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The Sand Pebbles
1966 |
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Wise originally wanted Paul Newman to play the part of Holman, a Navy machinist more at ease with engines than with people, but Newman turned it down. Wise thought Steve McQueen might be right for the part, but the studio didn't think he was a big enough draw. By the time production began months later, McQueen had already experienced success in both THE GREAT ESCAPE and LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER. With this new status, the studio was now convinced that he could carry the
The main element that attracted Wise to this story, about an American gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River in China in 1926, was a theme that reflected the political climate of the mid-1960s. "I was showing that the American military might displayed around the world had been unpopular for many years, that the phrase 'Yankee Go Home!' was not just something that came out of post-World War II, but had been in existence the whole century...PEBBLES came along just at the time when we were starting to get into Vietnam....For me, the message of the film was to make that point, that Vietnam should be seen in this historical context."* The location shoot, in Taiwan and Hong Kong, proved to be the longest and most strenuous of Wise's career. It was Steve McQueen's roughest film as well, stating that "anything I ever did wrong, I paid for in Taiwan."* |
In 1926, as strong feelings of nationalism are sweeping
through
China and the followers of Chiang Kai-shek, as well as the war
lords and
communists, are demanding that all foreigners leave Chinese
soil, the U. S.
gunboat San Pablo is patroling the Yangtze River. The
newest member of
the crew, who call themselves "sand pebbles," is Jake Holman,
a machinist
 with 8 years previous Navy duty. Although Jake's independent
nature is
regarded with suspicion by most of the men, he wins the friendship
of
Frenchy, a sailor in love with an English-educated Chinese girl,
Maily, who
has been sold into enforced prostitution. When Chiang Kai-shek
moves against
the feudal war lords, the United States decides to treat the
upheaval as a
civil war, and the San Pablo is ordered to confine its
function to
protection of American civilians in the area. Included among
them are Mr.
Jameson, a missionary, and Shirley Eckert, a schoolteacher whom
Jake met
earlier. In an attempt to draw the San Pablo's fire,
the Chinese capture
Jake's coolie assistant, Po-han, and torture him by slashing
his chest with a
knife. Unable to bear his friend's agonized screams, Jake grabs
a gun and
puts a bullet into Po-han's head. Later, Frenchy buys Maily's
freedom and
takes her as his common-law wife because they cannot legally
marry. While the
San Pablo is forced to remain in a state of siege, Frenchy
swims ashore
each night to visit his pregnant wife. But the icy waters precipitate
pneumonia and he dies in Maily's room. When Jake visits the
bereaved woman,
the Chinese beat him and put Maily to death. They then brand
Jake as the
murderer and demand that the San Pablo hand him over
for trial. The crew
agrees that Jake should be tried, and when Captain Collins refuses
the demand
and orders the crew to fire on the Chinese the men nearly mutiny.
The captain
takes advantage of the rising tide and moves his ship into deep
water. When
word arrives that full-scale fighting has led to the landing
of U. S. Marines
in Shanghai, Captain Collins decides to give his humiliated
ship and
disgraced crew a chance for glory by heading for Jameson's mission
and a
rescue attempt. After a bloody fight, the San Pablo breaks
through a
Chinese blockade and reaches the mission. But Jameson and Shirley
declare
themselves stateless and rebuke the captain for interfering
in China's
affairs. Jake wants to desert, but neutrality is no longer possible.
Nationalist troops, incensed by the San Pablo's defiance
of the blockade,
storm the mission and kill both Jameson and Collins. Pushed
into making a
last stand, Jake orders the other crew members to take Shirley
to safety
while he covers their getaway. But he is killed by a Chinese
bullet. As he
dies, he cries "I was home. ... What the hell happened?"
From the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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 155 min. Argyle Enterprises; Solar Productions; A Robert Wise Production;
Distributed by: 20th Century-Fox/Argyle/Solar;
Directed by: Robert Wise;
Produced by: Robert Wise;
Screenplay by: Robert W. Anderson;
Edited by: William
Reynolds;
Director of Photography: Joseph MacDonald;
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith;
Production Design by: Boris Leven;
Sound by: Murray Spivack;
Costumes by: Renie;
Make-up by: Ben Nye;
Hair by: Margaret
Donovan;
Diversions by: Irving Schwartz; .
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Steve McQueen (Jake Holman), Richard Attenborough
(Frenchy Burgoyne), Richard Crenna (Captain Collins), Candice
Bergen (Shirley Eckert), Marayat Andriane (Maily), Mako (Po-han),
Larry Gates
(Jameson), Charles Robinson (Ensign Bordelles),
Simon Oakland
(Stawski), Ford Rainey (Harris), Joseph Turkel
(Bronson), Gavin
MacLeod (Crosley), Joseph Di Reda (Shanahan),
Richard Loo (Major Chin), Barney Phillips (Chief Franks), Gus Trikonis
(Restorff),
Shepherd Sanders (Perna), James Jeter (Farren),
Tom Middleton
(Jennings), Paul Chinpae (Cho-jen), Tommy Lee
(Chien), Beulah Quo
(Mama Chunk), James Hong (Victor Shu), Stephen
Jahn (Haythorn),
Alan Hopkins (Wilsey), Steve Ferry (Lamb), Ted
Fish (CPO Wellbeck), Loren Janes (Coleman), Glenn Wilder
(Waldron), Henry
Wang (Lop-eye Shing), Ben Wright (Englishman),
Walter Reed
(Bidder), and Gil Perkins (Customer)
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