Flick of The Day: 55 Days At Peking

Ah, the historical epic, something which we have explored before here on Daily Flick. Unlike some of the swords and sandals epics we have previously looked at, this film details an event in history which is today largely forgotten if many know of it all though it is in fact much more relevant, The Boxer Rebellion of 1901. 

55 Days at Peking

Starring Ben Hur himself, the reliable star of so many epics Charlton Heston as an American soldier, 55 Days tells the story of a nationalist uprising in China in 1901 when the eight most powerful western nations of the day, which up until that point had been unimpeded in their attempts to carve China up were caught unawares by a grass roots Chinese rebellion. So it was that the Eight-Nation Alliance, for the record Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Austria-Hugary, France and Italy, held out at the city of Peking for 55 days despite being massively outnumbered. The film does take some liberties with this history but the basic tale is largely accurate with an added romantic subplot involving the character of Baroness Natalie Ivanoff, played by the gorgeous Ava Gardner to keep the audience involved and who can complain about that.

David Niven is perfectly cast as the British Ambassador, bringing his natural charm to the role of Sir Arthur Robinson, the man who insisted on staying and defending Peking, making the character light hearted and witty. A special mention must also be made of Flora Robson who is excellent as the Chinese Empress. There is much to admire apart from the performances of the central characters though, the sets and production values are extravagant even by the standards of the day. Filmed on location in Spain, everything was built from scratch including a full scale 60 acre set of Peking circa 1901 including a working sewer system on the plains outside Madrid. So many Chinese extras were hired for the crowd scenes that "for several months there was scarcely a Chinese restaurant to be found open in the entire country". Extravagance like that has to be seen to be believed.

The historical context of the story is of interest, how many times have you seen the most powerful nations on earth roll their interests together and work toward a common goal? The interplay between the different countries representatives is entertaining particularly between Niven and Heston. Interestingly, Charlton Heston is on record that he enjoyed working with David Niven in sharp contrast to his poisonous relationship with Ava Gardner, something which he blamed on her being unreasonable. 

This was the last film directed by Nicholas Ray, best remembered today for Rebel Without A Cause. If the direction is at times uneven, it is because Ray was replaced halfway through filming after collapsing on set having had a premonition that the epic scale of the film would ruin him and that he would never direct again, as it proved.

Ray pops up as the American Ambassador in a small cameo. He would never receive another directing commission after 55 days and he passed away of lung cancer in 1979.

In summary this is a fine film, with a number of interesting elements from the historical story to the strong leading performances from David Niven and Charlton Heston. It's well worth a look.