The Sand Pebbles (1966)

Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat U.S.S. San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Richard McKenna (novel), Robert Anderson (screenplay)

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve McQueen	...	Jake Holman
Candice Bergen	...	Shirley Eckert
Richard Attenborough	...	Frenchy Burgoyne
Richard Crenna	...	Captain Collins
Emmanuelle Arsan	...	Maily (as Marayat Andriane)
Mako	...	Po-han
Larry Gates	...	Jameson
Charles Robinson	...	Ensign Bordelles
Simon Oakland	...	Stawski
Ford Rainey	...	Harris
Joe Turkel	...	Bronson
Gavin MacLeod	...	Crosley
Joe Di Reda	...	Shanahan (as Joseph di Reda)
Richard Loo	...	Major Chin
Barney Phillips	...	Franks

Storyline

Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat U.S.S. San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and cynical nature soon clash with the "rice-bowl" system which runs the ship and the uneasy symbiosis between Chinese and foreigner on the river. Hostility towards the gunboat's presence reaches a climax when the boat must crash through a river-boom and rescue missionaries upriver at China Light Mission.

---

Plot Keywords:

china | gunboat | missionary | chinese | battle | 

---

Taglines:

THE STORY OF MEN...men who disturbed the sleeping dragon of China as the world watched in terror!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and sexual material

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

20 December 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

El Yang-Tsé en llamas

Filming Locations:

Taipei City, Taiwan

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert Wise Productions, Solar Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

182 min 243 min (BBFC submission before censorship) 196 min (roadshow)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The steam engine was located in California and renovated for the film. The whole engine room was built around it, on a sound stage.

---

Goofs

During the battle scene at the blockade, Holman is send forward on the port (left) side with two men manning a BAR position. When the main battery on San Pablo fires and hits the mast of a junk, a group of men back aft near midships who are part of the boarding party are seen laughing, Holman being one of them.

---

Quotes

Po-han: Dead stim!

---

Crazy Credits

There is a credit for 'Diversions by Irving Schwartz' in tribute to a mysterious, unknown correspondent whose letters proved a morale booster to cast and crew during trying location work in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

---

Connections

Featured in The Sound of Music: From Fact to Phenomenon (1994)

User Reviews

Great Movie!

This is just one exceptional movie. One of my all time classics.

An examination of the little-known or understood tensions and political ramifications of being aboard an American gunboat, in the 1920's, in the China backwater.

The atmosphere and the story are superb.

Steve McQueen has never been better as Jake Holman, a hard-nosed American sailor, with his own code of right and wrong. His character absolutely dominates the movie. This is the type of character he was born to play.

Richard Crenna's ship Captain was perfect: smug, self-involved, deluded about his patriotism, but a decent man caught in a confusing, thankless, possibly deadly situation.

The rest of the cast in this is tremendous, especially Richard Attenborough, Candace Bergen, Simon Oakland, and Mako.

An absolutely superior film!