55 Days At Beijing

Nicolas Ray's 55 Days At Beijing (1963) is one of those big style Hollywood productions with a cast of thousands with big stars like Charlton Heston, David Niven, and Ava Gardener. And Heston didn't pay a Chinaman (he played a Mexican in Orson Welles' class A Touch of Evil), however, the Dowager was played by British actress Flora Robson. It is essentially the fictional retelling of a historical account about the 1900 Boxer Rebellion against foreigners in China, U.S. Marine Major Matt Lewis (Heston), aided by British Consul Sir Arthur Robertson (Niven), devises a strategy to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force arrives. Garner plays Heston's love interest Baroness Ivanoff, and according to Heston her character was killed off so the producers and director didn't have to put up with her anymore. The massive set recreation was built in Spain for the production. Also of note is that actor/director Juzo Itami had a small role as Colonel Shiba. It was more entertaining than I had expected and is known as a favorite of Martin Scorsese.