The Sand Pebbles

Amazon.com

Following the success of The Sound of Music, director Robert Wise chose to film Robert McKenna's prize-winning 1962 novel, The Sand Pebbles--an ambitious choice for a director at the peak of his career. Shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the film combines historical sweep and intimate human drama in several parallel stories, all revolving around U.S. Navy machinist's mate Jake Holman (Steve McQueen). Holman is a skillful but fiercely independent sailor who joins the "sand pebble" crew of the U.S.S. San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River on the eve of the Chinese revolution in 1926. The San Pablo's inexperienced captain (Richard Crenna) obsessively defends the Navy's mission--however unnecessary or unwanted--to protect American missionaries and businessmen, blind to the more dangerous implications of American involvement with China's opposing political factions.

Holman is a defiant voice of humanity in this clash between outmoded values and inevitable change; his final line of dialogue ("What the hell happened?") is a tragic summation of misguided policy, expressing the film's criticism of the Vietnam War. Rather than preach, however, Wise lets McKenna's potent drama emerge from finely-drawn relationships--between Holman and a young American teacher (19-year-old Candice Bergen, in her second film); between Holman and the Chinese "coolie" (Mako) whose heartbreaking fate transcends all issues of racial or political difference; and between crewmate "Frenchy" Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) and the Chinese woman he's sworn to love and protect at all costs. Combined with the film's colorful supporting cast, adventurous scope, and climactic battle scenes, these personal dynamics bring substance and spirit to a complex story of good intentions gone awry. --Jeff Shannon

Description

"The Sand Pebbles" tells many stories. It's the story of China, a slumbering giant that rouses itself to the cries of it's people - and of the Americans who are caught in its blood awakening. It's the story of Frenchy (Richard Attenborough), a crewman on the U.S.S. San Pablo who kidnaps his Chinese bride from the auction block. It's the story of Shirley (Candice Bergen), a teacher and her first unforgettable taste of love. It's the story of Captain Collins (Richard Crenna), ready to defy anyone for his country's defense. Most of all, it's the story of Jake Holman (Steve McQueen), a sailor who has given up trying to make peace with anything - including himself. McQueen gives what is probably the best performance of his career. It's not surprising that he, Mako and the movie were up for Oscars. Portraying a character with conflicting loyalties to friend and flag, McQueen expertly conveys the confusion that leads into his final line: "What the hell happened?" It's to his credit that we already know.

Customer Reviews:

Strong Epic Film Which Got A Raw Deal On Oscar Night.......2007-09-05

What a powerful story! It's hard to believe this epic movie - three hours in length - was nominated for eight Academy Awards and came away with nothing. It seems unjust. Well, not everything is "just" in this dramatic story, either. Good people die, bad people live. Incredible joy and sorrow are but a few minutes away. The story is well-told and thus keeps your attention, is well-acted and is nicely- filmed.

My only complaint was the last 13 minutes when the film got a little too political and, of course, tilted to the Left as films tend to do. Otherwise, I throughly enjoyed the experience of watching this long movie, and sorry I didn't watch this years ago. Well, better late than never, is all I can say. This movie is worthy of any serious film collector's attention.

Robert Wise directed and he did a fabulous job. I just love some of the shots and camera angles in this widescreen production, which was done justice in a recently--released two- disc DVD. The cinematography was by Joseph MacDonald. I'm sorry he didn't win an Oscar.

The story has something for everyone: several action scenes, two romances, a little humor, some flag waving and flag disparaging, and a lot of drama and intrigue.
outsiders running their country any longer. I'm not going get into the story details, as enough reviewers have already done that.

Photograhy-wise, it was nice to see most of this shot outdoors, not on some studio lot or sound-stage. I enjoyed all of the shots of the ship, the "San Pablo." The new DVD sports an outstanding transfer. Audiby, i's advertised as 4.0 sound but there is no rear speaker audio in here, so 3.0 would be more accurate.

Overall, a memorable story and this new 2-disc DVD version is highly-recommended.

"I ain't got no more enemies.".......2007-08-23

The Sand Pebbles, Robert Wise's epic tale of gunboat diplomacy in the turbulent China of the mid-Twenties is hugely ambitious and hugely expensive, yet, as with the best of his work, the focus is firmly on people, the momentous political events kept in the background until their consequences begin to overwhelm the principals. Even then, they are only drawn out of the small worlds they create for themselves (for Steve McQueen his engine room, for Candice Bergen her teaching in a remote mission) for purely personal reasons.

More than any epic of the Sixties, The Sand Pebbles seems to draw heavily on the chaos and the confusion of the then ongoing Vietnam War, so it's a real surprise that Wise seemed genuinely unaware of any parallels. Yet, perhaps because of history's tendency to repeat itself, they're all too apparent in the finished film. The enemy is unclear: one minute it is the communists who are trying to incite an incident, the next Chang Kai Shek's Nationalists (although filmed in Taiwan with his approval, it is surprisingly critical of his actions). The only constant is "Yankee go home."

McQueen's engineer Holman is pointedly referred to as a symbol of his country by his ineffectual commanding officer, but what kind? He holds no opinions, preferring to put his faith in machinery rather than people or politics, yet his mere presence is divisive. Even his own countrymen and crewmates turn against him and join in with their nominal enemies in an angry demonstration against his alleged crimes. While he projects the image of the simple, honest and misunderstand ordinary man suffering a situation not of his making that America's old guard wanted to believe of their boys in Asia, he ultimately declares his independence from a fight he cannot understand ("I ain't got no more enemies") and is only drawn back from desertion to save the woman he loves but doesn't quite understand.

The contradictory and opposed feelings of the folks at home are made clear from the opening debate on whether China can be trusted with its own destiny to Larry Gates' missionary renouncing his own nationality as he prays for a Chinese victory: he may stop short of burning the flag, but he has no qualms about cursing it ("Damn your flag! Damn all flags!").

Rather than setpiece battles (although it has a doozey of one in the last act), it is a film of escalating incidents, increasingly violent and all rendered impossible to deal with by the demands of diplomacy and provoking an endless source of black propaganda. Even when the American flag is obscured by a thick cloud of opium smoke emerging from the San Pablo's smokestack, the Americans remain innocent in principle but lose the moral high ground as they either exploit the locals for their own comfort or end up fighting among themselves.

Even the Captain's attitude is confused. He talks of duty, yet runs a slack ship for fear of giving the discontented crew an excuse for mutiny, even turning a literal blind eye to one crewmember's desertion. When it matters most, his crew openly disobey him, provoking him to consider suicide before defying orders and endangering his crew in several efforts to "die clean." The film itself has been accused of being equally confused, but it simply portrays the confusion, making no judgements. No dogma triumphs in this film, no side wins: all that is left are people forced into dealing with situations that will not profit them.

Robert Anderson's script manages to give nearly all of the characters a story of their own that are integrated into the main fabric of the plot while Wise isn't afraid to take the time each scene needs rather than rushing it, and that's repaid with uniformly excellent performances. The Oscar-nominated McQueen is in complete harmony with his role and shows remarkable sensitivity in his final scene with Marayat Andriane, whose romantic subplot with a genuinely affecting Richard Attenborough overshadows McQueen's uneasy nearly-romance with a very sweet and very young Candice Bergen. Richard Crenna is outstanding as the Captain driven to thoughts of suicide and equally suicidal heroism, with good support from Mako and a mug's gallery including Simon Oakland and Joe Turkel below decks.

A replacement for Alex North, who bowed out over concerns with the film's violence, Jerry Goldsmith's score (treated to an isolated score track with brief interview extracts wit the man himself) is one of his very best. From the tense and brooding main title over the strikingly simple design of a sampan dwarfing the gunboat to the hauntingly unresolved love theme he never overplays his hand or overdoes the Oriental flavor or the big, epic cues: they're there when needed, but all the more effective for not swamping the picture. Kudos too to Boris Leven's production design and Joseph McDonald's cinematography which, with its good use of color and location, makes 35mm look like 70mm.

In addition to a plethora of special features, Fox's new 2-disc Region 1 NTSC also finally restores the original 196-minute roadshow version, although sadly the source print has faded quite badly, so you're left with a choice of a beautiful transfer of the 182-minute general release version or a rather soft transfer of the uncut version. It has to be said that both cuts work equally well, with little of substance cut. Yet while the cuts are sensitively made and the shorter version adheres to the old editor's maxim that "if it wasn't there would you know it was missing?," for anyone who likes the film they'll be a welcome addition. For those interested, the major restorations to the roadshow version are:

- Before the first repel boarders drill there is a brief scene with the tailor coolie measuring Holman for a new uniform on deck.
- A brief scene of local bandits firing on the San Pablo from the shore as the gunboat patrols the river.
- After the accident with the chief engine room coolie, the scene continues to show the repair of the engine.
- After the crew start taking bets on the fight between Po-Han and Stawski, there is a brief scene between Holman and Frenchie.
- Before Jake shows Shirley around Changsha, there is a brief sequence where she explains why no priests will marry Frenchie and Mailly; afterwards there is a conversation between the two in a restaurant.
- Captain Collins' conversation with Ensign Bordelles after they see the men fighting on deck is much longer, with Collins explaining that he has authority only as long as he does not exercise it.
- The battle scene at the river boom is much longer, with the San Pablo taking a direct hit and having to pull out of the fight while the crew put out a fire on deck.

Some other scenes are slightly extended with additional shots or dialogue; the roadshow version also has brief intermission scoring not on the general release version. Sadly, the exit music is not included on the DVD for some reason.

Steve McQueen is the King of Cool.......2007-07-18

This is a must own and terrifically crafted two DVD set of this movie. One DVD has the theatrical version plus extra material and the second DVD has the road show version with extras. For the price it is an exceptional bargain.

McQueen's performance... Well, it is classic Steve McQueen and a case of "He should have gotten an Oscar for that..." material. Candice Bergen was just a kid when she did this film and I was surprised at her skill in portraying a naive American teacher in 1920's China.

I know that these comments may seem too political for some... As was true of several of the movies of the period (MASH and Catch 22) The Sand Pebbles takes a swipe at U.S. adventurism and colonialism in a region of the world where we don't speak the language, don't understand the culture and, perhaps most importantly, respect the people for who they are. Essentially, our gunboat diplomacy in 1920's China is no different than our attempts to build societies in our own image à la Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. History does repeat itself.

I found a couple of the "angry crowd" scenes distracting as they seemed too "choreographed" - equal numbers of Chinese protesters came around a building and met in the center of the dockside at exactly the same time. I think it was a carry-over of Robert Wise's previous film West Side Story.

Bottom line: Worth every penny and a must have for followers of Steve McQueen and history buffs alike.

A classic.......2007-07-15

This was a classic movie of a classic story, with a great cast. I just purely loved it. It transports one into an unbelievable place with unbelievable heroes and a sprinkling of boneheads. Maybe I should not review this disc as I like it so much. Top shelf

The Roadshow Is Unwatchable.......2007-06-15

I was looking forward to seeing the roadshow edition of this film with the extra footage, but who decided to just copy over a faded and overly red copy of it? I gave up halfway through; it's just unwatchable and hard on the eyes. They should have done what Fox did with "South Pacific": insert the faded footage into the pristine shorter version. Then your eyes would get a rest. This would be a five-star package were it not for the mishandling of the roadshow edition. Buy it if you don't own the film, because it's a very good picture with good acting of an engrossing story. If you already have it, don't bother spending the extra money.

Average customer rating:

Strong Epic Film Which Got A Raw Deal On Oscar Night
"I ain't got no more enemies."
Steve McQueen is the King of Cool
A classic
The Roadshow Is Unwatchable

The Sand Pebbles
Starring: Steve McQueen , Richard Attenborough , Richard Crenna , Candice Bergen , and Emmanuelle Arsan
Director: Robert Wise
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Romantic Adventure | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000059HAF
Release Date: 2001-05-15

Amazon.com Review

Customer Reviews:

Strong Epic Film Which Got A Raw Deal On Oscar Night.......2007-09-05

"I ain't got no more enemies.".......2007-08-23

Steve McQueen is the King of Cool.......2007-07-18

A classic.......2007-07-15

The Roadshow Is Unwatchable.......2007-06-15

Average customer rating:

Strong Epic Film Which Got A Raw Deal On Oscar Night
"I ain't got no more enemies."
Steve McQueen is the King of Cool
A classic
The Roadshow Is Unwatchable

The Sand Pebbles [Region 2]
Starring: Steve McQueen , Richard Attenborough , Richard Crenna , Candice Bergen , and Emmanuelle Arsan
Director: Robert Wise
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

ASIN: B00006420V

Amazon.com Review

Customer Reviews:

Strong Epic Film Which Got A Raw Deal On Oscar Night.......2007-09-05

"I ain't got no more enemies.".......2007-08-23

Steve McQueen is the King of Cool.......2007-07-18

A classic.......2007-07-15

The Roadshow Is Unwatchable.......2007-06-15

The Sand Pebbles [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Netherlands ]

Average customer rating:

The Sand Pebbles [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Netherlands ]
Director: Robert Wise
Manufacturer: Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0), Dutch (Subtitles), English (Subtitles), French (Subtitles), Greek (Subtitles), Italian (Subtitles), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SYNOPSIS: Steve McQueen received his only Academy Award nomination for his performance in this epic-scale war drama, based on the novel by Richard McKenna. In 1926, as China teeters on the edge of political revolution in the midst of a civil war, an American battle ship, the USS San Pablo, is ordered to patrol the Yangtze River to represent and protect American interests. While the San Pablo may be an American ship, much of the labor is actually performed by Chinese locals willing to work for American money, while stern but inexperienced commanding officer Captain Collins (Richard Crenna) frequently drills his charges, unsure what else to do. A machinist's mate with just under a decade of navy service behind him, Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) is assigned to the San Pablo and immediately makes enemies among the crew -- he prefers to do his own work rather than farm it out to others, and the one Chinese man who works by his side, Po Han (Mako), is treated as an apprentice rather than a servant. Holman also falls in love with an idealistic American missionary (Candice Bergen), while his shipmate Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls for a Chinese girl and - with marriage plans in mind - kidnaps her to prevent her from being auctioned off. As Holman's methods and attitudes continue to anger his comrades, they find themselves increasingly at odds with the Chinese, especially after Frenchy's girlfriend becomes pregnant and Po Han is captured by revolutionary forces and branded a traitor. SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Documentary, Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Trailer(s),

DVD:

DVD

DVD