''The Sand Pebbles'' is a 1966 American epic

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by Robert Wise in

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

. It tells the story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy machinist's mate, first class, aboard the fictional river gunboat USS ''San Pablo'', on Yangtze Patrol in 1920s China. The film features

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and ...

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisi ...

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as '' The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', '' Body Heat'', the first three ...

, Candice Bergen, Mako, Simon Oakland,

Larry Gates Lawrence Wheaton Gates (September 24, 1915December 12, 1996) was an American actor. His notable roles include H.B. Lewis on daytime's '' Guiding Light'' and Doc Baugh in the film version of ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1958). He played the role ...

, and Marayat Andriane. Robert Anderson adapted the screenplay from the 1962 novel of the same name by

Richard McKenna Richard Milton McKenna (May 9, 1913 – November 1, 1964) was an American sailor and novelist. He was best known for his historical novel, '' The Sand Pebbles'' which tells the story of an American sailor serving aboard a gunboat on the Chinese ...

. ''The Sand Pebbles'' was a critical and commercial success at its general release. It became the fourth highest-grossing film of 1966 and was nominated for eight

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and eight

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

, with Attenborough winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

Plot

In 1926, Petty officer, first class Jake Holman transfers to the

Yangtze River Patrol The Yangtze Patrol, also known as the Yangtze River Patrol Force, Yangtze River Patrol, YangPat and ComYangPat, was a prolonged naval operation from 1854–1949 to protect American interests in the Yangtze River's treaty ports. The Yangtze ...

gunboat USS ''San Pablo''. The ship is nicknamed the "Sand Pebble" and its sailors are "Sand Pebbles". The crew has hired

coolies A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

to do most of the work. Holman, as chief Machinist's Mate, takes hands-on responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the ship's engine, upsetting the head engine room coolie, Chien. Holman also earns the antipathy of most of his fellow sailors, but does become close friends with Frenchy, a seasoned yet sensitive sailor. While the ship is under way on patrol, Holman discovers a serious problem with the engine. He informs the captain,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Collins, that they must stop for repairs, but Collins refuses until executive officer Bordelles declares a mechanical emergency. Chien insists on making the repairs, and Holman acquiesces so that Chien can save face. Chien is killed when the locked engine slips into gear, and chief coolie Lop-eye Shing blames Holman. Holman selects Po-Han to take on Chien's work; in time, the two become friends. Po-Han is harassed by a large, bullying sailor named Stawski, resulting in a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

match on which the crewmen place bets. Holman is in the corner of his friend Po-Han, who, despite being badly beaten by Stawski, eventually prevails. His victory leads to more friction between Holman and the rest of the crew. When news comes of an incident involving British

gunboats 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 Pre-stea ...

, Collins orders the crew not to return any fire from the Chinese, to avoid a diplomatic incident. Lop-eye Shing purposely sends Po-Han ashore, where he is predictably chased down the beach, captured, and slowly tortured by a mob. When Collins is unable to buy Po-Han's release, Po-Han begs for someone to kill him; Holman disobeys orders and shoots his friend. The ''San Pablo'' remains moored on the

Xiang River The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the 2nd largest tributary (after Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the 5th largest tribut ...

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, and ...

, due to low water levels, through the winter of 1926–27. It must deal with increasingly hostile crowds surrounding it in numerous smaller boats. Lt Collins also fears a mutiny. Frenchy has saved an educated Chinese woman, Maily, from prostitution by paying her debts. He marries her and regularly swims ashore to visit, but dies of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

one night. Holman finds Maily sitting by Frenchy's corpse. Some Chinese men burst in, beat Holman, and kill Maily for which they frame Holman. The next day several Chinese demand Holman be turned over to them as the "murderer" of Maily and her unborn baby. When the demand is rejected, the Chinese blockade the gunboat. The crew fear for their safety and demand that Holman surrender to the Chinese. Order is not restored until Collins fires a Lewis gun across the bow of one of the Chinese

sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like ...

s. With spring's arrival, the crew can restart river patrols, but the Nanking Incident results in orders to return to the coast. Collins disobeys and travels upstream of

Dongting Lake Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the l ...

to evacuate idealistic, anti-imperialist missionary Jameson and his school-teacher assistant, Shirley Eckert, from a remote mission. Holman had met Eckert in

Hangkow Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

months earlier, and the two had fledgling romantic feelings for each other. The ''San Pablo'' must break through a boom made up of

junks A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...

linked by a massive bamboo rope blocking the river. A boarding party is sent to cut the rope. Fighting breaks out in which twelve US crewmen and many more Chinese are killed. Holman chops through the rope, with an axe, while under fire. He is forced to kill a young Chinese militiaman who attacks him, then recognizes him as a friend of Jameson and Eckert. The ship continues upriver. Collins leads Holman, Crosley, and Bronson ashore. Jameson refuses rescue, claiming that he and Eckert have renounced their US citizenship. Collins orders Holman to forcibly remove Eckert and Jameson, but Holman declares he is going to stay with them.

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

soldiers suddenly attack, killing Jameson. Collins orders the patrol to take Eckert to the ship, and remains behind to provide covering fire. Collins is killed, ironically leaving the normally rebellious Holman in command. Holman and Eckert have a tearful parting, finally declaring their love for each other, with Holman assuring her he will be following shortly. Holman kills a dozen soldiers but is fatally shot just when he is about to rejoin the others. His last bewildered words are, "I was home. What happened. What the hell happened?" Eckert and the remaining two sailors reach the ship, and the ''San Pablo'' sails away.

Cast

Former child actor and career naval officer Frank Coghlan, Jr. was the

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director on the convincing portrayal of a subject. The advisor's expertise adds realism both to the acting and to the setting of a movie. Nipo T. Strongheart was a noted technica ...

to the film regarding the U.S. Navy, and made an uncredited appearance as one of the American businessmen stripping Maily.

Production

Development

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 scouting and pre-production work, as well as being

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

-affected in Taipei, its producer and director Wise realised 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.

Pre-production

The film company spent $250,000 building a replica gunboat named the ''San Pablo'', based on the —a former Spanish Navy gunboat that was seized by the US Navy in the Philippine Islands during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

(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 Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...

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., which used her as a floating base camp with significant modifications, including removal of her engines and the addition of a helipad. The boat was towed to Singapore and broken up in 1975 Robert Wise's cinematographer from ''The Sound of Music'', Ted McCord, had taken a scouting trip to the Oriental locations but informed Wise that his heart problems made him not capable enough to shoot the film.

Filming

''The Sand Pebbles'' was filmed both in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

and Hong Kong. Its filming, which began on November 22, 1965, at

Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port Provincial city (Taiwan), city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan a ...

, 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 15-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 completed 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 moved to Hong Kong and the Shaw Brothers studio for three months, mainly for scenes in Sai Kung and Tung Chung, and then, in June, it travelled to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

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, 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. Some filming took place on the dreadnought-type battleship

USS Texas Four warships of the U.S. Navy have been named the USS ''Texas'' for the State of Texas: * was a pre-dreadnought battleship that was in commission from 1895 to 1911. * is a dreadnought battleship that was in commission from 1914 to 1948. In 19 ...

but these scenes were cut from the final film and have been lost.

Themes and background

The military life of the ''San Pablos crew, the titular 'sand pebbles', portrays the era's culture and

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their reli ...

on a small scale, through the sailors' relations with the coolies who run their gunboat and the

bargirl A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar, either individually or, in some cases, as a performer. The exact nature of the entertainment varies widely from place to place; depending on the venue this can be individual enterta ...

s who serve them off-duty, as well as on a large scale, with the West's

gunboat diplomacy In international politics, the term gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of naval power, implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare should terms not be agreeable to ...

domination of China. Although the 1962 novel antedated extensive US activity in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

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 The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

in reviews published by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'' magazine.

Release

It rained the night of the premiere, December 20, 1966, at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City. Afterwards, McQueen did not do any film work for about a year due to exhaustion, saying that whatever sins he had committed in his life had been paid for when he made ''The Sand Pebbles''.Kurcfeld, Michael, (2007). – Documentary: ''The Making of "The Sand Pebbles"''. – Stonehenge MediaMcQueen Toffel, Neile, (1986). – Excerpt
''My Husband, My Friend''
. – (c/o The Sand Pebbles). – New York, New York: Atheneum. – The performance earned McQueen the only Academy Award nomination of his career. He was not seen on film again until two 1968 films, '' The Thomas Crown Affair'' and '' Bullitt'' (which included his fellow ''Sand Pebbles'' actor Simon Oakland as Bullitt's boss).

Critical reception

The film was met with critical acclaim. The film has an 89% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 18 reviews.

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

'' called it "a beautifully mounted film" with "a curiously turgid and uneven attempt to generate a war romance." Crowther thought that "it is not as historical romance that it is likely to grab the audience, but as a weird sort of hint of what has happened and is happening in Vietnam."Crowther, Bosley (December 21, 1966)
"Screen: 'The Sand Pebbles' Begins Its Run at Rivoli".
''

''. 48. Arthur D. Murphy of '' Variety'' declared it "a handsome production, boasting some excellent characterizations. Steve McQueen delivers an outstanding performance." Philip K. Scheuer of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called it "adventure on the grand scale, of a kind on which the British have too long enjoyed an exclusive monopoly. 'The Sand Pebbles' earns a place up there beside '

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, th ...

,' '

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

,' '

Doctor Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...

,' et al ... Too, the parallel with 1966 and Vietnam could hardly be more timely."

Richard L. Coe Richard Livingston Coe (New York City, November 8, 1914 – Washington, D.C., November 12, 1995) was a theater and cinema critic for The Washington Post for more than forty years. Coe became known as one of the most influential theater critics outsi ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' called the film "a strong story with highly unusual backgrounds, a character perfectly suited to Steve McQueen and an engrossing drive that falters only because three hours is a bit much." '' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote, "History, of course, never really repeats itself in the way script-writers would like it to, and the parallel between China in 1926 and Vietnam today is distinctly dubious. But this striking of attitudes is the film's undoing, since it seriously undermines the narrative by presenting the characters as little more than pawns in a didactic chess game. And in any case, the script never decides which side of the political fence it wants to sit on." Brendan Gill of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote that McQueen "works hard and well" in his role but described Robert Wise's direction as "molasses-in-January."

Box office

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $21,200,000 in rentals to break even and by December 1970 made $20,600,000. In September 1970 the studio recorded a loss for $895,000 on the movie.

Accolades

The film is recognised by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

in these lists: * 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated

Additional footage

After more than 40 years 20th Century Fox found 14 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.

References

External links

* * *
thesandpebbles.com
a website devoted exclusively to ''The Sand Pebbles'' Reviews
Review – 1967
from the

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Review
at ''

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''
USSPanay.org
a website about the evacuation of Nanking and the Panay Incident {{DEFAULTSORT:Sand Pebbles, The 1966 films 1960s English-language films Mandarin-language films 1960s adventure drama films 1960s war drama films 20th Century Fox films American war drama films Chinese-American films Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith Films based on American novels Films directed by Robert Wise Films set on ships Films set in Republic of China (1912–1949) Films set in 1926 Films set in China Films shot in Taiwan Riverine warfare Films about the United States Navy Yangtze River American adventure drama films Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance 1966 drama films Chinese-language American films 1960s American films Films produced by Robert Wise