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The Sand Pebbles (film)
Encyclopedia
The Sand Pebbles is a 1966 American period war film
directed by Robert Wise
. It tells the story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy Machinist's Mate
aboard the fictional gunboat
USS San Pablo in 1920s China.
The Sand Pebbles features Steve McQueen
, Richard Attenborough
, Richard Crenna
, Candice Bergen
, Mako
and Marayat Andriane (later known as a writer of erotic fiction – Emmanuelle Arsan
). Robert Anderson adapted the screenplay from the 1962 novel of the same name
by Richard McKenna
.
1st Class Jake Holman (Steve McQueen
) transfers from the Asiatic Fleet
flagship to the Yangtze River Patrol gunboat USS San Pablo. (The ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebble" and its sailors refer to themselves as "Sand Pebbles.") Life aboard a gunboat is very different. It has a labor system – condoned by officers – wherein coolies (manual laborers) do the work, leaving the sailors free for combat drills and idle bickering.
Because he likes to personally take care of a ship's engines, Holman bucks the system. Although he becomes close friends with one seasoned and sensitive seaman, Frenchy (Richard Attenborough
), other crewmen see Holman as a Jonah
. Holman also antagonizes the coolie laborers whose "rice bowl" (source of income) is derived from doing the work that the sailors would normally do.
Holman discovers a serious defect that the coolies have not fixed. Holman informs the Captain (Richard Crenna
), who declines to authorize an engine shutdown for the repair; only after the Executive Officer observes the same problem does the Captain agree. The engine-room coolie is killed in an accident when the jacking gear slips due to its poor condition. The chief coolie blames Holman, who maintains that the death was caused by the deceased coolie's own poor work. Holman asks the Captain to allow him to run the engine room properly, but is ordered to train a replacement coolie and then concentrate on his military duties.
Holman selects Po-han (Mako
) as the replacement and invests time training him. The two form a friendship. Po-Han is harassed by one sailor (Simon Oakland
), leading to a boxing match on which the crewmen place bets. Po-Han's victory leads to more antagonism between Holman and crew members, as well as the chief coolie, who wants to kick Po-Han off the ship but is foiled by Holman.
An incident involving British gunboats (not shown) leads to the Captain ordering the crew not to fire or return fire from Chinese, to avoid diplomatic incidents. Po-Han is sent ashore by the chief coolie (with the apparent intent of getting him killed). Po-han is captured and tortured by a mob of Chinese in full view of the crew, only yards from shore. With the crew poised to repel boarders, and under intense pressure, the Captain attempts to negotiate for Po-Han's release; his efforts are fruitless. Po-Han begs for someone to kill him. Holman disobeys orders and ends Po-Han's suffering with a fatal rifle
shot.
The San Pablo is stuck in port for the winter due to low water levels. It must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. The Captain fears a possible mutiny
. Frenchy has saved a Chinese woman, Mai Ling (Emmanuelle Arsan
), from prostitution by paying her debts. He marries her and sneaks off the ship regularly, but dies of pneumonia
one night. Holman searches for him and finds Mai Ling sitting stunned by Frenchy's corpse. Kuomintang
(Chinese nationalists) burst in, beat up Holman, and drag Mai Ling away.
Holman returns to the ship. The next day, Chinese float out to the San Pablo and demand the "murderer" Holman be turned over to them. Apparently, the nationalists killed Mai Ling and blamed Holman, trying to provoke an incident. Holman informs the Captain what really happened. When the Chinese demand for Holman is refused, they blockade the San Pablo. The American crew fears for their safety and demand that Holman surrender to the Chinese against the Captain's orders. Order is not restored until the Captain fires across the bow of one of the Chinese junks.
With spring at hand, the Captain decides to risk an attempt to leave. The San Pablo sails away from the Kuomintang
blockade and receives radioed orders to return to the coast. The Captain defies these orders and elects to evacuate idealistic missionary Jameson (Larry Gates
) and his school teacher assistant Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen
) from their remote mission up the Yangtze River
.
To reach the missionaries, the San Pablo must fight through a boom made up of junks
carrying a massive rope blocking the river. The San Pablo returns their fire and boards one of the junks. Close-range fighting results in the deaths of several sailors and Chinese. Holman heroically cuts the boom with an axe under fire while other sailors return to the San Pablo. He is attacked and kills a Chinese man with the axe. It turns out that the man, the leader of a Nationalist student group, was known to Holman as a student of Eckert. The ship then proceeds upriver, leaving the smoking wrecks behind.
Arriving near the mission, the Captain leads a patrol of three sailors, including Holman, ashore. Jameson resists rescue, claiming that it is the Captain's actions that have endangered him, not the Chinese. Jameson shows the Captain a document claiming that he and Eckert have renounced their US citizenship and are therefore not under the Captain's authority. The Captain tells him the paper will not matter. The Captain orders Holman to forcibly remove Eckert and Jameson, but Holman refuses the order and announces his intent to stay at the mission with them. The Captain tells Holman angrily that this is desertion.
The argument is interrupted by nationalist soldiers who attack the mission and kill Jameson with paper in hand as he approaches them pleading for his life. The Captain takes a large Browning Automatic Rifle
(BAR), orders the patrol to return to the ship with Miss Eckert, and remains behind to provide covering fire. As the patrol leaves, the Captain is killed, ironically leaving the normally rebellious Holman in command. Holman returns and recovers the rifle. He orders the remaining two sailors to leave with Eckert and takes the Captain's place to cover the escape. In the ensuing shootout Holman kills several soldiers before he himself is fatally shot while almost succeeding in joining the others. His final words are, "I was home... What happened? What the hell happened?!"
Eckert and the two remaining sailors are shown successfully escaping to the ship, and the San Pablo is shown cruising off to apparent safety.
and pre-production work, as well as being due to monsoons in Taipei, its producer and director Robert Wise realized that it would be over a year before principal photography could begin. At the insistence of the film company
, Wise agreed to direct a "fill-in" project, The Sound of Music
, a film that became one of the most popular and acclaimed films of the 1960s.
The film company spent $250,000 building a replica gunboat
named the San Pablo, based on the USS Villalobos
-- a former Spanish Navy
gunboat that was seized by the U.S. Navy in the Philippine Islands during the Spanish-American War
(1898–99) -- but with a greatly reduced draft to allow sailing on the shallow Tam Sui
and Keelung
rivers. A seaworthy vessel that was actually powered by Cummins
diesel engines, the San Pablo made the voyage from Hong Kong to Taiwan and back under her own power during shooting of the Sand Pebbles. After filming was completed, the San Pablo was sold to the DeLong Timber Company and renamed the Nola D, then later sold to Seiscom Delta Exploration Co., who used her as a floating base camp with significant modifications including removal of her engines and the addition of a helipad.
The Sand Pebbles was filmed both in Taiwan
and in Hong Kong. Its filming, which began on November 22, 1965, at Keelung
, was scheduled to take about nine weeks, but it ended up taking seven months.
The cast and crew took a break for the Christmas holidays at Tamsui, Taipei.
At one point a fifteen-foot camera boat capsized on the Keelung River, setting back the schedule because the soundboard was ruined when it sank. When the filming was finally finished in Taiwan, the government of the Republic of China held several members of the crew, including McQueen and his family, supposedly "hostage" by keeping their passports because of unpaid additional taxes. In March 1966, the filming finally moved to Hong Kong for three months, and then in June it traveled to Hollywood, California, to finish its interior scenes at the Fox Studios
.
Due to frequent rain and other difficulties in Hong Kong, the filming was nearly abandoned. When he returned to Los Angeles, Mr. McQueen fell ill because he had an abscessed molar. He had not wanted to see a dentist until he returned to California. His dentist and physician ordered him to take an extended period of rest—one that halted production again for weeks.
Fittingly it rained the night of the premiere, December 20, 1966, at the Rivoli Theatre
in New York City. Afterwards, Steve McQueen did not do any film work for about a year due to exhaustion, saying that whatever sins that he had committed in his life had been paid for when he made The Sand Pebbles. The performance did earn McQueen the only Academy Award nomination of his career. He was not seen on film again until two movies of 1968, The Thomas Crown Affair
and Bullitt
(which included his fellow The Sand Pebbles actor Simon Oakland
as Bullitt's boss).
on a small scale, through the sailors' relations with the coolie
s who run their gunboat and the bargirl
s who serve them off-duty, as well as on a large scale, with the West's gunboat diplomacy
domination of China.
Although the 1962 novel pre-dated extensive US activity in Vietnam
and was not based on any historic incidents, by the December 1966 release of the film it was seen as an explicit statement on the US's extensive combat involvement in the Vietnam War
in reviews published by the New York Times. and Life magazine.
for Robert Wise, Best Actor
for Steve McQueen, Best Supporting Actor
for Mako, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration-Color
, Best Cinematography-Color
, Best Film Editing
, Best Sound (James Corcoran
) and Best Original Music Score
for Jerry Goldsmith
.
version shown at New York's Rivoli Theater. The restored version has been released on DVD. The sequences are spread throughout the film and add texture to the story, though they do not alter it in any significant way.
Reviews
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by Robert Wise
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...
. It tells the story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy Machinist's Mate
Machinist's Mate
Machinist's Mate is a rating in the United States Navy's engineering community.- Description :According to the Bureau of Naval Personnel , the job of an MM is to "operate, maintain, and repair ship propulsion machinery, auxiliary equipment, and outside machinery, such as: steering engine,...
aboard the fictional gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
USS San Pablo in 1920s China.
The Sand Pebbles features Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
, Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
, Richard Crenna
Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
, Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
, Mako
Mako (actor)
, born , was an Oscar- and Tony-nominated Japanese actor. Many of his acting roles credited him simply as Mako, omitting his surname. -Early life:...
and Marayat Andriane (later known as a writer of erotic fiction – Emmanuelle Arsan
Emmanuelle Arsan
Emmanuelle Arsan, the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andriane, born in 1932 as Marayat Bibidh, is a French novelist of Eurasian origin, most famous for creating the fictional character Emmanuelle, a woman who engages in an exploration of her own sexuality under varying circumstances.Arsan was born in...
). Robert Anderson adapted the screenplay from the 1962 novel of the same name
The Sand Pebbles
The Sand Pebbles is a 1962 novel by American author Richard McKenna about a Yangtze River gunboat in 1926. It was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post for the three issues from November 17, 1962 through December 1, 1962. The author completed it in May, 1962, just in time to enter it in the 1963...
by Richard McKenna
Richard McKenna
Richard Milton McKenna was an American sailor and writer.-Early life:McKenna was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, on May 9, 1913. Seeking more opportunities than could be found in such a rural part of the country at the height of the Great Depression, McKenna joined the U.S...
.
Plot
In 1926, Machinist's MateMachinist's Mate
Machinist's Mate is a rating in the United States Navy's engineering community.- Description :According to the Bureau of Naval Personnel , the job of an MM is to "operate, maintain, and repair ship propulsion machinery, auxiliary equipment, and outside machinery, such as: steering engine,...
1st Class Jake Holman (Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
) transfers from the Asiatic Fleet
United States Asiatic Fleet
The United States Asiatic Fleet was part of the U.S. Navy. Preceding the World War II era, until 1942, the fleet protected the Philippines.Originally the Asiatic Squadron, it was upgraded to fleet status in 1902. In 1907, the fleet became the First Squadron of the Pacific Fleet. However, on 28...
flagship to the Yangtze River Patrol gunboat USS San Pablo. (The ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebble" and its sailors refer to themselves as "Sand Pebbles.") Life aboard a gunboat is very different. It has a labor system – condoned by officers – wherein coolies (manual laborers) do the work, leaving the sailors free for combat drills and idle bickering.
Because he likes to personally take care of a ship's engines, Holman bucks the system. Although he becomes close friends with one seasoned and sensitive seaman, Frenchy (Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
), other crewmen see Holman as a Jonah
Jinx
A jinx, in popular superstition and folklore, is:* A type of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to many minor misfortunes and other forms of bad luck;...
. Holman also antagonizes the coolie laborers whose "rice bowl" (source of income) is derived from doing the work that the sailors would normally do.
Holman discovers a serious defect that the coolies have not fixed. Holman informs the Captain (Richard Crenna
Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
), who declines to authorize an engine shutdown for the repair; only after the Executive Officer observes the same problem does the Captain agree. The engine-room coolie is killed in an accident when the jacking gear slips due to its poor condition. The chief coolie blames Holman, who maintains that the death was caused by the deceased coolie's own poor work. Holman asks the Captain to allow him to run the engine room properly, but is ordered to train a replacement coolie and then concentrate on his military duties.
Holman selects Po-han (Mako
Mako (actor)
, born , was an Oscar- and Tony-nominated Japanese actor. Many of his acting roles credited him simply as Mako, omitting his surname. -Early life:...
) as the replacement and invests time training him. The two form a friendship. Po-Han is harassed by one sailor (Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
), leading to a boxing match on which the crewmen place bets. Po-Han's victory leads to more antagonism between Holman and crew members, as well as the chief coolie, who wants to kick Po-Han off the ship but is foiled by Holman.
An incident involving British gunboats (not shown) leads to the Captain ordering the crew not to fire or return fire from Chinese, to avoid diplomatic incidents. Po-Han is sent ashore by the chief coolie (with the apparent intent of getting him killed). Po-han is captured and tortured by a mob of Chinese in full view of the crew, only yards from shore. With the crew poised to repel boarders, and under intense pressure, the Captain attempts to negotiate for Po-Han's release; his efforts are fruitless. Po-Han begs for someone to kill him. Holman disobeys orders and ends Po-Han's suffering with a fatal rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
shot.
The San Pablo is stuck in port for the winter due to low water levels. It must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. The Captain fears a possible mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
. Frenchy has saved a Chinese woman, Mai Ling (Emmanuelle Arsan
Emmanuelle Arsan
Emmanuelle Arsan, the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andriane, born in 1932 as Marayat Bibidh, is a French novelist of Eurasian origin, most famous for creating the fictional character Emmanuelle, a woman who engages in an exploration of her own sexuality under varying circumstances.Arsan was born in...
), from prostitution by paying her debts. He marries her and sneaks off the ship regularly, but dies of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
one night. Holman searches for him and finds Mai Ling sitting stunned by Frenchy's corpse. Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
(Chinese nationalists) burst in, beat up Holman, and drag Mai Ling away.
Holman returns to the ship. The next day, Chinese float out to the San Pablo and demand the "murderer" Holman be turned over to them. Apparently, the nationalists killed Mai Ling and blamed Holman, trying to provoke an incident. Holman informs the Captain what really happened. When the Chinese demand for Holman is refused, they blockade the San Pablo. The American crew fears for their safety and demand that Holman surrender to the Chinese against the Captain's orders. Order is not restored until the Captain fires across the bow of one of the Chinese junks.
With spring at hand, the Captain decides to risk an attempt to leave. The San Pablo sails away from the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
blockade and receives radioed orders to return to the coast. The Captain defies these orders and elects to evacuate idealistic missionary Jameson (Larry Gates
Larry Gates
Larry Gates was an American actor probably best known for his role as H.B. Lewis on daytime's Guiding Light and as Doc Baugh in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof...
) and his school teacher assistant Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
) from their remote mission up the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
.
To reach the missionaries, the San Pablo must fight through a boom made up of junks
Junk (ship)
A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages...
carrying a massive rope blocking the river. The San Pablo returns their fire and boards one of the junks. Close-range fighting results in the deaths of several sailors and Chinese. Holman heroically cuts the boom with an axe under fire while other sailors return to the San Pablo. He is attacked and kills a Chinese man with the axe. It turns out that the man, the leader of a Nationalist student group, was known to Holman as a student of Eckert. The ship then proceeds upriver, leaving the smoking wrecks behind.
Arriving near the mission, the Captain leads a patrol of three sailors, including Holman, ashore. Jameson resists rescue, claiming that it is the Captain's actions that have endangered him, not the Chinese. Jameson shows the Captain a document claiming that he and Eckert have renounced their US citizenship and are therefore not under the Captain's authority. The Captain tells him the paper will not matter. The Captain orders Holman to forcibly remove Eckert and Jameson, but Holman refuses the order and announces his intent to stay at the mission with them. The Captain tells Holman angrily that this is desertion.
The argument is interrupted by nationalist soldiers who attack the mission and kill Jameson with paper in hand as he approaches them pleading for his life. The Captain takes a large Browning Automatic Rifle
Browning Automatic Rifle
The Browning Automatic Rifle was a family of United States automatic rifles and light machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The primary variant of the BAR series was the M1918, chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge and designed...
(BAR), orders the patrol to return to the ship with Miss Eckert, and remains behind to provide covering fire. As the patrol leaves, the Captain is killed, ironically leaving the normally rebellious Holman in command. Holman returns and recovers the rifle. He orders the remaining two sailors to leave with Eckert and takes the Captain's place to cover the escape. In the ensuing shootout Holman kills several soldiers before he himself is fatally shot while almost succeeding in joining the others. His final words are, "I was home... What happened? What the hell happened?!"
Eckert and the two remaining sailors are shown successfully escaping to the ship, and the San Pablo is shown cruising off to apparent safety.
Cast
- Steve McQueenSteve McQueenTerrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
as Machinist's Mate 1st Class Jake Holman - Richard AttenboroughRichard AttenboroughRichard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
as Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Frenchy Burgoyne - Richard CrennaRichard CrennaRichard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
as CaptainCaptain (naval)Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Collins - Candice BergenCandice BergenCandice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
as Shirley Eckert - Marayat AndrianeEmmanuelle ArsanEmmanuelle Arsan, the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andriane, born in 1932 as Marayat Bibidh, is a French novelist of Eurasian origin, most famous for creating the fictional character Emmanuelle, a woman who engages in an exploration of her own sexuality under varying circumstances.Arsan was born in...
as Maily - MakoMako (actor), born , was an Oscar- and Tony-nominated Japanese actor. Many of his acting roles credited him simply as Mako, omitting his surname. -Early life:...
as Po-han - Charles RobinsonCharles Knox Robinson IIICharles Knox Robinson III was an actor.-Biography:He was born April 13, 1932, to Charles Knox Robinson II, playwright, and Geraldine O'Loughlin, painter in Orange, New Jersey. Siblings include Judith Kirby Robinson, actress, and Toni Stuart Robinson Thalenberg, former actress/academic. Cousin of...
as Ensign Bordelles - Larry GatesLarry GatesLarry Gates was an American actor probably best known for his role as H.B. Lewis on daytime's Guiding Light and as Doc Baugh in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof...
as Jameson - Simon OaklandSimon OaklandSimon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
as Machinist's Mate Stawski - Ford RaineyFord RaineyFord Rainey was an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Rainey was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, the son of Vyrna , a teacher, and Archie Coleman Rainey. Rainey graduated from Centralia Junior College in Washington state and the Cornish Drama School in Seattle. He first acted on...
as Harris - Joe TurkelJoe TurkelJoe Turkel is an American character actor. He is credited in several films as Joseph Turkel.-Background:Turkel was born in Brooklyn, New York, and served in the U.S. Military during World War II. He currently lives in southern California, and has been involved in writing screenplays.-Career:His...
as Bronson - Gavin MacLeodGavin MacLeodGavin MacLeod is an American actor most notable for playing Happy Haines on McHale's Navy, Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat...
as Crosley - Joe Di Reda as Red Dog Shanahan
- Richard LooRichard LooRichard Loo was a Chinese American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. A prolific actor, he appeared in over 120 films between 1931 and 1982....
as Major Chin - Barney PhillipsBarney PhillipsBarney Phillips was an American film, radio and television actor.-Biography and career:He was born Bernard Philip Ofner in St. Louis, Missouri, to Harry Nathan Ofner, a commercial salesman for the leather industry, and Leona Frank Ofner, a naturalized citizen of German origin, who went by the...
as Chief Petty Officer Franks - Gus Trikonis as Restorff
- Shepherd Sanders as Perna
- James Jeter as Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Farren
- Tom Middleton as Pharmacist's Mate Jennings
- Paul ChunPaul Chun (actor)Paul Chun Pui is a Hong Kong based actor.He is the brother of actor David Chiang and half-brother of actor/ director Derek Yee Tung-Shing. His son Benji Chiang and his daughter Lesley Chiang are duo in the pop group "Benji and Lesley". Paul started his acting career at the age of three...
as Cho-jen - Tommy Lee as Chien
- Beulah Quo as Mama Chunk
- James HongJames HongJames Hong is an American actor and former president of the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists . A prolific acting veteran, Hong's career spans over 50 years and includes more than 350 roles in film, television, and video games.-Early life:Hong was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His...
as Victor Shu - Adam ChengAdam ChengAdam Cheng Siu-chow is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.-Career:Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB Wuxia drama series based on the works of Louis Cha and Gu Long, such as The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and Chor Lau Heung...
- Former child actor and career officer Frank Coghlan Jr.Frank Coghlan Jr.Frank Coghlan, Jr. also known as "Junior Coghlan", was an American actor and naval aviator. He appeared in approximately 129 films and television programs between 1920 and 1974...
was the technical advisorTechnical advisorA technical advisor is an individual who is expert in a particular field of knowledge, hired to provide detailed information and advice to people working in that field...
to the film regarding the U.S. Navy, and appeared as one of the American businessmen stripping Maily.
Production
For years, Robert Wise had wanted to make The Sand Pebbles, but the film companies were reluctant to finance it. The Sand Pebbles was eventually paid for, but because its production required extensive location scoutingLocation scouting
Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work that is shot outside of the studio, the search for a...
and pre-production work, as well as being due to monsoons in Taipei, its producer and director Robert Wise realized that it would be over a year before principal photography could begin. At the insistence of the film company
Film industry
The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film crew...
, Wise agreed to direct a "fill-in" project, The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
, a film that became one of the most popular and acclaimed films of the 1960s.
The film company spent $250,000 building a replica gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
named the San Pablo, based on the USS Villalobos
USS Villalobos (PG-42)
USS Villalobos was a steel screw gunboat originally built for the Spanish Navy as the SPS Villalobos but captured by the United States Army in 1898 during the Spanish-American War and commissioned into the United States Navy in 1900...
-- a former Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
gunboat that was seized by the U.S. Navy in the Philippine Islands during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
(1898–99) -- but with a greatly reduced draft to allow sailing on the shallow Tam Sui
Danshui River
The Tamsui River is a river in northern Taiwan. Its source is at Pintian Mountain in Hsinchu County. The river flows through New Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Taipei City, and Hsinchu County and has a length of and a drainage area of...
and Keelung
Keelung River
Keelung River is a river in northern Taiwan.The Keelung River originates in the mountains west-northwest of the town of Jingtong in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, flows down to a rift valley and then flows ENE to Sandiaoling...
rivers. A seaworthy vessel that was actually powered by Cummins
Cummins
Cummins Inc. is a Fortune 500 corporation that designs, manufactures, distributes and services engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission control and electrical power generation systems...
diesel engines, the San Pablo made the voyage from Hong Kong to Taiwan and back under her own power during shooting of the Sand Pebbles. After filming was completed, the San Pablo was sold to the DeLong Timber Company and renamed the Nola D, then later sold to Seiscom Delta Exploration Co., who used her as a floating base camp with significant modifications including removal of her engines and the addition of a helipad.
The Sand Pebbles was filmed both in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and in Hong Kong. Its filming, which began on November 22, 1965, at Keelung
Keelung
Keelung City is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei and forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with the Taipei and New Taipei. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport...
, was scheduled to take about nine weeks, but it ended up taking seven months.
The cast and crew took a break for the Christmas holidays at Tamsui, Taipei.
At one point a fifteen-foot camera boat capsized on the Keelung River, setting back the schedule because the soundboard was ruined when it sank. When the filming was finally finished in Taiwan, the government of the Republic of China held several members of the crew, including McQueen and his family, supposedly "hostage" by keeping their passports because of unpaid additional taxes. In March 1966, the filming finally moved to Hong Kong for three months, and then in June it traveled to Hollywood, California, to finish its interior scenes at the Fox Studios
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
.
Due to frequent rain and other difficulties in Hong Kong, the filming was nearly abandoned. When he returned to Los Angeles, Mr. McQueen fell ill because he had an abscessed molar. He had not wanted to see a dentist until he returned to California. His dentist and physician ordered him to take an extended period of rest—one that halted production again for weeks.
Fittingly it rained the night of the premiere, December 20, 1966, at the Rivoli Theatre
Rivoli Theatre
Rivoli Theatre is a municipal theatre in Oporto, Portugal.-History:In 1913 opened in Porto a new theatre called Teatro Nacional.In the following years, changes in the urban center had compelled to rethink and to modernize the property, and thus, in 1923 the new Rivoli Theatre appeared, remodelled,...
in New York City. Afterwards, Steve McQueen did not do any film work for about a year due to exhaustion, saying that whatever sins that he had committed in his life had been paid for when he made The Sand Pebbles. The performance did earn McQueen the only Academy Award nomination of his career. He was not seen on film again until two movies of 1968, The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair is either of two films:* The Thomas Crown Affair , a 1968 film starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway* The Thomas Crown Affair , a 1999 remake of the 1968 film, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo...
and Bullitt
Bullitt
Bullitt is a 1968 American police procedural film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L....
(which included his fellow The Sand Pebbles actor Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
as Bullitt's boss).
Themes and background
The military life of the San Pablos crew, the titular sand pebbles, portrays the era's racism and colonialismColonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
on a small scale, through the sailors' relations with the coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
s who run their gunboat and the bargirl
Bargirl
A bargirl is a woman who works as a hostess or dancer in bars to provide company or sexual services to patrons; the exact nature of services and varieties of bar varying by country/region. In most cases, these cater mostly to male clients, although in some cases women are also clients...
s who serve them off-duty, as well as on a large scale, with the West's gunboat diplomacy
Gunboat diplomacy
In international politics, gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of military power — implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare, should terms not be agreeable to the superior force....
domination of China.
Although the 1962 novel pre-dated extensive US activity in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and was not based on any historic incidents, by the December 1966 release of the film it was seen as an explicit statement on the US's extensive combat involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
in reviews published by the New York Times. and Life magazine.
Awards
The Sand Pebbles was nominated for eight Academy Awards, but failed to win any: Best PictureAcademy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
for Robert Wise, Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Steve McQueen, Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for Mako, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration-Color
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
, Best Cinematography-Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
, Best Sound (James Corcoran
James Corcoran (sound engineer)
James Corcoran was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Sound Recording and was nominated for three more in the same category.-Selected filmography:Corcoran won an Academy Award and was nominated for three more:Won...
) and Best Original Music Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
for Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
.
Historical accuracy
- Although Westerners and Chinese fought at the Taku FortsTaku FortsThe Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...
in 1858–1860, the only large battles between Westerners and Asians on the Yangtze RiverYangtze RiverThe Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
were the 1937 Panay incidentPanay incidentThe USS Panay Incident was a Japanese attack on the American gunboat while she was anchored in the Yangtze River outside Nanking , China on December 12, 1937. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The Japanese claimed that they did not see the American flags painted on the deck...
, between the Americans and the Japanese, not the Chinese, and the 1949 Yangtze Incident, between several small Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
ships and Chinese artillery batteries of the People's Liberation ArmyPeople's Liberation ArmyThe People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. The attack on the gunboat USS PanayUSS Panay (PR-5)|-External links:* * *...
is often cited as the inspiration for some elements in McKenna's plot. McKenna served in the China River Patrol in 1936.
- Despite its naval designation as a "river gunboatRiver gunboatA river gunboat is a type of gunboat adapted for river operations. River gunboats required shallow draft for river navigation. They would be armed with relatively small caliber cannons, or a mix of cannons and machine guns. If they carried more than one cannon, one might be a howitzer, for shore...
", the San Pablo of the book and film has very little artillery on deck: a 3-inch/23-caliber3"/23 caliber gunThe 3"/23 caliber gun was the standard anti-aircraft gun for United States destroyers through World War I and the 1920s...
gun forward, a 1-pounder rapid fire gun astern and two Lewis machine gunsLewis GunThe Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
(six in the novel). The sailors' small armsSmall armsSmall arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
are M1903 Springfield rifles, bayonets, BARs and .45 caliber M1911 pistols carried by the officers and Chief Petty OfficerChief Petty OfficerA chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...
s who also carry swordSwordA sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s and cutlassCutlassA cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket shaped guard...
es. The book mentions the use of riot gunRiot shotgunA riot shotgun is a shotgun designed or modified for use as a primarily defensive weapon, primarily by the use of a short barrel. The riot shotgun is used by military personnel for guard duty and was at one time used for riot control, and is commonly used as a patrol weapon by law enforcement...
s by the crew and a box of hand grenadeHand grenadeA hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s but they do not appear in the film.
- The plot element of the killing of missionary Jameson at China Light Mission may have been inspired by the 1934 killing of American Christian missionaries John and Betty Stam and by the killing of the "China Martyrs of 1900China Martyrs of 1900The "China Martyrs of 1900" is a term used by the Protestant Christian church to refer to its members who were killed during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, when targeted attacks took place across mainland China against Christians and foreigners.-Events:...
".
Additional footage
After more than 40 years, 20th Century Fox found fourteen minutes of footage that had been cut from the film's initial roadshowRoadshow theatrical release
A roadshow theatrical release was a term in the American motion picture industry for a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco for a specific period of time before the...
version shown at New York's Rivoli Theater. The restored version has been released on DVD. The sequences are spread throughout the film and add texture to the story, though they do not alter it in any significant way.
External links
Reviews
- Review – 1967, from the Movie Review Query EngineMovie Review Query EngineThe Movie Review Query Engine also known as MRQE, is an index of movie reviews published online. Registered users are able to access movie-specific forums and provide their own reviews. The site aggregates reviews, news, interviews, and other material associated to specific movies...
- Review, by TV GuideTV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
- USSPanay.org Webpage about the evacuation of Nanking and the Panay Incident