55 Days at Peking (1963)

***55 Days at Peking*** is a 1963 American epic historical war film dramatizing the siege of the foreign legations' compounds in Peking (now known as Beijing) during the Boxer Rebellion, which took place in China from 1899 to 1901. It was produced by Samuel Bronston for Allied Artists, with a screenplay by Philip Yordan and Bernard Gordon with uncredited contributions from Robert Hamer, Julian Halevy, and Ben Barzman. Noel Gerson wrote a screenplay novelization, under the pseudonym Samuel Edwards, in 1963.

The film was directed primarily by Nicholas Ray, although Guy Green and Andrew Marton took over in the latter stages of filming after Ray had fallen ill. Both men were uncredited. It stars Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, and David Niven, with supporting roles by Flora Robson, John Ireland, Leo Genn, Robert Helpmann, Harry Andrews, and Kurt Kasznar. It also contains the first known screen appearance of future martial arts film star Yuen Siu Tien. Japanese film director Juzo Itami, credited in the film as "*Ichizo Itami*", appears as Colonel Goro Shiba.

## Shooting

* Filming was from July 2nd, 1962 - November 15th, 1962.

## Cast

* Charlton Heston - Major Matt Lewis
* Ava Gardner - Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
* David Niven - Sir Arthur Robertson
* Flora Robson - Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi
* John Ireland - Sergeant Harry
* Harry Andrews - Father de Bearn
* Leo Genn - General Jung-Lu
* Robert Helpmann - Prince Tuan
* Kurt Kasznar - Baron Sergei Ivanoff
* Philippe Leroy - Julliard
* Paul Lukas - Dr. Steinfeldt
* Elizabeth Sellars - Lady Sarah Robertson
* Massimo Serato - Garibaldi
* Jacques Sernas - Major Bobrinski
* Jerome Thor - Captain Andy Marshall
* Geoffrey Bayldon - Smythe
* Joseph Fürst - Captain Hanselman (as Joseph Furst)
* Walter Gotell - Captain Hoffman
* Jûzô Itami - Colonel Shiba Gorō (as Ichizo Itami)
* Mervyn Johns - Clergyman
* Alfredo Mayo - Spanish Minister
* Martin Miller - Hugo Bergmann
* Conchita Montes - Mme Gaumaire
* José Nieto - Italian Minister (as Jose Nieto)
* Eric Pohlmann - Baron von Meck
* Aram Stephan - Gaumaire
* Robert Urquhart - Captain Hanley
* Lynne Sue Moon - Teresa

**Rest of cast listed alphabetically:**

* Burt Kwouk - Old Man (voice)
* Lucy Appleby - Martha (uncredited)
* R.S.M. Brittain - Sergeant Major (uncredited)
* Carlos Casaravilla - Japanese Minister (uncredited)
* Michael Chow - Chiang (uncredited)
* Siu-Loi Chow - Court Boxer (uncredited)
* Félix Dafauce - Dutch Minister (uncredited)
* Andrea Esterhazy - Austrian Minister (uncredited)
* Andy Ho
* Dong Kingman
* Mitchell Kowall - US Marine (uncredited)
* Cheng-Liang Kwan - Court Boxer (uncredited)
* Soong Ling
* Alfred Lynch - Gerald (uncredited)
* John Moulder-Brown - Tommy (uncredited)
* Enzo Musumeci Greco
* Paul Naschy
* Nicholas Ray - US Minister (uncredited)
* Milton Reid - Boxer (uncredited)
* Robert Rietty - Spanish Minister (voice) (uncredited)
* Fernando Sancho - Belgian Minister (uncredited)
* Lucille Soong - Concubine (uncredited)
* Mike Steen
* Kenji Takaki
* John A. Tinn
* Guillermo Vera - El hombre del carrito (uncredited)
* George Wang - Boxer Chief (uncredited)
* Stephen Young
* Siu-Tin Yuen - Court Boxer (uncredited)