Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this page55 Days at Peking (1962)
Director: Nicholas Ray
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
From its marvellous opening - in the Legation compound at Peking, the troops of eight foreign powers raise their national flags to the accompaniment of a cacophony of national anthems - to the final relief of the diplomats to whom the Boxers have laid siege in the compound, Ray almost transcends the spectacular world of international co-production film deals. He carefully orchestrates the big action sequences (the sine qua non of the Epic) so that they form a mere background to the unfolding drama of the awkward love affair between Heston and Gardner. The result, Ray's farewell to Hollywood, is admittedly a broken-backed movie - producer Samuel Bronston re-cut it - but one full of delicious moments as Ray's camera cranes and swoops around his protagonists, almost taking us back to the nervous grandeur of Johnny Guitar on occasion. A magnificent failure.Author: PH
User reviews of this film
-
- Paul Bidds said...
- Posted on Jun 16 2008 21:55 I get really confused with peoples comments. Its a film, action movie, Enjoyable romp . Who cares if its right wrong whatever. if yoyu want to know what happened read a history book. I go to cinema to enjoy a movie. this i enjoyed alot. Old style big budget good action scenes..... story is different , held back in my opinion by the love story. Typical Heston character , but i like this type of film. hOWEVER all said done its better than watching a modern drab movie.... good entertainment which is why Indiana does so well..escapeism. As for the official revue... dont agree , thought it was well acted for the time, by todays standards a little wooden but NIven was great.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Madam Miaow said...
- Posted on Feb 03 2008 02:33 Imperialist, jingoist ponderous crap harking back to the glory days of Empire.
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Nicholas Ray
Producer: Samuel Bronston
Cast: Charlton Heston, David Niven, Ava Gardner, Robert Helpmann, Flora Robson, Leo Genn, John Ireland, Kurt Kasznar, Paul Lukas, Harry Andrews full cast
Genre(s): Epics
Duration: 154 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now