55 Days at Peking (1963)

I regret to say my Niven mini-marathon hasn’t been wholly satisfying. Part of the trouble in capping it off with 55 Days at Peking is that he’s subsumed by the spectacle.

It’s 1900 and Chinese peasants are rising up against the foreigners during the Boxer Rebellion. This was an unusual historical episode to showcase, so that choice is to be commended. Producer Samuel Bronston went all out with the production values. The Legation Quarter, the location of the siege, is impressively recreated. The immense scope of 55 Days at Peking rivals many of the historical epics that arose in the early ’60s, Bronston being a key champion of them.

Niven’s magnetism is largely restrained, Ava Gardner deserved better, and Nick…