Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.
Charlton Heston
as Maj. Matt Lewis
Ava Gardner
as Baroness Natalie Ivanoff
David Niven
as Sir Arthur Robertson
Flora Robson
as Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi
John Ireland
as Sgt. Harry
Harry Andrews
as Father de Bearn
Leo Genn
as Gen. Jung-Lu
Robert Helpmann
as Prince Tuan
Kurt Kasznar
as Baron Sergei Ivanoff
Philippe Leroy
as Julliard
CinemaSerf
It is tempting just to look upon this as an imperialist (Western, not Chinese) costume drama with fireworks. I think, however, it does merit a little more credit than that. Samuel Bronston pulls together quite a cast as Hollywood (via Madrid and Valencia) gives us it's version of the failed/foiled B...