YMMV / 55 Days at Peking

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Sir Arthur Robertson does this in universe about himself if he was a fool who took on a stupid and unnecessary risk or if he was "a reasonable man who took a reasonable chance?"
• Aluminium Christmas Trees: Modern Spanish viewers often see the presence of a Spanish ambassador and legation in the film as the movie makers pandering to Francisco Franco for logistical support. While there was some of that, it is true, however, that there was a Spanish legation among the besieged, and that Spain was one of the signatories of the peace treaty with China as a result,^note In fact, the treaty itself was written by Spanish ambassador Bernardo Cólogan, because he was the eldest among the foreign ambassadors even though Spain wasn't in a position to send troops to China right after losing Cuba and the Philippines in the Spanish-American War.
• Designated Villain: Combined with portraying the Eight-Nation Alliance as heroes to the Boxers' status as villains, the film made it hard to root against the boxers as the story ignored the fact that the film's "heroes" are armies sent to enforce their home countries' influence over an forcefully occupied country. This portrayal gets more muddled as the film actually states, albeit briefly, legitimate gripes by the Chinese people concerning Western hegemony.^note  Not that the Boxers were any better, mind you. In addition to killing largely peaceful European missionaries (including families), they also killed any Chinese citizen that was a Christian. So while the grievances were valid, that shouldn’t excuse killing innocent civilians just because they thought Jesus Was Way Cool.