55 Days in Peking ( English 55 Days at Peking ) - a historical epic film of 1963. Created by Samuel Bronston Productions and released by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation , the producer was Samuel Bronston , and the directors were Nicholas Ray , Andrew Marton (credited as second director) and Guy Green (uncredited). The script was written by Philip Yordan , Bernard Gordon , Robert Hamer , Ben Barzman , music by Dmitry Temkin , the operator was Jack Hildiard .
| 55 days in Beijing | |
|---|---|
| 55 Days at Peking | |
 | |
| Genre | drama , historical , military |
| Producer | Nicholas Ray |
| Producer | Samuel Bronston |
| Author script | Philip Jordan Bernard Gordon Robert Hamer Ben Barzman |
| In the main cast | Charlton Heston Ava Gardner David niven Flora Robson John Ireland Leo Genn Robert Helpmann Kurt Kaznar Paul Lucas |
| Operator | Jack heldyard |
| Composer | Dmitry Tyomkin |
| Film company | Allied Artists Pictures Corporation |
| Duration | 154 min |
| Budget | $ 17 million |
| A country |  USA |
| Tongue | English |
| Year | 1963 |
| IMDb | |
The main roles were played by Charlton Heston , Ava Gardner , David Niven . In addition to directing, Nicholas Ray plays a small role as the head of the American diplomatic mission in China . This film is also the first known role for the future star of martial arts films Yuan Xiaotian . The famous Japanese film director Judo Itami is credited as " Ichizo Itami " in the credits and plays the role of Colonel of the Japanese Imperial Army, Shiba Goro .
Content
Story
“55 Days in Beijing” is a film staging the siege of the Embassy quarter in Beijing , which took place in the summer of 1900 during the Boxer Uprising in China. Unhappy with the foreign presence, the Dowager Empress Cixi uses the “boxing” units to attack foreigners in China, which led to the siege of foreign embassies in Beijing. The film is focused on the defense of the embassies of foreign powers, and the name refers to the duration of the defense of the embassy quarter of Beijing.
The foreign embassies in Beijing were in the grip of terror when the "boxers" set about killing Christians in anti-Christian nationalist fever. The US Marine Corps , led by Major Matt Lewis, as part of a multinational army of soldiers and marines (the " coalition "), defends foreign embassies in Beijing. The British ambassador unites other embassies located in Beijing in joint defense. In the group of dignitaries is the Russian baroness Natalie Ivanova, who has a romantic relationship with Major Lewis.
A group of defenders is expecting early reinforcements, but Empress Cixi, in collusion with the “boxers,” is trying to prevent the reinforcements from approaching and is trying to break through the defenses with the help of the Chinese army. However, after 55 days, the coalition armed forces stormed Beijing , lifted the siege from the embassies and crushed the rebellion, which predetermined the fall of the Qing Dynasty .
Cast
- Charlton Heston - Major Matt Lewis
- Ava Gardner - Baroness Natalie Ivanova
- David Niven - Sir Arthur Robinson
- Flora Robson - Empress Cixi
- John Ireland - Sergeant Harry
- Leo Genn - General Junlong
- Harry Andrews - father de Byrne
- Robert Helpman - Prince of Duan
- Judo Itami - Colonel Shiba
- Kurt Kasnar - Baron Sergey Ivanov
- Philippe Leroy - Jouillard
- Paul Lucas - Dr. Steinfeldt
- John Molder-Brown - a boy shot in the garden (uncredited)
Nominations and Awards
The film was nominated for an Oscar : Dmitry Temkin ( Best Song and Best Music ).
Technical Details
Interesting Movie Facts
Links
- 55 Days in Beijing at the Internet Movie Database
- 55 days in Beijing at allmovie