55 Days at Peking (1963)

Dr. Steinfeldt: [in the hospital, while the baroness refuses medical assistance] Don't you want to live?
Baroness Natalie Ivanoff: I *have* lived!

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Baron Sergei Ivanoff: [Clapping sarcastically] Congratulations, Sir Arthur! It seems the British have won another bloodless victory!
US Minister Maxwell: I take it you have now unanimously decided to stay.
Baron Sergei Ivanoff: I shall report in my diary the first vote was nine-to-one, and that in a... friendly spirit it was then decided to make the decision unanimous.

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Baroness Natalie Ivanoff: You know, I think I'll get you to take me to San Francisco with you.
Maj. Matt Lewis: Oh? Why to San Francisco?
Baroness Natalie Ivanoff: Well, isn't that the place where they found all the gold?
Maj. Matt Lewis: [laughs]

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It is still possible to walk around the area of Beijing which was the actual location of the Siege of the Peking Legations in 1900, and to recognize sites and street layout depicted with admirable accuracy by the sets constructed in Spain for '55 Days At Peking'. The former legation quarter is east of Tiananmen Square, bounded in the north by Changan Avenue and south by Qianmen Street. One such important site is the gate of the former British Legation in Zhengyi Road, looking remarkably as it did in photos taken in 1900. Much of the area has been occupied for many years by Chinese Government agencies. Most of the heritage buildings remaining of the old legation quarter are reconstructions after the Boxer uprising. The area's tourist potential has been little exploited. The post-Boxer former French Legation post office is the foyer of the Dongjiaominxiang Hotel. The site of the former US Legation has been renovated for up-market restaurants, bars and event venues.
During the opening scene where the Legations and their flags are displayed, the camera lingers on the Spanish flag for a few seconds. Given the fact the Spanish legation or diplomats are not mentioned in the movie, some have commented the flag is only shown as the film was filmed in Spain during Franco's regime. While this explanation probably has some truth, there was in fact a Spanish legation and diplomatic staff in Peking during the siege. However, like the Dutch and Belgian Legations, they had no marines and played little role in the siege. This is why "eleven foreign powers" are referenced but only eight nations are named.
The siege of the Peking Legation Quarter was a great backdrop for dramatic effect and story-telling as the basis of this movie because it involved so many nationalities and personalities through a real crisis in an exotic location. Some survivors of the Legations, however, felt they did not have as tough a time as those caught three miles away in the concurrent more closely confined siege by Boxers and soldiers of Peking's Northern Cathedral. Defended by only 25 French and 15 Italian marines, the Catholic Bishop Pierre-Marie-Alphonse Favier (1837-1905) held out for 56 days against sniping, bombardment and mining, losing 10 of his marines killed and 500 of his Chinese congregation. There is enough material in the cathedral siege for a movie in its own right.
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