I get tired of hearing how "they don't make them like that any more," but it's hard to imagine THE SAND PEBBLES being made today. If a current movie is three hours long, you can bet it's because the director has fallen in love with himself, not because the material merits it. THE SAND PEBBLES succeeds on just about every level: It is a compelling and complex story; it is beautifully filmed; the acting is mostly excellent; and there is a tremendous score. (Can you imagine a film today having an overture? Rampant adult ADD prohibits it.) The three hours gives you time to get to know the characters, sink into the Chinese setting, and become involved in the story. Just a little thing to notice, right at the start: Watch how McQueen fiddles with his napkin in the formal dining room. He's out of place, and doesn't know what to do with it; it's the kind of physical bit that McQueen does so well to elaborate his character. Credit must also be given to the late Richard Crenna. His captain of the San Pablo is a complex and conflicted character, and Crenna, while carrying off a largely formal role, delivers a very nuanced and moving performance. THE SAND PEBBLES is a movie for grown-ups, largely forgotten today but well worth your time.
142 Reviews
As audiences we care for Jake and his destiny. We understand and sympathise with his feelings and predicament. McQueen brought an innocent humanity to the role.
Fella_shibby25 December 2021
I first saw this (the 182 mins version) in the early 90s.
Revisited it few days back but again the 182 mins version.
Tried very hard to get the 196 roadshow version but to no avail but was lucky to come across all the deleted/roadshow version scenes on YouTube uploaded by BossHossGT500.
McQueen deserved an Oscar for this movie and his anti hero/rebel character is an epitome of a cool rebel.
The movie has some amazing picturesque images.
For a war film, The Sand Pebbles features very little war/action scenes but that shouldn't deter u from watching this classic movie.
The last scene with the dialogue: I was home. What happened? What the hell happened?
The last scene is very poignant, surrealistic n far ahead of its time in terms of the horrors of war.
Revisited it few days back but again the 182 mins version.
Tried very hard to get the 196 roadshow version but to no avail but was lucky to come across all the deleted/roadshow version scenes on YouTube uploaded by BossHossGT500.
McQueen deserved an Oscar for this movie and his anti hero/rebel character is an epitome of a cool rebel.
The movie has some amazing picturesque images.
For a war film, The Sand Pebbles features very little war/action scenes but that shouldn't deter u from watching this classic movie.
The last scene with the dialogue: I was home. What happened? What the hell happened?
The last scene is very poignant, surrealistic n far ahead of its time in terms of the horrors of war.
"To buy time with our lives"
Steffi_P10 January 2011
The war movie was constantly evolving in the decades following World War Two. From Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) onwards those with a pacifist message were not uncommon. However, none were quite so harrowing or so bleak as this 1966 adaptation of the Richard McKenna novel The Sand Pebbles.
The movie follows the book closely, and as such is rich with subplot in a way that few motion pictures are. Those subplots are crucial to the impact of the whole. Time and again we are lead to believe this will be some uplifting tale of the underdogs triumphing and interracial harmony – for example Steve McQueen and Mako's working friendship or Richard Attenborough's romance with Marayat Andrienne – only to see the story take another shockingly dark turn and have all hopes dashed.
This was a pet project for producer-director Robert Wise, one he had worked hard to get off the ground and would later look back on as one of his proudest achievements. He brings it to the screen with his usual touch for flow and rhythm, with sudden shifts in tone, from frenzied action and rapid editing in another to languid long shots in another. We have on one hand the utter simplicity of the scene in which McQueen and Candice Bergen get to know each other on their steamer voyage – just two opposing shots, the river as a backdrop, the actors motionless as they speak their dialogue. Compare that to the boxing match between Mako and Simon Oakland, a quick-fire bout of agonising close-ups of contenders and crowd. The differences are not simply a case of editing and movement, but also the amount of business in the background, the distance the camera is from the action, and sometimes even the lighting and colour. And Wise doesn't call attention to the changes with sudden jolts – tension is built up gradually before giving way to scenes more tranquil.
Of particular note here is the set decoration. Of course, the story necessarily takes place in a series of small and squalid spaces – the bowels of the ship where McQueen works, the brothel where the men spend their shore leave – but it is the incredible production design by Boris Leven that makes it all so desolate. The interiors have rough, grey walls and small dirty windows, even the small chapel where the wedding takes place, which in spite of the scene has to be one of the most depressing sets ever made.
Tough action heroes like Steve McQueen may achieve stardom but they aren't normally praised for their acting skills. However The Sand Pebbles brings out something very deep in McQueen. He seems totally in tune with the picture's moodiness, bringing a lot of wordless emotion to his laconic character. At one point he breaks down in tears while shovelling coal; the camera is to his back but the moment is all as it should be in his body language. Another great but often overlooked player here is Simon Oakland. Oakland was great when you needed a small part with a lot of impact (see him at the end of Psycho for example) and was often a levelheaded authority figure. Less often was he cast as the bully, but he makes a decent job of it, being both threatening and repugnant. I'm less enthusiastic about Richard Attenborough's performance. For one thing he isn't right for the uniform – he looks like a little boy in a sailor suit – and for another he isn't right for the American accent, unless he was doing it as some kind of cultural revenge for Dick van Dyke's appalling attempt at being a cockney in Mary Poppins.
The Sand Pebbles is undoubtedly one of bleakest war movies ever made, but what is so different about it is not its anti-imperialist stance or even its downbeat mood. It is the fact that the US forces are shown to lose control of the situation. It was one of the great ironies with anti-war films like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket that apparently some youngsters were actually inspired to join the marines after seeing them. However I cannot imagine The Sand Pebbles having anyone rushing down to their nearest Navy recruitment office. Even though it does not exactly condemn servicemen or even the armed forces, it makes armed service look about as glamorous as cleaning a sewer. And rather than portraying the Americans as a conquering force – for good or bad – it shows them as lost, isolated and overwhelmed. There will be no cavalry riding to the rescue this time. And it creates this impression without ever losing respect for its principle characters, whom we are lead to pity rather than condemn. It shows war not as hell or as mass murder, but as bitter human tragedy.
The movie follows the book closely, and as such is rich with subplot in a way that few motion pictures are. Those subplots are crucial to the impact of the whole. Time and again we are lead to believe this will be some uplifting tale of the underdogs triumphing and interracial harmony – for example Steve McQueen and Mako's working friendship or Richard Attenborough's romance with Marayat Andrienne – only to see the story take another shockingly dark turn and have all hopes dashed.
This was a pet project for producer-director Robert Wise, one he had worked hard to get off the ground and would later look back on as one of his proudest achievements. He brings it to the screen with his usual touch for flow and rhythm, with sudden shifts in tone, from frenzied action and rapid editing in another to languid long shots in another. We have on one hand the utter simplicity of the scene in which McQueen and Candice Bergen get to know each other on their steamer voyage – just two opposing shots, the river as a backdrop, the actors motionless as they speak their dialogue. Compare that to the boxing match between Mako and Simon Oakland, a quick-fire bout of agonising close-ups of contenders and crowd. The differences are not simply a case of editing and movement, but also the amount of business in the background, the distance the camera is from the action, and sometimes even the lighting and colour. And Wise doesn't call attention to the changes with sudden jolts – tension is built up gradually before giving way to scenes more tranquil.
Of particular note here is the set decoration. Of course, the story necessarily takes place in a series of small and squalid spaces – the bowels of the ship where McQueen works, the brothel where the men spend their shore leave – but it is the incredible production design by Boris Leven that makes it all so desolate. The interiors have rough, grey walls and small dirty windows, even the small chapel where the wedding takes place, which in spite of the scene has to be one of the most depressing sets ever made.
Tough action heroes like Steve McQueen may achieve stardom but they aren't normally praised for their acting skills. However The Sand Pebbles brings out something very deep in McQueen. He seems totally in tune with the picture's moodiness, bringing a lot of wordless emotion to his laconic character. At one point he breaks down in tears while shovelling coal; the camera is to his back but the moment is all as it should be in his body language. Another great but often overlooked player here is Simon Oakland. Oakland was great when you needed a small part with a lot of impact (see him at the end of Psycho for example) and was often a levelheaded authority figure. Less often was he cast as the bully, but he makes a decent job of it, being both threatening and repugnant. I'm less enthusiastic about Richard Attenborough's performance. For one thing he isn't right for the uniform – he looks like a little boy in a sailor suit – and for another he isn't right for the American accent, unless he was doing it as some kind of cultural revenge for Dick van Dyke's appalling attempt at being a cockney in Mary Poppins.
The Sand Pebbles is undoubtedly one of bleakest war movies ever made, but what is so different about it is not its anti-imperialist stance or even its downbeat mood. It is the fact that the US forces are shown to lose control of the situation. It was one of the great ironies with anti-war films like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket that apparently some youngsters were actually inspired to join the marines after seeing them. However I cannot imagine The Sand Pebbles having anyone rushing down to their nearest Navy recruitment office. Even though it does not exactly condemn servicemen or even the armed forces, it makes armed service look about as glamorous as cleaning a sewer. And rather than portraying the Americans as a conquering force – for good or bad – it shows them as lost, isolated and overwhelmed. There will be no cavalry riding to the rescue this time. And it creates this impression without ever losing respect for its principle characters, whom we are lead to pity rather than condemn. It shows war not as hell or as mass murder, but as bitter human tragedy.
The Definitive McQueen Performance
jhclues7 June 2001
Steve McQueen was known for many things-- action films, fast cars, motorcycles, a charismatic presence (on screen and off), and his true `tough guy' persona. But with this film, another description moves to the top of that list: Actor. Anyone who doubts what a great actor McQueen was need only watch this film, because his performance here as Jake Holman is simply as good as it gets. `The Sand Pebbles, ` directed by Robert Wise, is the story of Holman, a sailor assigned to the U.S. Gunboat, `San Pablo,' stationed on the Yangtze River in China in 1926 (the sailors aboard are known as `sand pebbles'). It's primary function is to patrol the river and thereby establish an American presence in China, a country currently experiencing a period of political unrest and impending upheaval. It's a new assignment for Holman, and it suits him just fine; his job is to keep the ship's engines up and running, and because of the size of the ship, he's the only engineer-- it's just Jake and his engine. And that's the way he likes it. Holman is a loner by nature, and something of an iconoclast. At one point, when he is asked his opinion of American Foreign Policy and their presence in China, he simply says, `I don't mess with it. It's all look-see-pidgin, somethin' for the officers.'
Eventually, however, Holman is nevertheless drawn into the conflict through a series of events that impact him beyond all personal resistance, the most significant being when American lives are threatened throughout China, and Holman and a landing party are sent ashore to protect and escort some missionaries back to the safety of the San Pablo. But at the mission, Holman discovers a way of life, the likes of which he's never known, and for the first time ever, he realizes a sense of belonging. And he likes it. For Holman, however, it may be too late; the political turmoil throughout the country has put the lives of everyone at the mission in peril, including a young missionary named Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen), with whom Holman has made a connection he simply cannot dispel; for in Shirley, he discerns an innocence and a goodness that compels him, and in which he finds a welcome sense of fulfillment. So what began as a routine mission becomes a salient point in Holman's life, and he is faced with the most important decision he's ever had to make.
This is the one for which McQueen should have won an Oscar. As Holman, he demonstrates an emotional range and depth that runs the gamut from almost boyish naivete to a world weary veteran of life who has seen and heard it all. Utterly convincing, he can say more with a slight incline of his head, a slow blink or shifting of his eyes than most actors could say with reams of dialogue at their disposal. He communicates with so much more than words, and there's meaning in everything he says and does-- he never wastes a line or a single moment. What he does with this role is magnificent; it's the definitive McQueen performance. His Holman is the personification of the loner, and in creating him he delivers something few actors could ever equal: He's tough, convincing and charming-- all at the same time. And he should've taken home The Statue for it.
As Collins, the Captain of the San Pablo, Richard Crenna gives one of his finest performances, as well, and it cemented his transition from television actor to a career on the big screen. After this, there was no going back. His portrayal of the somber, introspective Captain is riveting, and in him you readily perceive Collins' sense of duty and honor, as well as his overwhelming sense of futility and failure. And the urgency with which he grasps his chance for redemption, even in the face of insurmountable odds, is entirely believable as it is consistent with the character he has created.
The superlative supporting cast includes Richard Attenborough (Frenchy), Emmanuelle Arsan (Maily), Mako (Po-han), Larry Gates (Jameson), Charles Robinson (Bordelles), Simon Oakland (Stawski), Ford Rainey (Harris), Joe Turkel (Bronson) and Gavin MacLeod (Crosley). A powerful drama, extremely well crafted and presented by Wise, `The Sand Pebbles' is a great and memorable film that will forever stand as the pinnacle of McQueen's successful career. Jake Holman is a character you will never forget, because there is something of him-- that wistful longing to belong, perhaps-- in all of us. A timeless classic among classics, this is one of the greatest motion pictures of all time, and is by definition, the magic of the movies. I rate this one 10/10.
Eventually, however, Holman is nevertheless drawn into the conflict through a series of events that impact him beyond all personal resistance, the most significant being when American lives are threatened throughout China, and Holman and a landing party are sent ashore to protect and escort some missionaries back to the safety of the San Pablo. But at the mission, Holman discovers a way of life, the likes of which he's never known, and for the first time ever, he realizes a sense of belonging. And he likes it. For Holman, however, it may be too late; the political turmoil throughout the country has put the lives of everyone at the mission in peril, including a young missionary named Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen), with whom Holman has made a connection he simply cannot dispel; for in Shirley, he discerns an innocence and a goodness that compels him, and in which he finds a welcome sense of fulfillment. So what began as a routine mission becomes a salient point in Holman's life, and he is faced with the most important decision he's ever had to make.
This is the one for which McQueen should have won an Oscar. As Holman, he demonstrates an emotional range and depth that runs the gamut from almost boyish naivete to a world weary veteran of life who has seen and heard it all. Utterly convincing, he can say more with a slight incline of his head, a slow blink or shifting of his eyes than most actors could say with reams of dialogue at their disposal. He communicates with so much more than words, and there's meaning in everything he says and does-- he never wastes a line or a single moment. What he does with this role is magnificent; it's the definitive McQueen performance. His Holman is the personification of the loner, and in creating him he delivers something few actors could ever equal: He's tough, convincing and charming-- all at the same time. And he should've taken home The Statue for it.
As Collins, the Captain of the San Pablo, Richard Crenna gives one of his finest performances, as well, and it cemented his transition from television actor to a career on the big screen. After this, there was no going back. His portrayal of the somber, introspective Captain is riveting, and in him you readily perceive Collins' sense of duty and honor, as well as his overwhelming sense of futility and failure. And the urgency with which he grasps his chance for redemption, even in the face of insurmountable odds, is entirely believable as it is consistent with the character he has created.
The superlative supporting cast includes Richard Attenborough (Frenchy), Emmanuelle Arsan (Maily), Mako (Po-han), Larry Gates (Jameson), Charles Robinson (Bordelles), Simon Oakland (Stawski), Ford Rainey (Harris), Joe Turkel (Bronson) and Gavin MacLeod (Crosley). A powerful drama, extremely well crafted and presented by Wise, `The Sand Pebbles' is a great and memorable film that will forever stand as the pinnacle of McQueen's successful career. Jake Holman is a character you will never forget, because there is something of him-- that wistful longing to belong, perhaps-- in all of us. A timeless classic among classics, this is one of the greatest motion pictures of all time, and is by definition, the magic of the movies. I rate this one 10/10.
Perfect in every respect, "The Sand Pebbles" defines great storytelling.
raymond_chandler30 May 2004
I am watching the DVD of "The Sand Pebbles" for the first time. I originally saw this film as a child, during its theatrical run. Even though I have watched the P&S VHS tape many times, the DVD takes me back to that unforgettable first viewing so many years ago. This film is the definitive example of how pan and scan (laughably called "fullscreen") is nothing less than a desecration of the work of those who make movies. Thank goodness there is finally a faithful transfer of this unforgettable story.
I love movies, some much more than others. Even in the films that I love the most, the ones I consider "the best", I can always find flaws or weaknesses. I can not find a single thing to criticize in "The Sand Pebbles". The cinematography, as many others have noted, is exceptional. The detail of the sets, the ship, the costumes, the panoramic vistas, all are very convincing. As Crenna points out in the DVD commentary, there is no visual trickery, everything on the screen is real and three-dimensional. I have not read the source novel, and I am woefully ignorant of the political realities in China in this period, although I understand that the book was based on real incidents. The fact is, the story told here is compelling, and it does not matter to me how true to history it is, the world depicted in "The Sand Pebbles" is real and believable. Robert Anderson's script provides sufficient grounding in the political events to keep the audience engaged, without becoming all awkward exposition or political treatise. Of course, the characters express certain strong views, and therein the conflict arises.
Robert Wise is a first-rank director ("West Side Story", "The Haunting", "The Sound of Music"), and his work here is superlative. This film is a blend of epic-scale scenes and intimate, poignant moments of emotional realism. The camera placement, the use of extras and props, the blocking of the actors, the use of natural light, the tracking shots of the boat, all are in service of the story. Wise lets that story breathe and the characters emerge, and the result is a three-hour movie. How ironic that the main criticism leveled at "The Sand Pebbles" is that it is "slow" and "boring". Excuse me, but this is called "character development", and it sets compelling moviemaking apart from the mediocre variety. The pacing is what draws you in to this world, where the actors can give their characters life and create empathy in the audience. I can only feel sadness for the modern, ADD-afflicted viewer who is trained to respond to manipulative tricks, and can not appreciate a realistic depiction of human behavior.
Much has been said in these comments about the acting, and I agree with those who feel McQueen and Crenna stand out. The character of the captain could have been a rigid cliche, but Crenna gives us a person, a man to whom duty and service is everything, yet who is keenly aware of the needs and temperament of his crew, and who yearns to leave his mark in history. As for McQueen...his physical presence dominates the film. His understated style is perfect for Holman, a man who only wants to be left alone to do his work, and yet who will fight against injustices done to others. His facial expressions, especially in his eyes, allow us to share his thoughts and feelings throughout the movie.
The most memorable element in "The Sand Pebbles" for me is the musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Alternately stirring and heartrending, it complements each scene absolutely brilliantly, and is the most evocative score of any motion picture I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the 1966 Oscar went to "Born Free", a mediocre picture whose title song was a hugely popular hit.
I feel privileged that I was able to see "The Sand Pebbles" in a theatre, where it is meant to be seen. This DVD version finally does justice to what I regard as an unparalleled achievement in filmmaking. There are other films that I have a stronger attachment to for various reasons, but none of them hit a home run in every department the way that "The Sand Pebbles" does.
"Water belong dead stim -all same dead stim"
I love movies, some much more than others. Even in the films that I love the most, the ones I consider "the best", I can always find flaws or weaknesses. I can not find a single thing to criticize in "The Sand Pebbles". The cinematography, as many others have noted, is exceptional. The detail of the sets, the ship, the costumes, the panoramic vistas, all are very convincing. As Crenna points out in the DVD commentary, there is no visual trickery, everything on the screen is real and three-dimensional. I have not read the source novel, and I am woefully ignorant of the political realities in China in this period, although I understand that the book was based on real incidents. The fact is, the story told here is compelling, and it does not matter to me how true to history it is, the world depicted in "The Sand Pebbles" is real and believable. Robert Anderson's script provides sufficient grounding in the political events to keep the audience engaged, without becoming all awkward exposition or political treatise. Of course, the characters express certain strong views, and therein the conflict arises.
Robert Wise is a first-rank director ("West Side Story", "The Haunting", "The Sound of Music"), and his work here is superlative. This film is a blend of epic-scale scenes and intimate, poignant moments of emotional realism. The camera placement, the use of extras and props, the blocking of the actors, the use of natural light, the tracking shots of the boat, all are in service of the story. Wise lets that story breathe and the characters emerge, and the result is a three-hour movie. How ironic that the main criticism leveled at "The Sand Pebbles" is that it is "slow" and "boring". Excuse me, but this is called "character development", and it sets compelling moviemaking apart from the mediocre variety. The pacing is what draws you in to this world, where the actors can give their characters life and create empathy in the audience. I can only feel sadness for the modern, ADD-afflicted viewer who is trained to respond to manipulative tricks, and can not appreciate a realistic depiction of human behavior.
Much has been said in these comments about the acting, and I agree with those who feel McQueen and Crenna stand out. The character of the captain could have been a rigid cliche, but Crenna gives us a person, a man to whom duty and service is everything, yet who is keenly aware of the needs and temperament of his crew, and who yearns to leave his mark in history. As for McQueen...his physical presence dominates the film. His understated style is perfect for Holman, a man who only wants to be left alone to do his work, and yet who will fight against injustices done to others. His facial expressions, especially in his eyes, allow us to share his thoughts and feelings throughout the movie.
The most memorable element in "The Sand Pebbles" for me is the musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Alternately stirring and heartrending, it complements each scene absolutely brilliantly, and is the most evocative score of any motion picture I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the 1966 Oscar went to "Born Free", a mediocre picture whose title song was a hugely popular hit.
I feel privileged that I was able to see "The Sand Pebbles" in a theatre, where it is meant to be seen. This DVD version finally does justice to what I regard as an unparalleled achievement in filmmaking. There are other films that I have a stronger attachment to for various reasons, but none of them hit a home run in every department the way that "The Sand Pebbles" does.
"Water belong dead stim -all same dead stim"
A classy, classic war film, and more.
BobLib29 October 1999
Warning: Spoilers
Those who know Robert Wise primarily as a director of big-scale musicals ("The Sound of Music," "West Side Story.") would be suprised to know that his best films, in many ways, were his NON-musicals. Consider "I Want to Live," "Odds Against Tomorrow," "Curse of the Cat People," and, most especially, "The Sand Pebbles," one of the best, most insightful films about men at war ever made.
Set in China in 1926, this film gives an honest evocation of the period between the collapse of the Monarchy in 1908 and the Communist takeover 41 years leter, when whoever had the most firepower essentially ran the country. A tumultuous period, pictured here with an honesty and candor rarely seen in a mainstream American film. In the midst of this, the men of the San Pablo try to maintain an uneasy peace, and the result is an effective film about men at war, without a lot of gratuitious sex or vulgar language.
Then there are the performances. Steve McQueen gives what's probably, along with "The Getaway," the best performance of his career. His Jake Holman is a basically honest, sane man cought up in a dishonest, insane situation. He was deservedly Oscar-nominated for this performance, but lost, perhaps inevitably, to Paul Scofield's incomparable St. Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons." Sir Richard Attenborough once again proves a better actor than director as Frenchy, Holman's best friend. Always excellent Richard Crenna SHOULD have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his Captain Phillip Collins, a by-the-book officer who finds that you can't always play by the rules in a situation where madness is an everyday occurance. Mako WAS deservedly nominated as the tragic Po-Han, McQueen's assistant who becomes an unwilling pawn between the Americans and the Chinese radicals. And Candice Bergen proves that she can act when called upon as the young missionary with whom McQueen falls in love, and whose life he dies trying to save.
They don't make 'em like this anymore. See it.
Set in China in 1926, this film gives an honest evocation of the period between the collapse of the Monarchy in 1908 and the Communist takeover 41 years leter, when whoever had the most firepower essentially ran the country. A tumultuous period, pictured here with an honesty and candor rarely seen in a mainstream American film. In the midst of this, the men of the San Pablo try to maintain an uneasy peace, and the result is an effective film about men at war, without a lot of gratuitious sex or vulgar language.
Then there are the performances. Steve McQueen gives what's probably, along with "The Getaway," the best performance of his career. His Jake Holman is a basically honest, sane man cought up in a dishonest, insane situation. He was deservedly Oscar-nominated for this performance, but lost, perhaps inevitably, to Paul Scofield's incomparable St. Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons." Sir Richard Attenborough once again proves a better actor than director as Frenchy, Holman's best friend. Always excellent Richard Crenna SHOULD have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his Captain Phillip Collins, a by-the-book officer who finds that you can't always play by the rules in a situation where madness is an everyday occurance. Mako WAS deservedly nominated as the tragic Po-Han, McQueen's assistant who becomes an unwilling pawn between the Americans and the Chinese radicals. And Candice Bergen proves that she can act when called upon as the young missionary with whom McQueen falls in love, and whose life he dies trying to save.
They don't make 'em like this anymore. See it.
Steve McQueen remains the focal point in ambitious, sometimes rambling film...
Doylenf28 August 2006
STEVE McQUEEN makes a completely believable machinist's mate aboard a U.S. Navy gunboat who finds himself enmeshed in the politics of unrest that existed in 1926 China during the period of the Boxer Rebellion. It's probably one of the finest roles of his career--honest, vexating, and completely true to the emotions of his character whose only real concern is taking care of his engines.
There are plenty of other good performances. RICHARD CRENNA is the Captain, uncertain of just how the U.S./Chinese friction should be solved, and CANDACE BERGEN is lovely as a missionary who has a tender romance with McQueen.
The exotic locales (it was filmed mostly in Taiwan), the lush background score by Jerry Goldsmith, and the confrontation between the U.S. Navy and the Chinese authorities which supplies the necessary suspense before an action-filled climax, all serve to make THE SAND PEBBLES a fascinating look at a period in history that is seldom explored. And, of course, it raises questions as to our role in imperialism and our interaction with the culture of foreign countries that make the film relevant today.
It's a long film, rather uneven in places, but directed with rare sensitivity by Robert Wise and richly detailed period atmosphere.
There are plenty of other good performances. RICHARD CRENNA is the Captain, uncertain of just how the U.S./Chinese friction should be solved, and CANDACE BERGEN is lovely as a missionary who has a tender romance with McQueen.
The exotic locales (it was filmed mostly in Taiwan), the lush background score by Jerry Goldsmith, and the confrontation between the U.S. Navy and the Chinese authorities which supplies the necessary suspense before an action-filled climax, all serve to make THE SAND PEBBLES a fascinating look at a period in history that is seldom explored. And, of course, it raises questions as to our role in imperialism and our interaction with the culture of foreign countries that make the film relevant today.
It's a long film, rather uneven in places, but directed with rare sensitivity by Robert Wise and richly detailed period atmosphere.
Steve McQueen's best performance.
jckruize18 October 2001
Steve McQueen felt an affinity for this role like few others in his career.
In this compelling war drama set in China in 1926, he plays American sailor Jake Holman, a man who's bonded to machinery more than people yet is imbued with a powerful sense of right and wrong. It's a part that plays perfectly to McQueen's strengths as an actor and his lifelong quest to hone performance into character, while jettisoning all but essential dialogue. All his emoting comes subtly: slight shifts of gaze; the way he cocks his head to listen; his complete stillness before action. In 1966 it also brought him his only Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor (but won that year by Paul Scofield for "A Man For All Seasons").
Scripter Robert Anderson had a tough job distilling Richard McKenna's sprawling novel of U.S. Navy gunboat 'San Pablo' (hence her sailors called themselves 'Sand Pebbles') at the start of the revolution that would tear China asunder and ultimately transform it into the post-WWII behemoth we know today. Luckily he and director Robert Wise knew to keep the plot's underpinnings solidly on the central irony of McKenna's story: that it is Jake's very alienation from his fellows that leads him inevitably to sacrifice and redemption. The ending is shocking and powerful; a reminder of better, more mature days in American film.
Wise directed on locations in Hong Kong and Taiwan with his customary mastery of both intense personal confrontation and epic sweep. In excellent support are Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna and Mako. The film also features one of Jerry Goldsmith's most memorable scores.
I must again mention McKenna's novel. It is superb; sadly, the only full-length work he finished before his untimely death. It may be out of print but is well worth an online used book search.
In this compelling war drama set in China in 1926, he plays American sailor Jake Holman, a man who's bonded to machinery more than people yet is imbued with a powerful sense of right and wrong. It's a part that plays perfectly to McQueen's strengths as an actor and his lifelong quest to hone performance into character, while jettisoning all but essential dialogue. All his emoting comes subtly: slight shifts of gaze; the way he cocks his head to listen; his complete stillness before action. In 1966 it also brought him his only Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor (but won that year by Paul Scofield for "A Man For All Seasons").
Scripter Robert Anderson had a tough job distilling Richard McKenna's sprawling novel of U.S. Navy gunboat 'San Pablo' (hence her sailors called themselves 'Sand Pebbles') at the start of the revolution that would tear China asunder and ultimately transform it into the post-WWII behemoth we know today. Luckily he and director Robert Wise knew to keep the plot's underpinnings solidly on the central irony of McKenna's story: that it is Jake's very alienation from his fellows that leads him inevitably to sacrifice and redemption. The ending is shocking and powerful; a reminder of better, more mature days in American film.
Wise directed on locations in Hong Kong and Taiwan with his customary mastery of both intense personal confrontation and epic sweep. In excellent support are Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna and Mako. The film also features one of Jerry Goldsmith's most memorable scores.
I must again mention McKenna's novel. It is superb; sadly, the only full-length work he finished before his untimely death. It may be out of print but is well worth an online used book search.
China Syndrome
richardchatten30 October 2020
A long, spectacular, long, good-looking, long, and well-written and long and well-acted production that puts Steve McQueen's usual insubordinate malcontent in the unusual setting of Shanghai in 1926 (and more than twenty years after 'The Purple Heart' provides a nostalgic return to the big screen by Richard Loo as a vengeful oriental).
Based on Richard McKenna's 1962 novel and reminiscent of '55 Days at Peking'. At least director Robert Wise didn't have to leave the production in a wheelchair as Nicholas Ray had on the earlier film. But after such an arduous shoot he was reluctant to be ruthless in the editing room and at over three hours the end result is almost as exhausting to watch as it was to make.
Wise later said the subplot involving Richard Attenborough and Maryat Andriane (recalling that with Red Buttons & Myoshi Umeki in 'Sayonara') was the most expendable component in the film. But it also gives the film it's heart, so fortunately it stayed.
Based on Richard McKenna's 1962 novel and reminiscent of '55 Days at Peking'. At least director Robert Wise didn't have to leave the production in a wheelchair as Nicholas Ray had on the earlier film. But after such an arduous shoot he was reluctant to be ruthless in the editing room and at over three hours the end result is almost as exhausting to watch as it was to make.
Wise later said the subplot involving Richard Attenborough and Maryat Andriane (recalling that with Red Buttons & Myoshi Umeki in 'Sayonara') was the most expendable component in the film. But it also gives the film it's heart, so fortunately it stayed.
The Sand Pebbles - a powerful and human anti-war film
fernies11 October 2000
`The Sand Pebbles' has been one of my favourite films since I first saw it on television in 1976. The widescreen version does justice not just to the sweeping panoramas of the quite breathtaking Chinese scenery, but also to the sweeping events and themes of the story. It is in every way a `big' film, dealing with political and military intervention (clear parallels with Vietnam at the time of release), nationalism, racism, and the horrors of war. Yet for all its heavy themes, it is most successful in the depiction of its very human characters. These characters are not just the means of conveying the `messages' of the film, or fodder for the gripping and well-staged action scenes. They are individuals in their own right, involved in something far greater than their own destinies. Some are unpleasant and ignorant while others are honourable but lost in the sea of historic events surrounding them. Some, like Jake Holman (Steve McQueen), demand sympathy and respect as they struggle to come to terms with their personal challenges brought to the fore by these historically significant and politically dangerous events.
Inevitably there are slow and confusing passages as the political implications are expounded, but these are more than compensated for by our emotional engagement as we become involved in the stories of the people caught up in the political fall-out. Robert Wise's direction is strong and emotionally charged, complemented perfectly by Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully haunting and ominous music. Steve McQueen gives what was probably the performance of his career (receiving his only Academy Award nomination), and he is supported by a wonderful cast including Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen (aged just 19), and especially Mako. But it is really McQueen's film. His very presence lifts scenes and he manages to convey authenticity and gain the sympathy of the viewer with consummate ease. Apparently misunderstood by some critics on its release, it is a powerful and intrinsically human anti-war film. It is not a happy film, but it is totally absorbing and thought provoking.
Inevitably there are slow and confusing passages as the political implications are expounded, but these are more than compensated for by our emotional engagement as we become involved in the stories of the people caught up in the political fall-out. Robert Wise's direction is strong and emotionally charged, complemented perfectly by Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully haunting and ominous music. Steve McQueen gives what was probably the performance of his career (receiving his only Academy Award nomination), and he is supported by a wonderful cast including Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen (aged just 19), and especially Mako. But it is really McQueen's film. His very presence lifts scenes and he manages to convey authenticity and gain the sympathy of the viewer with consummate ease. Apparently misunderstood by some critics on its release, it is a powerful and intrinsically human anti-war film. It is not a happy film, but it is totally absorbing and thought provoking.
A Well-Made Film Which Captures the Politcal Climate in China Before World War II
Uriah4318 October 2020
This film begins in 1926 with a navy sailor by the name of "Jake Holman" (Steve McQueen) reporting for duty to the U.S.S. San Pueblo which is stationed near Shanghai, China. Since his last assignment was with the Asiatic Fleet he now looks forward to being on a smaller ship as he will now have complete control over the engine room without anybody interfering with his duties. At least, that is what he initially thinks. However, he soon learns that everything on board the ship is run by Chinese workers and this causes an immediate problem between him and the main engine room coolie named "Chien" (Tommy Lee). It also doesn't help his situation that the captain of the ship "Lieutenant Collins" (Richard Crenna) has taken an immediate dislike for him either. And these two issues become even more serious as the political situation in China begins to really explode. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a very well-made film which captures the political climate in China before World War II in a very fine manner. It also has some very good performances by both Steve McQueen and Richard Crenna as well. That being said, I thought that this was a pretty good movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
Robert Wise's Masterpiece
henri sauvage7 May 2003
... and that's saying quite a bit, given his impressive filmography.
There are just a couple of points I'd like to add to the preceding commentary:
To really appreciate this movie, you must see it in letterbox, preferably on DVD. Joseph MacDonald's cinematography is breath-taking; you could take almost any individual frame of "The Sand Pebbles" and hang it on your wall as a work of art.
The second is that Wise himself (if you believe his commentary) wasn't trying to draw explicit parallels to Vietnam, where things did not begin to drastically escalate until near the end of filming for this movie. It's just that history has a sad habit of repeating itself.
If you get the DVD, listen to the commentary at least once: It's worth the time spent. Poor Candice Bergen: She comes across as simultaneously grateful for the opportunity to have worked on this film, and embarrassed that -- as a 19-year-old with little acting experience -- she didn't make a better job of it.
She should have credited Wise with seeing her possibilities a little better than she could. Bergen's gawky shyness is a pretty good fit with her role as a virginal, idealistic missionary newly arrived in China. Her often tentative body language works beautifully as a counterpoint to McQueen's assured and seemingly effortless performance, giving their doomed love affair great believability and poignancy.
This is an example of 60s' epic film-making at its best.
There are just a couple of points I'd like to add to the preceding commentary:
To really appreciate this movie, you must see it in letterbox, preferably on DVD. Joseph MacDonald's cinematography is breath-taking; you could take almost any individual frame of "The Sand Pebbles" and hang it on your wall as a work of art.
The second is that Wise himself (if you believe his commentary) wasn't trying to draw explicit parallels to Vietnam, where things did not begin to drastically escalate until near the end of filming for this movie. It's just that history has a sad habit of repeating itself.
If you get the DVD, listen to the commentary at least once: It's worth the time spent. Poor Candice Bergen: She comes across as simultaneously grateful for the opportunity to have worked on this film, and embarrassed that -- as a 19-year-old with little acting experience -- she didn't make a better job of it.
She should have credited Wise with seeing her possibilities a little better than she could. Bergen's gawky shyness is a pretty good fit with her role as a virginal, idealistic missionary newly arrived in China. Her often tentative body language works beautifully as a counterpoint to McQueen's assured and seemingly effortless performance, giving their doomed love affair great believability and poignancy.
This is an example of 60s' epic film-making at its best.
My brief review of the film
sol-7 November 2005
The general lives of sailors, values in the Navy, and the way that ships operate are all explored well in this film. The sets are realistic and detailed, both on shore and in the ship, and in addition to a number of skillfully edited sequences, there is a significant amount to like on the visual side of things. However, despite the good insights that it gives, the politics of the time are ill explained, and some different events are not well explained either. The story is also rather minimal, with two dull romance subplots taking up a substantial amount of the plot. I did not find enough fresh material for the film to grip me for the whole of the epic three-hour length, and towards the end the directing becomes somewhat messy. This is not a bad film though. It is well made for the reasons I mentioned earlier, and Jerry Goldsmith composes a great score too. However, to say the least, I find its Academy Award nomination for Best Picture surprising.
"We're up against a new strategy of lives!"
moonspinner5521 June 2009
Though it was based upon a bestseller (by Richard McKenna, whose work was adapted for the screen by Robert Anderson) and runs three hours, one waits in vain for something in Robert Wise's mammoth adventure saga "The Sand Pebbles" to be meaningful, to hit a nerve. There were comparisons made at the time between the picture and the Vietnam War, yet it's the same type of travelogue/seafaring yarn which Hollywood was churning out ten years prior (with Steve McQueen in for Montgomery Clift, perhaps, and Simon Oakland in for Ernest Borgnine). It's Shanghai in 1926, and China is a crazy-quilt of chaos; naval engineer McQueen keeps his vessel running under the strict leadership of Captain Collins (a one-note Richard Crenna). He also has a predilection for sensitive prostitutes, but eventually falls under the spell of a schoolteacher from Vermont (Candice Bergen, batting her eyelashes to let us know she's a virgin). Screenwriter Anderson should not get plaudits for the things in the picture which do work (that credit should go to McQueen, who carries the film). Anderson's arduous expository dialogue merely makes the movie seem longer; in the first seven minutes, we get a dinner-table scene wherein two opposing political views of China are heatedly expressed...thirty minutes later, Collins bawls out engineer Jake Holman while giving him a double-helping of political rhetoric. It's an epic for simpletons. ** from ****
A classic war movie and one of McQueen's greatest performances
DVD_Connoisseur6 January 2019
"The Sand Pebbles" is an epic war movie set during the 1920s in China.
Steve McQueen delivers one of his strongest performances as Jake Holman, the sailor responsible for the engine room of the U.S.S. San Pablo gunboat.
There are uncomfortable scenes in the film. The 1920s were not a time of political correctness and the treatment of the Chinese "coolies" on board the ship, and the bargirls on shore, is shocking.
Richard Attenborough plays the romantic Frenchy Burgoyne, who falls in love with the local bar's new hostess, Maily (Marayat Andriane).
The beautiful soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith is memorable.
8 out of 10.
Steve McQueen delivers one of his strongest performances as Jake Holman, the sailor responsible for the engine room of the U.S.S. San Pablo gunboat.
There are uncomfortable scenes in the film. The 1920s were not a time of political correctness and the treatment of the Chinese "coolies" on board the ship, and the bargirls on shore, is shocking.
Richard Attenborough plays the romantic Frenchy Burgoyne, who falls in love with the local bar's new hostess, Maily (Marayat Andriane).
The beautiful soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith is memorable.
8 out of 10.
Throughly enjoyable.
barberoux28 March 2003
"The Sand Pebbles" was a throughly enjoyable movie. The setting was exotic and the story engaging. Though it starred Steve McQueen, who did an excellent job, its strength was the ensemble acting with a very talented cast including Richard Crenna, Richard Attenborough, Mako and Candice Bergen. The story was nicely involved and, though it portrayed the sailor's prejudices, did not feel condescending toward the Chinese as many war-type movies do. The men were caught up in the turbulent times and many of the conflicts portrayed seem to come more from troubled psyches. It is not Ramboish macho crap. I found the portrayals of the people and times entertaining. I had read the book so maybe I read more into the movie than others seeing it cold. It was a very good movie and well worth a watch.
Apocalypse Then
tieman6426 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
"It's the most difficult picture I ever made." - Robert Wise
An underrated film by director Robert Wise, "The Sand Pebbles" stars Steve McQueen as Jake Holman, a maverick engineer on-board the "San Pablo", a US gunboat tasked with patrolling the Yangtze River.
Like many films from the 1960s, "The Sand Pebbles" is resolutely "anti establishment", with its (unintentional?) critiques of the Vietnam war, its anger at misguided foreign policies, its scepticism toward duty and patriotism, and its portrayal of American diplomacy as being explicitly racist, arrogant and indifferent to the affairs of indigenous peoples.
But the film is also atypical of anti war epics of this period. Watch, for example, how director Robert Wise methodically dwells on the finer details of life aboard a ship. Watch how he sketches the personal and international conflicts of the period. Watch how he focuses on the pressures placed on the ship's captain, who must walk a fine line to prevent escalating tensions and whose boat slowly becomes a floating garrison, and watch how beautifully spatial the film is, despite Wise's simple shot selection. Couple this to Wise's gorgeous location photography – he made "The Sound of Music" a few years earlier, and serves up similarly grand scenery here – and you have a pretty interesting epic.
Most interesting, though, is actor Steve McQueen. McQueen was all about acting with the eyes and taking with his body, but here he went so far as to kick playwright Robert Anderson off script duty and to request the removal of much of his character's dialogue. The result is a low-key, and at times very riveting performance.
In terms of flaws, the film is too long, its portrayal of Asians is at times caricatural, it possesses a stiffness which was just about going out of style in the mid 1960s, several subplots are handled poorly and a romance between an American naval officer and a prostitute (which Wise himself regrets leaving in the film) feels unnecessary. And like most films with supposedly "rebellious" heroes, McQueen's character actually does nothing to undermine the efficiency of the military he so deplores. In fact, all the "trouble" he causes merely contributes to the smooth and efficient running of his ship. Far from a bad boy or bad apple, McQueen is the perfect conformist, a trait common in supposedly "anti militarist" films.
The film's "behind the scenes" troubles are the stuff of legend, Wise's crew braving stormy weather, a completely foreign culture, a war (with Taiwan) and the difficult handling of a full scale mock up of a war ship. Ten years later, when Francis Ford Coppola was experiencing similar problems on "Apocalypse Now", he requested a copy of "The Sand Pebbles" from Wise. Coppola wanted to show his crew what the end result could be in spite of any problems.
8/10 – An underrated film, in many respects better than "The Bridge On The River Kwai", "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Apocalypse Now", three films it resembles. The product of an era in which epics tended to be experimental and intelligent, "The Sand Pebbles" is only occasionally undermined by hokey moments. It was a passion project for Wise, who directed "The Sound of Music" in order to get "Pebbles" financed.
An underrated film by director Robert Wise, "The Sand Pebbles" stars Steve McQueen as Jake Holman, a maverick engineer on-board the "San Pablo", a US gunboat tasked with patrolling the Yangtze River.
Like many films from the 1960s, "The Sand Pebbles" is resolutely "anti establishment", with its (unintentional?) critiques of the Vietnam war, its anger at misguided foreign policies, its scepticism toward duty and patriotism, and its portrayal of American diplomacy as being explicitly racist, arrogant and indifferent to the affairs of indigenous peoples.
But the film is also atypical of anti war epics of this period. Watch, for example, how director Robert Wise methodically dwells on the finer details of life aboard a ship. Watch how he sketches the personal and international conflicts of the period. Watch how he focuses on the pressures placed on the ship's captain, who must walk a fine line to prevent escalating tensions and whose boat slowly becomes a floating garrison, and watch how beautifully spatial the film is, despite Wise's simple shot selection. Couple this to Wise's gorgeous location photography – he made "The Sound of Music" a few years earlier, and serves up similarly grand scenery here – and you have a pretty interesting epic.
Most interesting, though, is actor Steve McQueen. McQueen was all about acting with the eyes and taking with his body, but here he went so far as to kick playwright Robert Anderson off script duty and to request the removal of much of his character's dialogue. The result is a low-key, and at times very riveting performance.
In terms of flaws, the film is too long, its portrayal of Asians is at times caricatural, it possesses a stiffness which was just about going out of style in the mid 1960s, several subplots are handled poorly and a romance between an American naval officer and a prostitute (which Wise himself regrets leaving in the film) feels unnecessary. And like most films with supposedly "rebellious" heroes, McQueen's character actually does nothing to undermine the efficiency of the military he so deplores. In fact, all the "trouble" he causes merely contributes to the smooth and efficient running of his ship. Far from a bad boy or bad apple, McQueen is the perfect conformist, a trait common in supposedly "anti militarist" films.
The film's "behind the scenes" troubles are the stuff of legend, Wise's crew braving stormy weather, a completely foreign culture, a war (with Taiwan) and the difficult handling of a full scale mock up of a war ship. Ten years later, when Francis Ford Coppola was experiencing similar problems on "Apocalypse Now", he requested a copy of "The Sand Pebbles" from Wise. Coppola wanted to show his crew what the end result could be in spite of any problems.
8/10 – An underrated film, in many respects better than "The Bridge On The River Kwai", "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Apocalypse Now", three films it resembles. The product of an era in which epics tended to be experimental and intelligent, "The Sand Pebbles" is only occasionally undermined by hokey moments. It was a passion project for Wise, who directed "The Sound of Music" in order to get "Pebbles" financed.
Haunting movie but a flawed classic
gsu-27 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I have always found watching this movie to be a haunting and moving experience. Having spent many years in ships' engine rooms and in the Far-East, I can almost smell the hot lube oil and steam when Jake Holman goes down to check the engines when he first comes aboard "San Pablo". This was surely one of McQueen's finest performances but it and the movie would have been much better if the reasons for conflict between Holman and the Captain had been developed further. Holman bitterly resented the fact that the Chinese crewmen had taken over the operation of the engines and knew that he could do a better job. Furthermore, he saw the engine room as HIS and resented (as do all engine room staff regardless of nationality) any interference from the Deck department. What the captain (brilliantly portrayed by Richard Crenna) wants is no trouble from the engines and as many men as possible on deck to repel borders etc. This is a legitimate position because this is what the captain is paid for. Jake knows he can run the engines better and more efficiently if he can only get into the engine room for long enough to do it. The fact that the captain settles for the status quo with the Chinese Crew is the source of the ongoing conflict between him and Jake. This is only touched on in the film when the ship has to stop in mid river and the Head Chinese engine man gets killed. I suspect that the scenes highlighting the source of conflict between Jake and the captain were actually shot but ended up on the cutting room floor. If this is so it is a pity because it is the key to Jake's behaviour when he disobeys the captain's direct order not to fire the rifle. I also thought the ending of book and movie a bit pointless, but that is probably a reflection of the anti-Vietnam war and anti-military mentality of the period. A hauntingly flawed classic.
"Hello engine, I'm Jake Holman."
classicsoncall19 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
"The Sand Pebbles" is the film that cemented Steve McQueen's status as a leading man in Hollywood, one in which his character is the embodiment of a loner, a rebel at odds with himself and his environment. His portrayal is so effective because it's grounded in his own upbringing. Abandoned by a self absorbed father at the age of four months, and with an alcoholic mother who had little time for him, McQueen was raised by a succession of relatives and eventually wound up in a reform school. His early bitterness with the world is reflected in his performance as Jake Holman, more at home with inanimate objects than with human beings. He finds comfort in the machine room of the San Pablo, a naval gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River in 1926 China.
There's a telling moment in the movie that's quite bittersweet; it's when Holman buys a caged bird from a street vendor for missionary Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen). Holman explains that the bird is meant to be freed from it's cage. As Miss Eckert opens the door of the cage releasing the bird, it's gone in an instant, and the viewer is visually confronted with the notion of freedom and what it might mean to the population of 1920's China, a country of factions in a period of upheaval trying to find a way to unite.
Through it all, the mission of the San Pablo is to remain neutral under the supervision of Captain Collins (Richard Crenna), a no nonsense commander who takes his duty seriously, and experiences a moment of personal crisis after he faces down both his own men and Chinese nationalists who demand that he turn Holman over to them following an incident on the mainland. It's at this point in the film that motivations and actions of the crew become a bit muddled to my thinking, as the crew of the San Pablo in turn defy the Captain, and then completely submit to his authority without further consequence. This was a confusing aspect of the story for me.
Shot entirely in Taiwan, the making of the film was plagued with problems related to weather and equipment loss, extending the original eighty day filming schedule to seven months. The re-creation of the San Pablo into a 1920's era gunboat cost two hundred fifty thousand dollars, and what's fascinating to me was the way it was made to look as a worn out, dilapidated rust bucket. "The Sand Pebbles" went on to garner a fist full of Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for McQueen, who lost out to Paul Scofield in "A Man For All Seasons". It's one of those pictures that when viewed today in relation to it's peers of the day, it becomes apparent that the major Academy Awards for that year went to the wrong movies.
There's a telling moment in the movie that's quite bittersweet; it's when Holman buys a caged bird from a street vendor for missionary Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen). Holman explains that the bird is meant to be freed from it's cage. As Miss Eckert opens the door of the cage releasing the bird, it's gone in an instant, and the viewer is visually confronted with the notion of freedom and what it might mean to the population of 1920's China, a country of factions in a period of upheaval trying to find a way to unite.
Through it all, the mission of the San Pablo is to remain neutral under the supervision of Captain Collins (Richard Crenna), a no nonsense commander who takes his duty seriously, and experiences a moment of personal crisis after he faces down both his own men and Chinese nationalists who demand that he turn Holman over to them following an incident on the mainland. It's at this point in the film that motivations and actions of the crew become a bit muddled to my thinking, as the crew of the San Pablo in turn defy the Captain, and then completely submit to his authority without further consequence. This was a confusing aspect of the story for me.
Shot entirely in Taiwan, the making of the film was plagued with problems related to weather and equipment loss, extending the original eighty day filming schedule to seven months. The re-creation of the San Pablo into a 1920's era gunboat cost two hundred fifty thousand dollars, and what's fascinating to me was the way it was made to look as a worn out, dilapidated rust bucket. "The Sand Pebbles" went on to garner a fist full of Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for McQueen, who lost out to Paul Scofield in "A Man For All Seasons". It's one of those pictures that when viewed today in relation to it's peers of the day, it becomes apparent that the major Academy Awards for that year went to the wrong movies.
Spectacular as well as dramatic film based on real events in which revolutionaries have begun open violence against foreign people
ma-cortes31 March 2014
This interesting and epic film is often mistakenly described as being intended as an allegory for the Vietnam War and the political climate of American imperialism . A three-hour action/drama picture , set in China 50 years ago ; this film's opening prologue states: "CHINA 1926 . Ravaged from within by corrupt warlords ,oppressed from without by the great world powers who had beaten China to her knees a century before ; China, a country of factions trying to unite to become a nation through revolution . Engineer Jake Holman (Steve McQueen , though first choice to play him was Paul Newman) , arrives aboard the gunboat U.S.S. San Pablo, he is a ¨loner¨ seaman who is a newcomer to the crew assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China when Chinese communists take on nationalists and subsequent attacks to foreign people . He become aware of the violent climate , tension and threats over crew and missionaries . As revolutionaries have begun open violence against Americans in Nanking. There he falls in love with a missionary teacher (a newcomer actress Candice Bergen) and finds himself at odds with his command structure , captain (Richard Crenna) and seamen . Frenchy Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) is the only member of the crew with whom Jake forms any real attachment . This is a story of men who disturbed the sleeping dragon of China as the world watched in terror.
This exciting as well as epic film blends noisy action , romance , spectacular sea battles , fights and results to pretty entertaining , though overlong . It has its moments combining sensitive scenes with breathtaking warlike frames . The treatment of this tale can be seen as commentary on the situation in Vietnam at the time of the movie's release . However , Richard McKenna, the author of the best-selling novel on which the film was based, served on U.S. Navy gunboats in China during the 1930's and based the book on his own experiences . The Vietnam War allegory, perhaps inevitably, was ascribed to the film by the press on it's release in 1966, although not the original intention of the author, screenwriter, or director . Very good acting by Steve McQueen as a sailor of an old gunboat now doing duty on the Yangtze river . Considered to be one of McQueen's best performance , he got his only nomination for an Academy Award , Best Actor, for this film . Also featured are Candice Bergen as an American woman who has arrived in China at a mission along with Larry Gates , Richard Crenna as a doubtful commandant and a motley plethora of secondaries as American actors : Charles Robinson , Simon Oakland , Joe Turkel , Gus Trikonis , Gavin MacLeod of Love Boat, as Chinese players : Mako , James Hong and Richard Loo . Special mention to Richard Attenborough as a seaman who falls in love for a new prostitute , Emmanuelle Arsan writer of erotic Emmanuel series and originates tense as well as sensitive moments . Richard deservedly won Golden Globe 67 support cast . Rousing score by maestro Jerry Goldsmith , when original composer Alex North fell ill, 20th Century Fox exercised their right to pull their contract composer Jerry Goldsmith from another studio's assignment- MGM's Grand Prix . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Joseph MacDonald , this Twentieth Century Fox release marked their switch from their own Cinemascope process to Panavisión .
The motion picture was compellingly directed by Robert Wise . He was a successful director of all kind genres as musical as ¨West side story¨, ¨The sound of music¨ , Sci-fi as ¨The day the earth stood still¨, ¨Star Trek : the motion picture ¨, ¨The Andromeda strain¨ , Terror as ¨The body snatchers¨ , ¨ Curse of the cat people¨, ¨Audrey Rose¨ , ¨The haunting¨ , Western as ¨Blood on the moon¨, ¨Tribute to a bad man¨, Epic or colossal as ¨Elen of Troy¨ and wartime as ¨The desert rats¨. ¨Run silent , run deep¨ , ¨Hinderburg¨ and this ¨The sand pebbles¨.
This exciting as well as epic film blends noisy action , romance , spectacular sea battles , fights and results to pretty entertaining , though overlong . It has its moments combining sensitive scenes with breathtaking warlike frames . The treatment of this tale can be seen as commentary on the situation in Vietnam at the time of the movie's release . However , Richard McKenna, the author of the best-selling novel on which the film was based, served on U.S. Navy gunboats in China during the 1930's and based the book on his own experiences . The Vietnam War allegory, perhaps inevitably, was ascribed to the film by the press on it's release in 1966, although not the original intention of the author, screenwriter, or director . Very good acting by Steve McQueen as a sailor of an old gunboat now doing duty on the Yangtze river . Considered to be one of McQueen's best performance , he got his only nomination for an Academy Award , Best Actor, for this film . Also featured are Candice Bergen as an American woman who has arrived in China at a mission along with Larry Gates , Richard Crenna as a doubtful commandant and a motley plethora of secondaries as American actors : Charles Robinson , Simon Oakland , Joe Turkel , Gus Trikonis , Gavin MacLeod of Love Boat, as Chinese players : Mako , James Hong and Richard Loo . Special mention to Richard Attenborough as a seaman who falls in love for a new prostitute , Emmanuelle Arsan writer of erotic Emmanuel series and originates tense as well as sensitive moments . Richard deservedly won Golden Globe 67 support cast . Rousing score by maestro Jerry Goldsmith , when original composer Alex North fell ill, 20th Century Fox exercised their right to pull their contract composer Jerry Goldsmith from another studio's assignment- MGM's Grand Prix . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Joseph MacDonald , this Twentieth Century Fox release marked their switch from their own Cinemascope process to Panavisión .
The motion picture was compellingly directed by Robert Wise . He was a successful director of all kind genres as musical as ¨West side story¨, ¨The sound of music¨ , Sci-fi as ¨The day the earth stood still¨, ¨Star Trek : the motion picture ¨, ¨The Andromeda strain¨ , Terror as ¨The body snatchers¨ , ¨ Curse of the cat people¨, ¨Audrey Rose¨ , ¨The haunting¨ , Western as ¨Blood on the moon¨, ¨Tribute to a bad man¨, Epic or colossal as ¨Elen of Troy¨ and wartime as ¨The desert rats¨. ¨Run silent , run deep¨ , ¨Hinderburg¨ and this ¨The sand pebbles¨.
Great Movie!
jmorrison-212 August 2002
This is just one exceptional movie. One of my all time classics.
An examination of the little-known or understood tensions and political ramifications of being aboard an American gunboat, in the 1920's, in the China backwater.
The atmosphere and the story are superb.
Steve McQueen has never been better as Jake Holman, a hard-nosed American sailor, with his own code of right and wrong. His character absolutely dominates the movie. This is the type of character he was born to play.
Richard Crenna's ship Captain was perfect: smug, self-involved, deluded about his patriotism, but a decent man caught in a confusing, thankless, possibly deadly situation.
The rest of the cast in this is tremendous, especially Richard Attenborough, Candace Bergen, Simon Oakland, and Mako.
An absolutely superior film!
An examination of the little-known or understood tensions and political ramifications of being aboard an American gunboat, in the 1920's, in the China backwater.
The atmosphere and the story are superb.
Steve McQueen has never been better as Jake Holman, a hard-nosed American sailor, with his own code of right and wrong. His character absolutely dominates the movie. This is the type of character he was born to play.
Richard Crenna's ship Captain was perfect: smug, self-involved, deluded about his patriotism, but a decent man caught in a confusing, thankless, possibly deadly situation.
The rest of the cast in this is tremendous, especially Richard Attenborough, Candace Bergen, Simon Oakland, and Mako.
An absolutely superior film!
Rambling but solid epic
guswhovian9 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) finds himself transferred to the gunboat U.S.S. San Pablo in war-torn China in 1926.
The Sand Pebbles is famous in a vague sort of way, mainly due to the fact it features Steve McQueen's only Oscar-nominated performance. He does have to do some dramatic acting in a couple of scenes, and is quite up to the challenge.
The film, however, suffers from being overlong, badly paced in some places and badly directed in spots. Take the boxing match between Mako and Simon Oakland; it's directed very badly, and it's hard to believe it was directed by the same man who did perhaps the greatest boxing film of all time, The Set-Up.
The film does hold one's interest throughout the three-hour runtime. The film can be a bit depressing, due to several uncomfortable scenes and the deaths of several characters. The attention to period detail in the production design is fantastic.
Mako gets a good role as one of the ship's coolies, while Richard Attenborough gets a flashy role as Frenchy and Marayat Andriane is good as a Chinese girl. However, my favorite performance is Richard Crenna's as the stoic captain. Overall, an entertaining, if flawed, film.
The Sand Pebbles is famous in a vague sort of way, mainly due to the fact it features Steve McQueen's only Oscar-nominated performance. He does have to do some dramatic acting in a couple of scenes, and is quite up to the challenge.
The film, however, suffers from being overlong, badly paced in some places and badly directed in spots. Take the boxing match between Mako and Simon Oakland; it's directed very badly, and it's hard to believe it was directed by the same man who did perhaps the greatest boxing film of all time, The Set-Up.
The film does hold one's interest throughout the three-hour runtime. The film can be a bit depressing, due to several uncomfortable scenes and the deaths of several characters. The attention to period detail in the production design is fantastic.
Mako gets a good role as one of the ship's coolies, while Richard Attenborough gets a flashy role as Frenchy and Marayat Andriane is good as a Chinese girl. However, my favorite performance is Richard Crenna's as the stoic captain. Overall, an entertaining, if flawed, film.
McQueen's best ever performance
dogsbodie6 July 2001
This is truly my all time favorite film and not just because of the wonderful performances by McQueen, Crenna, Mako and the rest, but because I had an opportunity to experience the Asia culture first hand (during Viet Nam) and the depiction of the culture and the climate of the land is right on. I rank McQueen's performance right up there with my favorite Newman's performance in "Cool Hand Luke". Basically, the same type of a character, a loner challenging the boundries of their society's limits. It was a shame that the movie was released the same year as "A Man for All Seasons", because McQueen should have received and Oscar for this performance. I now own this video and I make a point of watching it once a year.
Steve McQueen's best on-screen work
Pedro_H10 October 2002
In pre-revolution China an American gunboat (The San Pablo) is sent down the Yangzi river to protect American interests in the area.
One of those films that can viewed in two different ways: As a message picture (mixed race relationships, being on the sharp end of gesture politics, trying to help people that don't want to be helped) or as a simple adventure yarn. The fact that Vietnam was at its height at the time of its release cannot be ignored, but only director Robert Wise can tell us how much it influenced the project.
Steve McQueen puts in his only Oscar-nominated performance as a stoker with a troubled past. He is the voice of reason and valour throughout, believing that the Oriental "coolies" (the locals that do the donkey work) should be given fair treatment. He even gets to like them, resulting in heartbreaking decisions along the way.
Captain of the ship (Richard Creena) is quite excellent too. It would have been easy to have him as the villain of the piece, but he is a man of honour who does the best he can under orders from above. He is prepared to put his own life at risk just as quickly as anybody else's.
Richard Attenborough's performance as Frenchie (who falls in love with a local) is quite the most touching in the picture. Sadly this unbalances it, because it makes the rest of the ship's crew look like cartoons by comparison. The guy is plump, short and his hair is on its last legs, but boy can he move people with his intensity. If he had been given cinematic good looks he could have been one of all time romantic greats!
An impossibly young Candice Bergman puts in appearance as a Missionary and is the one character that doesn't appear on screen too long. While doing little part from mouth her words, the camera takes advantage of her flawless skin, blonde hair, slim model build and high cheekbones. What McQueen sees in her after spending months on end in a dirty ships boiler room, surrounded only by sweaty grunts, is beyond me...
Robert Wise (most famous for the Sound of Music) learnt his trade under the studio system (starting with B's) as opposed to today: where directors learn their trade by waving video cameras at pop stars. Boy does it show.
You go overboard to put all the money on the screen: When you build an expensive set, you make sure it is seen, and if possible, returned to. Angry mobs of (cheap) extras are poised ready to appear at every appropriate/inappropriate moment. When places are real locations you let the camera linger until the word "real location" is registered with the slowest wit in the audience.
You make everything as clear and obvious as you can and you light the set as if it was your prize Rembrant painting - even if its is supposed to be a back street dive!
Naturally not everyone appreciates this film-convenience world. Certainly it makes this film go on too long and passages drag and repeat. We know the crew don't consider the locals equals - now lets move on shall we? But the film does speed up towards the end to an exciting climax that cements the main characters as men of dignity, intelligence and honour.
If you are a fan of Steve McQueen it would be silly not have witnessed his best screen work; although the film does outstay its welcome by at least half an hour...
One of those films that can viewed in two different ways: As a message picture (mixed race relationships, being on the sharp end of gesture politics, trying to help people that don't want to be helped) or as a simple adventure yarn. The fact that Vietnam was at its height at the time of its release cannot be ignored, but only director Robert Wise can tell us how much it influenced the project.
Steve McQueen puts in his only Oscar-nominated performance as a stoker with a troubled past. He is the voice of reason and valour throughout, believing that the Oriental "coolies" (the locals that do the donkey work) should be given fair treatment. He even gets to like them, resulting in heartbreaking decisions along the way.
Captain of the ship (Richard Creena) is quite excellent too. It would have been easy to have him as the villain of the piece, but he is a man of honour who does the best he can under orders from above. He is prepared to put his own life at risk just as quickly as anybody else's.
Richard Attenborough's performance as Frenchie (who falls in love with a local) is quite the most touching in the picture. Sadly this unbalances it, because it makes the rest of the ship's crew look like cartoons by comparison. The guy is plump, short and his hair is on its last legs, but boy can he move people with his intensity. If he had been given cinematic good looks he could have been one of all time romantic greats!
An impossibly young Candice Bergman puts in appearance as a Missionary and is the one character that doesn't appear on screen too long. While doing little part from mouth her words, the camera takes advantage of her flawless skin, blonde hair, slim model build and high cheekbones. What McQueen sees in her after spending months on end in a dirty ships boiler room, surrounded only by sweaty grunts, is beyond me...
Robert Wise (most famous for the Sound of Music) learnt his trade under the studio system (starting with B's) as opposed to today: where directors learn their trade by waving video cameras at pop stars. Boy does it show.
You go overboard to put all the money on the screen: When you build an expensive set, you make sure it is seen, and if possible, returned to. Angry mobs of (cheap) extras are poised ready to appear at every appropriate/inappropriate moment. When places are real locations you let the camera linger until the word "real location" is registered with the slowest wit in the audience.
You make everything as clear and obvious as you can and you light the set as if it was your prize Rembrant painting - even if its is supposed to be a back street dive!
Naturally not everyone appreciates this film-convenience world. Certainly it makes this film go on too long and passages drag and repeat. We know the crew don't consider the locals equals - now lets move on shall we? But the film does speed up towards the end to an exciting climax that cements the main characters as men of dignity, intelligence and honour.
If you are a fan of Steve McQueen it would be silly not have witnessed his best screen work; although the film does outstay its welcome by at least half an hour...
Ambitious epic which doesn't hit many of its goals, though the acting is good and it is, pictorially, a treat.
barnabyrudge12 April 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Director Robert Wise masterminded such a box office hit in 1965 with The Sound Of Music that the executives at Twentieth Century Fox gave him virtual total control and an immense budget for his next project. That project - The Sand Pebbles - is a passable epic set in 1926 China which, while technically well done and colourfully performed, is decidedly on the long side and hampered by irrelevant allegorical links with the Vietnam War. On the plus side, the film features arguably the best performance ever given by Steve McQueen, and expensively recreates a convincing view of its period and locale despite being shot forty years after the incidents on screen. The film was envisaged as a major "event movie" from the studio, alongside the same year's The Bible: In The Beginning and The Blue Max. But, despite being up for eight Oscars, the film won in none of the categories for which it was nominated - which tells you everything you need to know. This is one of those films that looks good, sounds good, tells a worthy story at great length
. but ultimately fails to do justice to its own potential.
In 1926, US Navy engineer Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) transfers from an ocean-based warship to the river gunboat San Pablo. The San Pablo patrols the Yangtze River in China under the orders of Captain Collins (Richard Crenna). Collins likes to keep his engine room crew busy, while the officers and deck sailors spend most of their time carrying out combat drills. However, Holman performs his engine room duties with such conscientiousness and gusto that he gradually alienates himself from most of the other crew members. During their journeys up and down the river, Holman falls in love with a teacher at a mission outpost, the young and beautiful Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen). He also forms a strong friendship with fellow sailor Frenchy Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough), who has saved a Chinese prostitute from a life of vice and degradation by marrying her. The political situation in the country deteriorates and the crew of the San Pablo find themselves caught up in a difficult situation. Things reach crisis point when a Chinese crew member is captured and tortured because of his allegiance to the Americans. Worse still, the afore-mentioned mission outpost is attacked by Chinese soldiers, and the San Pablo has to smash through a blockade of Chinese junks thereby declaring an intent of war in order to rescue the missionaries and their colleagues. This act of foolhardy heroism proves to be fatal for many of the San Pablo's beleaguered sailors.
The Sand Pebbles is based on a best selling novel by Richard Mackenna, who actually served in the China River Patrol (albeit in 1936, ten years after the events depicted in his story). Robert Anderson's screenplay incorporates much of the novel's complexity within its mammoth narrative, but the decision to turn the film into an apologetic Vietnam allegory is not a wise move. A film like this would be better off dealing with its own period and story, rather than dragging in heavy-handed subtextual meanings. Cinematographer Joseph MacDonald gives the film an exciting visual grandeur with his sumptuous lensing of the locations (Taiwan standing in for 1920s China), but Robert Wise's efforts to make the film succeed as entertainment generally come up short due, in no small part, to the heavy-going nature of the plot and the well-documented production difficulties (including bad weather, plus "creative differences" between him and McQueen).
In 1926, US Navy engineer Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) transfers from an ocean-based warship to the river gunboat San Pablo. The San Pablo patrols the Yangtze River in China under the orders of Captain Collins (Richard Crenna). Collins likes to keep his engine room crew busy, while the officers and deck sailors spend most of their time carrying out combat drills. However, Holman performs his engine room duties with such conscientiousness and gusto that he gradually alienates himself from most of the other crew members. During their journeys up and down the river, Holman falls in love with a teacher at a mission outpost, the young and beautiful Shirley Eckert (Candice Bergen). He also forms a strong friendship with fellow sailor Frenchy Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough), who has saved a Chinese prostitute from a life of vice and degradation by marrying her. The political situation in the country deteriorates and the crew of the San Pablo find themselves caught up in a difficult situation. Things reach crisis point when a Chinese crew member is captured and tortured because of his allegiance to the Americans. Worse still, the afore-mentioned mission outpost is attacked by Chinese soldiers, and the San Pablo has to smash through a blockade of Chinese junks thereby declaring an intent of war in order to rescue the missionaries and their colleagues. This act of foolhardy heroism proves to be fatal for many of the San Pablo's beleaguered sailors.
The Sand Pebbles is based on a best selling novel by Richard Mackenna, who actually served in the China River Patrol (albeit in 1936, ten years after the events depicted in his story). Robert Anderson's screenplay incorporates much of the novel's complexity within its mammoth narrative, but the decision to turn the film into an apologetic Vietnam allegory is not a wise move. A film like this would be better off dealing with its own period and story, rather than dragging in heavy-handed subtextual meanings. Cinematographer Joseph MacDonald gives the film an exciting visual grandeur with his sumptuous lensing of the locations (Taiwan standing in for 1920s China), but Robert Wise's efforts to make the film succeed as entertainment generally come up short due, in no small part, to the heavy-going nature of the plot and the well-documented production difficulties (including bad weather, plus "creative differences" between him and McQueen).
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