starring Charlton Heston Ava Gardner , David Niven
June 1900. As Major Matt Lewis rides into Peking with a detachment of Marines, he is appalled to see an American missionary killed by a group of men wearing the red sashes of the Boxer rebels. Within a few days isolated riots have escalated to a formal war against foreigners, and Lewis finds himself in charge of defending the 11 embassies in Peking's Legation City. The British envoy, Sir Arthur Robertson , persuades the other diplomats not to surrender to the Chinese, but as weeks pass without the expected reinforcements the situation seems hopeless. Meanwhile, a romance is growing between the American Major and Russian Baroness Ivanoff ...
Screenplay PHILIP YORDAN , BERNARD GORDON Produced by SAMUEL BRONSTON Directed by NICHOLAS RAY Films: page 11