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55 Days at Peking

1963 · 154 min

A grand, old-fashioned siege epic that feels tense and sweeping, with stoic heroism and a bittersweet romantic thread.

Directed by
Nicholas Ray
Genres
History, War, Drama
Starring
Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven
Tagline
A handful of men and women held out against the frenzied hordes of bloodthirsty fanatics!
Overview
Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.

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Rent or buy in the UK
  • Amazon Video
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
Nicholas Ray
Genres
History, War, Drama
Starring
Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 1 of 3
  • romanticstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • survival
  • war
  • colonialism
  • loyalty
  • love
Places
  • big city
  • military
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language none
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action6
Horror2
Humour2
Realism7
Romance4
Tension7
Darkness6
Complexity5
Emotional weight6

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy
  • Amazon Video

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
history, war, drama
Directed by
Nicholas Ray
Written by
Bernard Gordon, Philip Yordan
Starring
Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson, John Ireland, Harry Andrews, Leo Genn, Robert Helpmann
Music
Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography
Jack Hildyard
Runtime
154 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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