| 55 Days at Peking | |
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DVD cover by Howard Terpning |
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| Directed by | Nicholas Ray |
| Produced by | Samuel Bronston |
| Written by | Philip Yordan Bernard Gordon Robert Hamer Ben Barzman |
| Starring | Charlton Heston Ava Gardner David Niven Flora Robson John Ireland Leo Genn Robert Helpmann Kurt Kasznar Paul Lukas |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Editing by | Robert Lawrence |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | May 29, 1963 |
| Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $17,000,000 |
55 Days at Peking is a 1963 historical epic film starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, and David Niven, made by Samuel Bronston Productions, and released by Allied Artists. The movie was produced by Samuel Bronston and directed by Nicholas Ray, Andrew Marton (credited as the second unit director), and Guy Green (uncredited). The screenplay was written by Philip Yordan, Bernard Gordon, Ben Barzman, and Robert Hamer, the music score was written by Dimitri Tiomkin, and the cinematographer was Jack Hildyard.
In addition to directing, Nicholas Ray plays the minor role of the head of the American diplomatic mission in China. This film is also the first known appearance of future martial arts film star Yuen Siu Tien. The Japanese film director Juzo Itami, credited in the film as "Ichizo Itami", appears as Colonel Goro Shiba.
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55 Days at Peking is a dramatization of the Battle of Peking during 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. United States 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 the group conserves food and water while trying to save hungry children, it awaits reinforcements, but the wily Empress Tzu Hsi is plotting with the Boxers to break the siege at the compound with the aid of Chinese troops.
Eventually, the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance arrive to lift the siege over the legations district and put down the rebellion, an event which foreshadowed the demise of the Qing Dynasty.
The film received two Academy Award nominations for Dimitri Tiomkin (Best Song and Original Music Score).
DVD release came on February 28, 2001, nearly thirty-eight years after the film's premiere.
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