The Sand Pebbles (film)

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The Sand Pebbles

original film poster
Directed by Robert Wise
Produced by Robert Wise
Written by Richard McKenna (novel)
Robert Anderson
Starring Steve McQueen
Richard Attenborough
Richard Crenna
Candice Bergen
Marayat Andriane
Mako
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography Joseph MacDonald
Editing by William Reynolds
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date(s) December 20, 1966 (U.S. release)
Running time 196 minutes
Language English
IMDb profile

The Sand Pebbles (1966), directed by Robert Wise, is a period war story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy Machinist Mate sailor aboard the USS San Pablo gunboat on "show the flag" river patrols in 1920s China.

The Sand Pebbles features Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen and Mako. Emmanuelle Arsan, later known as a writer of erotic fiction, is credited under the name of Marayat Andriane. Robert Anderson adapted the screenplay from the novel The Sand Pebbles (1962), by Richard McKenna.

Contents

[edit] Themes and background

The military life of the San Pablo's crew, the titular sand pebbles, portrays the era's racism and colonialism on a small scale, through the sailors' relations with the coolies who run their gunboat and the bar girls who serve them off-duty, as well as on a large scale, with the West's gunboat diplomacy domination of China, then in anarchy because of feuding warlords and political factions. This 1966 riverine story of American involvement in an Asian civil war was released when the U.S. was expanding its war in Vietnam to other countries (Cambodia, Laos, etc.), yet, the film preceded the anti-war zenith.

[edit] Awards

The Sand Pebbles was nominated for several Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Steve McQueen), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Mako), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Music Score, Best Picture and Best Sound.

[edit] Plot summary

In 1926, Machinist's Mate 1st class Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) transfers from the Asiatic Fleet flagship to the Yangtze River Patrol gunboat USS San Pablo. However, life aboard a gunship is very different from that on a flagship. The gunboat has a labor system — condoned by the officers — wherein coolies do all of the manual work, leaving the sailors free for combat drills and idle bickering. Because he likes to work taking care of the ship's engines, Holman bucks the system. Although he becomes close friends with seasoned, but sensitive, seaman, Frenchy (Richard Attenborough), most of the other crewmen see Holman as a Jonah.

Holman's friend and protégé, Po-han (Mako), a coolie he has trained to be an engine crew leader, is captured and tortured by a Communist Chinese mob because he works for the Americans. Unable to save him, Holman ends Po-Han's suffering with a fatal rifle shot, further infuriating the anti-American crowd. Frenchy saves a Chinese woman, Maily (Emmanuelle Arsan), from prostitution by marrying her, but dies of pneumonia. Right-wing nationalists murder Maily and blame Holman to try to provoke an incident. When the Chinese demand that Holman be turned over to them is refused, they blockade the San Pablo for the winter, straining ship's morale to near-mutiny; the crew almost hands Holman over to the Chinese.

In the spring, with the river's draft deepened, the San Pablo escapes the blockade to evacuate idealistic missionary Jameson (Larry Gates) and his school teacher assistant Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen) from a remote mission up the Yangtze River. To reach them, the sailors have to fight through a boom made up of junks blocking the river. Unfortunately, among the Chinese slain in the fighting is the one who was most sympathetic to Jameson and was keeping the others from harming him. During the rescue, Communist soldiers overrun the mission, killing the missionary and the ship's captain (Richard Crenna) and unintentionally leaving the normally rebellious Holman in command. As he covers the retreating rescue party, he is fatally shot. His final words were, "I was home... What happened? What the Hell happened?!!"

[edit] Production

For years, Robert Wise had wanted to make the film, but the studio was reluctant to finance it. Eventually, it was funded, but because production required extensive location scouting and pre-production work, director Wise realized it would at least be a year before photography could begin. At studio insistence, Wise agreed to a filler project, The Sound of Music, which became one of the most popular and critically-acclaimed movies of the 1960s.

The Sand Pebbles was filmed in both Taiwan and Hong Kong. Filming, which began November 22, 1965 at Keelung, was scheduled to take nine weeks, but ended up taking seven months. The cast and crew took a break for the Christmas holiday at Tamsui, Taipei. At one a point fifteen-foot camera boat capsized on the Keelung River, setting back the schedule because the soundboard was ruined when it sank. When filming was finally done on Taiwan, the Taiwanese government held several members of the crew, including McQueen and his family, "hostage" by holding their passports in lieu of being paid additional taxes. In March of 1966 the production finally moved to Hong Kong for three months, and then in June traveled to Hollywood to finish filming interior scenes at Fox Studios. Because of frequent rain and difficulties, filming was almost abandoned. When they returned to Los Angeles McQueen was sick and had abscessed molar, he had not wanted to see a doctor until he got back to the United States. The doctor ordered an enforced rest that halted production again. It even rained the night of the premier, December 20, 1966 at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City. Afterwards, Steve McQueen did no film work for a year due to exhaustion, saying that whatever sins he had committed were paid for when he made the The Sand Pebbles.[1][2]

Though sometimes thought of as an allegory to America's involvement in the Vietnam War, the production took place early in the conflict, and didn't have overtly political tones.

[edit] Historical accuracy

  • Although Westerners and Chinese fought at the Taku Forts in 1858-1860, the only large battles between Westerners and Asians on the Yangtze River were the 1937 Panay incident, between the Americans and the Japanese, not the Chinese, and the 1949 Yangtze Incident, between several small Royal Navy ships and Chinese artillery batteries of the People's Liberation Army. The attack on the gunboat USS Panay is often cited as the inspiration for some elements in McKenna's plot. McKenna served in the China River Patrol in 1936.
  • Although its naval designation was as a "gunboat", the San Pablo's only artillery was a 3 inch/23 caliber deck gun and 1 pdr rapid fire gun astern; its only machine guns were two Lewis Guns and a B.A.R. The sailors' small arms were M1903 Springfield rifles, bayonets, and .45 caliber M1911 pistols carried by the officers and Chief Petty Officers. Pistols were also worn by the Petty Officer of the Watch (POOW) and mail guards. Frenchy was POOW when Holman first comes aboard San Pablo. Holman and Farren were mail guards when Holman goes ashore with the intention of deserting.

[edit] Additional footage

After more than 40 years, 20th Century Fox found fourteen minutes of footage that had been cut from the film's initial roadshow 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.

[edit] Cast and roles

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kurcfeld, Michael, (2007). - Documentary: The Making of "The Sand Pebbles". - Stonehenge Media
  2. ^ McQueen Toffel, Neile, (1986). - Excerpt: My Husband, My Friend. - (c/o The Sand Pebbles). - New York, New York: Atheneum. - ISBN 0689116373

[edit] External links

Reviews

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