55 Days at Peking **** (1963, Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson, John Ireland, Leo Genn, Robert Helpmann, Harry Andrews) – Classic Movie Review 7521

‘So Little Time’ (recorded by Andy Williams on CBS Records) is 55 Days at Peking’s hit song, but you will need plenty of time to settle down to producer Samuel Bronston and director Nicholas Ray’s vast-scale 1900 Boxer Rebellion action epic. It was nominated for two Oscars: Best Music, Original Song (Dimitri Tiomkin music, Paul Francis Webster lyrics) and Best Music, Score – Substantially Original (Dimitri Tiomkin).

Flora Robson plays the dowager empress Tzu-Hsi, who arouses fanatics to besiege Peking’s foreign embassies, but American officer Major Matt Lewis (Charlton Heston) and British lord Sir Arthur Robertson (David Niven) lead the diplomats in defence.

55 Days at Peking is at its best in the thrilling action sequences, directed by Andrew Marton (he of the chariot race in the Charlton Heston Ben-Hur). But cult director Ray seems unhappy with the dully written personal drama and the romance. However, it is beautifully shot by cinematographer Jack Hildyard in Spain in Super Technirama 70. The visuals, the performances and the subject matter easily compensate for any deficiencies. Those famous Oriental actors Leo Genn and Robert Helpmann (as General Jung-Lu and Prince Tuan) seem to be having fun in heavy makeup with their Chinese roles.

Also in the cast are John Ireland, Harry Andrews, Kurt Kasznar, Paul Lukas, Elizabeth Sellars, Eric Pohlmann, Mervyn Johns, Joseph Furst, Walter Gotell, Jacques Sernas, Alfred Lynch, Massimo Serato, Jerome Thor, Philippe Leroy, José Nieto, Geoffrey Bayldon, Martin Miller, Robert Urquhart, Lynne Sue Moon, R S M Brittain, Alfred Lynch and John Moulder-Brown. Nicholas Ray appears uncredited as the US Minister.

55 Days at Peking is directed by Nicholas Ray, runs 154 minutes, is made by Samuel Bronston Productions, released by Allied Artists, is written by Philip Yordan (screenplay), Bernard Gordon (screenplay), Robert Hamer (additional dialogue) and Ben Barzman (uncredited), is shot in 70mm and Technicolor by Jack Hildyard, is produced by Samuel Bronston, is scored by Dmitri Tiomkin, and is designed by Veniero Colasanti and John Moore.

Writer Bernard Gordon (1918 – 2007) said of the all-star cast of 55 Days at Peking: ‘They were all a bunch of prima donnas.’

Epics were popular at the time, but risky to make. On a considerable budget of $9,000,000, it grossed $10,000,000 in the US.

It was shot in Spain at the Samuel Bronston Studios, Madrid, and in Valencia.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7521

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