and Flora Robson. Music is scored by Dimitri Tiomkin and cinematography is by Jack Hildyard.1900, Peking, China. The Boxer Rebellion. 13 of 18 provinces are under foreign rule and the Chinese have had enough. With Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi secretly supporting the Boxer societies, the foreign powers come under attack and are forced to defend the legations' compound until reinforcements from the military arrive. The defence would last for 55 days.Lavish, full of pictorial scope, often stirring, yet it's saggy in the middle, too long, killed Nicholas Ray's career (and nearly himself since he collapsed on set) and apparently offensive to some with its imperialistic trumpeting. It has been called the magnificent failure, and in truth that's about as apt a tag line as you could get. For production value it's up with the best of them as producer Samuel Bronston oversees the building of the wonderful Peking sets (Veniero Colasanti & John Moore) at his Madrid base, and it is a joy to behold. Tiomkin's score pings around the locale with aural pleasure and when the action does come it considerably raises the pulses.Acting performances are mostly OK, especially when Niven and Heston share scenes as it's great to see a genuine screen presence playing off of classy elegance. Gardner, whilst not in any shape or form bad, gets one of those annoyingly dull romantic interest roles that a film of this type didn't need. It doesn't help that there is zero chemistry between Gardner and her "borderline" beau, Heston. It's no surprise to find that Heston thought Gardner was a pain during the shoot!As for the troubling thematics? Where the Chinese are portrayed as Christian slaughtering savages and the foreign imperialists as noble defenders of the right to take over China? Well the picture does come off as trying to excuse foreign imperialism in China, but it helps to note that this is merely a movie about one event in that part of history. With that in mind, anyone viewing it expecting anything other than the 55 day siege told from the legation's viewpoint is always going to be in for a let down! And right from the off we are shown and told with a tint of sarcasm that all these "foreign" countries want a piece of China as they raise their flags and trundle out their national anthems. The Peking Alamo? Well maybe? Best to go into it expecting your eyes and ears to be dazzled rather than your brain. 7/10

REvans9092 The opening scenes in this movie were beautiful...illustrating the grandeur and wonderful tradition of China. The rest of the movie was a mess. Boring, slow-moving, poorly acted and directed are just a few words to describe this over-priced epic. Historically, this movie portrayed the foreign soldiers as the beleaguered group. Weren't the Chinese/Boxers fighting for their lives too? Charlton Heston was miscast as an American soldier...he is better in sci-fi and religious movies. Ava Gardner, looking bloated and bewildered, is also miscast. There was absolutely no chemistry between Heston and Gardner. When Ava Gardner died (none too soon) it was a relief. When Charlton Heston discovered she was dead, he didn't react. I thought they were in love. Silly me. The "Chinese" actors were Caucasians made-up to look like Chinese! Don't waste your time.