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==Plot==
==Plot==
In 1926, [[Machinist's Mate]] 1st Class Jake Holman ([[Steve McQueen (actor)|Steve McQueen]]) transfers from the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]] flagship to the [[Yangtze River Patrol]] gunboat USS ''San Pablo'' (the ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebbles"). However, life aboard a gunboat 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 one seasoned and sensitive seaman, Frenchy ([[Richard Attenborough]]), most of the other crewmen see Holman as a [[Jinx|Jonah]]. Holman's desire to work on the engines also antagonizes the ship's coolie laborers whose "rice bowl" (source of income) is derived from doing the work that the sailors would normally do. Holman discovers a defect in the ship's engine that the coolies are aware of but have avoided fixing because it ensures that there is always work for them to do. Holman's insistence on eliminating the defect—for the betterment of the ship but the detriment of the coolies—results in the accidental death of the chief engine room coolie. The Chief coolie of the ship blames Holman for the death, even though Holman explaines to the captain that the death was caused by the deceased coolies' own poor work.
In 1926, [[Machinist's Mate]] 1st Class Jake Holman ([[Steve McQueen (actor)|Steve McQueen]]) transfers from the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]] flagship to the [[Yangtze River Patrol]] gunboat USS ''San Pablo'' (the ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebbles"). However, life aboard a gunboat 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 one seasoned and sensitive seaman, Frenchy ([[Richard Attenborough]]), most of the other crewmen see Holman as a [[Jinx|Jonah]]. Holman's desire to work on the engines also antagonizes the ship's coolie laborers whose "rice bowl" (source of income) is derived from doing the work that the sailors would normally do. Holman discovers a defect in the ship's engine that the coolies are aware of but have avoided fixing because it ensures that there is always work for them to do. Holman's insistence on eliminating the defect—for the betterment of the ship but the detriment of the coolies—results in the accidental death of the chief engine room coolie. The Chief coolie of the ship blames Holman for the death, even though Holman explains to the captain that the death was caused by the deceased coolies' own poor work.


Holman's friend and protégé, Po-han ([[Mako (actor)|Mako]]), a coolie he has trained to be an engine crew leader, is sent ashore by the Chief coolie (the undertone is he was purposely sent for revenge). Po-han 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. The ''San Pablo'' is stuck in port for the winter and must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. This greatly strains the morale of the ship, and the captain fears possible [[mutiny]]. Frenchy had saved a Chinese woman, Maily ([[Emmanuelle Arsan]]), from [[prostitution]] by paying her debts. He marries her and sneaks off the ship regularly during the long winter to visit, but he dies of [[pneumonia]]. [[Right-wing]] [[nationalists]] murder Maily and blame Holman, who was visiting during a regular trip to the U.S. consulate, to try to provoke an incident. When the Chinese demand that Holman be turned over to them is refused, they blockade the ''San Pablo'' and the crew almost hands Holman over to the Chinese before the captain restores order. With spring at hand, the Captain decides to risk an attempt to leave, fearing remaining any longer.
Holman's friend and protégé, Po-han ([[Mako (actor)|Mako]]), a coolie he has trained to be an engine crew leader, is sent ashore by the Chief coolie (the undertone is he was purposely sent for revenge). Po-han 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. The ''San Pablo'' is stuck in port for the winter and must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. This greatly strains the morale of the ship, and the captain fears possible [[mutiny]]. Frenchy had saved a Chinese woman, Maily ([[Emmanuelle Arsan]]), from [[prostitution]] by paying her debts. He marries her and sneaks off the ship regularly during the long winter to visit, but he dies of [[pneumonia]]. [[Right-wing]] [[nationalists]] murder Maily and blame Holman, who was visiting during a regular trip to the U.S. consulate, to try to provoke an incident. When the Chinese demand that Holman be turned over to them is refused, they blockade the ''San Pablo'' and the crew almost hands Holman over to the Chinese before the captain restores order. With spring at hand, the Captain decides to risk an attempt to leave, fearing remaining any longer.

Revision as of 18:12, 1 July 2009

The Sand Pebbles
original film poster by Howard Terpning
Directed byRobert Wise
Written byRichard McKenna (novel)
Robert Anderson
Produced byRobert Wise
StarringSteve McQueen
Richard Attenborough
Richard Crenna
Candice Bergen
Marayat Andriane
Mako
CinematographyJoseph MacDonald
Edited byWilliam Reynolds
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Distributed byTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date
December 20, 1966 (U.S. release)
Running time
196 minutes
LanguageEnglish

The Sand Pebbles a 1966 film 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.

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 bargirls who serve them off-duty, as well as on a large scale, with the West's gunboat diplomacy domination of China.

The film was seen as an explicit statement on the US's involvement in the Vietnam War in New York Times[1] and Life magazine[2] reviews.

Plot

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 (the ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebbles"). However, life aboard a gunboat 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 one seasoned and sensitive seaman, Frenchy (Richard Attenborough), most of the other crewmen see Holman as a Jonah. Holman's desire to work on the engines also antagonizes the ship's coolie laborers whose "rice bowl" (source of income) is derived from doing the work that the sailors would normally do. Holman discovers a defect in the ship's engine that the coolies are aware of but have avoided fixing because it ensures that there is always work for them to do. Holman's insistence on eliminating the defect—for the betterment of the ship but the detriment of the coolies—results in the accidental death of the chief engine room coolie. The Chief coolie of the ship blames Holman for the death, even though Holman explains to the captain that the death was caused by the deceased coolies' own poor work.

Holman's friend and protégé, Po-han (Mako), a coolie he has trained to be an engine crew leader, is sent ashore by the Chief coolie (the undertone is he was purposely sent for revenge). Po-han 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. The San Pablo is stuck in port for the winter and must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. This greatly strains the morale of the ship, and the captain fears possible mutiny. Frenchy had saved a Chinese woman, Maily (Emmanuelle Arsan), from prostitution by paying her debts. He marries her and sneaks off the ship regularly during the long winter to visit, but he dies of pneumonia. Right-wing nationalists murder Maily and blame Holman, who was visiting during a regular trip to the U.S. consulate, to try to provoke an incident. When the Chinese demand that Holman be turned over to them is refused, they blockade the San Pablo and the crew almost hands Holman over to the Chinese before the captain restores order. With spring at hand, the Captain decides to risk an attempt to leave, fearing remaining any longer.

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 others' escape, he is fatally shot. His final words are, "I was home... What happened? What the hell happened?!"

Production

For years, Robert Wise had wanted to make the film, but the studio was reluctant to finance it. It was eventually 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 producers spent US$250,000 on building a prop gunboat based on the USS Villalobos (PG-42) a former Spanish ship seized by the US Navy in the Philippine Islands during the Spanish-American War that became a US Navy gunboat.[3]

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 point a 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 completed in Taiwan, the Taiwanese government held several members of the crew, including McQueen and his family, "hostage" by keeping their passports because of unpaid additional taxes. In March 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. Due to frequent rain and other difficulties, filming was almost abandoned. When he returned to Los Angeles, McQueen was sick and had an 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 rained the night of the premiere, 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 Sand Pebbles.[4][5]

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 (Boris Leven, Walter M. Scott, John Sturtevant, William Kiernan), Best Cinematography, Color, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Music Score, Best Picture and Best Sound.[6]

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.
  • Despite its naval designation as a "gunboat", the San Pablo's only artillery is a 3-inch/23-caliber deck gun and 1-pounder rapid fire gun astern; its only machine guns are two Lewis Guns and a BAR. The sailors' small arms are M1903 Springfield rifles, bayonets, and .45 caliber M1911 pistols carried by the officers and Chief Petty Officers. The book mentions the use of riot guns by the crew 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 1900".

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.

Cast

References

  1. ^ NY Times, movie review of Dec 21, 1966
  2. ^ Life magazine review, Jan 6 1967 http://www.thesandpebbles.com/life/life_mag.htm
  3. ^ http://www.thesandpebbles.com/mcqueen/mcqueen.htm
  4. ^ Kurcfeld, Michael, (2007). - Documentary: The Making of "The Sand Pebbles". - Stonehenge Media
  5. ^ McQueen Toffel, Neile, (1986). - Excerpt: My Husband, My Friend. - (c/o The Sand Pebbles). - New York, New York: Atheneum. - ISBN 0689116373
  6. ^ "NY Times: The Sand Pebbles". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-12-27.

See also

Reviews

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