Cinematography:
Jack HildyardComposer:
Dimitri TiomkinCast:
Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson, John Ireland, Harry Andrews, Leo Genn, Robert Helpmann, Philippe Leroy, Paul Lukas, Elizabeth Sellars (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Nicholas Ray's epic, set in China during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, centres on the defence of the besieged embassy compound in Peking. A US Marine (Charlton Heston) and a Russian countess (Ava Gardner) fall in love behind the barricades. The film also stars David Niven as the British Ambassador. (Screenbound Pictures)
Reviews (1)
A big Hollywood waste. The actors, the music, the successful battle scenes (the conquest of the wall with the help of Betsy!) and probably also the staggering amount of money the filmmakers spent to build (or how it all came about) the great looking historical Beijing. The screenplay, however, is a long-winded bore (especially in the second half of the film), which, moreover, shows the Chinese too one-sidedly, treats the languages of the foreigners strangely (they all speak English, only here and there we get to hear German, Russian, Italian or Chinese for effect) and doesn't impress with many bland plot lines (especially the little girl).
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