55 Days at Peking
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DVD Cover Information
DVD: Region Code 0Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: NTSC
Audience Rating: Unrated
Movie Reviews of 55 Days at Peking
Movie Review: The Golden Age of Hollywood!
Summary: 5 Stars
This epic, set in China at the beginning of the twentieth century, has everything: top-notch Hollywood stars, including David Niven, Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner--to all appearances, still in their prime; magnificent costumes and sets; high production standards; thrilling action scenes, and a cast of thousands without computer generation. In fact, they just don't make 'em like this anymore!
Particularly memorable are the opening scenes in which each of the foreign legations at Peking--including the British, French, German, American, Russian, and Japanese [all the usual suspects] are raising their flags at dawn, to a cacophony of competing national anthems (a scene echoed at the end, when after pulling together for 55 days against a common enemy--the Harmonious Fists, or Boxers--the besieged foreigners revert ominously to their separatist ways. Equally interesting are the scenes in the beautifully recreated Forbidden City at the court of the Manchu Empress, whom the incomparable Flora Robsen invests with sympathy as well as inscrutability. Robert Helpmann, the great premier danseur of the Royal Ballet, plays the sinister prince Tuan, and Leo Genn performs the role of his rival, the general Wen Lu (who has conducted a secret love affair with the enchanting Russian Countess [Gardner]), whose reputation has been consequently ruined [It seems to me that some of Genn's scenes have unfortunately been cut or lost with the passage of time].
The transfer to DVD is sharp and does not seem to have diminished in color, and the sound is excellent with one important exception. Lamentably, Dimtri Tiomkin's musical score, which accompanies the opening titles has not been re-mastered properly, and it sounds tinny and wobbles slightly off tune. Although this significant imperfection had me worried at the beginning, all sonic quaverings disappear as soon as the film starts. Although Korean and Japanese subtitles appear at the beginning, they are easily dispensed with by a press of the "subtitle off" button. Unfortunately, there are no English captions for the hearing impaired.
Nevertheless, we should be grateful to the Korean company for releasing this splendid example of Hollywood films at the end of a golden era. One wonders why Hollywood itself did not do so.
Buy this one and enjoy!
Summary of 55 Days at Peking
In 1900 Peking, Boxer fanatics are encouraged by the Empress to take over the city and besiege the international diplomatic quarter. @Imported from Korea. (Some DVDs Have Korean Description on Cover) @Some DVDs Have Several Languages & Subtitles. @High Quality as USA Products. @All DVDs are Exactly Same as Description. @Language: English @Subtitle: Korean, NoneSimilar DVD Movies
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