The Sand Pebbles (1966)

In 1926, an US naval engineer gets assigned to a gunboat on a rescue mission in war-torn China.

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Richard McKenna (novel), Robert Anderson (screenplay)

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve McQueen	...	Jake Holman
Richard Attenborough	...	Frenchy Burgoyne
Richard Crenna	...	Captain Collins
Candice Bergen	...	Shirley Eckert
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.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1926 | gunboat | yangtze river | warship | cultural misunderstanding | 

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Taglines:

This is the heroic story of the men on the U.S.S. San Pablo who disturbed the sleeping dragon of savage China as the threatened world watched in breathless terror

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

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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)

Gross USA:

$30,017,647, 31 January 1968

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argyle Enterprises,Solar Productions,Robert Wise Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

182 min 196 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) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Color by Deluxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julie Christie turned down the role of Shirley Eckert.

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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.

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Quotes

Jameson: If they obey orders then the Navy takes care of them. It's a way of life that appeals to a certain kind of man.

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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.

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Connections

Featured in The Nostalgia Chick: The Worst Witch (2011)

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Soundtracks

Sleepy Time Gal
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting and Ange Lorenzo
Lyrics by Ray Egan and Joseph R. Alden

User Reviews

Steve McQueen's best performance.

Steve McQueen felt an affinity for this role like few others in his career.

In this compelling war drama set in China in 1926, he plays American sailor Jake Holman, a man who's bonded to machinery more than people yet is imbued with a powerful sense of right and wrong. It's a part that plays perfectly to McQueen's strengths as an actor and his lifelong quest to hone performance into character, while jettisoning all but essential dialogue. All his emoting comes subtly: slight shifts of gaze; the way he cocks his head to listen; his complete stillness before action. In 1966 it also brought him his only Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor (but won that year by Paul Scofield for "A Man For All Seasons").

Scripter Robert Anderson had a tough job distilling Richard McKenna's sprawling novel of U.S. Navy gunboat 'San Pablo' (hence her sailors called themselves 'Sand Pebbles') at the start of the revolution that would tear China asunder and ultimately transform it into the post-WWII behemoth we know today. Luckily he and director Robert Wise knew to keep the plot's underpinnings solidly on the central irony of McKenna's story: that it is Jake's very alienation from his fellows that leads him inevitably to sacrifice and redemption. The ending is shocking and powerful; a reminder of better, more mature days in American film.

Wise directed on locations in Hong Kong and Taiwan with his customary mastery of both intense personal confrontation and epic sweep. In excellent support are Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna and Mako. The film also features one of Jerry Goldsmith's most memorable scores.

I must again mention McKenna's novel. It is superb; sadly, the only full-length work he finished before his untimely death. It may be out of print but is well worth an online used book search.