This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.
Hoping to replicate the success of his 1961 smash hit El Cid, Hollywood producer Samuel Bronston turned to the events of the Boxer rebellion, which took place in China from 1899 to 1901. Named after a crucial siege, the ensuing epic, 55 Days at Peking (1963), would star Charlton Heston and David Niven, and be shot on huge sets in rural Spain.
Bronston told the Los Angeles Times he was attracted to the story because it showed “the unity of peoples, no matter what their beliefs, in the face of danger”. Those people? Mostly white. The face of danger? Chinese.
