The Sand Pebbles (1966) on Netflix
Approved19663h 16mAdventureDramaRomance
In 1926 China, engineer Jake Holman joins the gunboat USS San Pablo on Yangtze patrol. He refuses to let the Chinese crew run the engine room, setting his shipmates against him.
- Netflix4.0/5
- IMDb7.5/1018,018 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes85%
Trailer
Plot summary
The San Pablo patrols the interior waters of China in 1926, protecting American interests while Nationalist and Communist forces fight the warlords. Jake Holman comes aboard as the gunboat's new engineer and takes charge of the engine room himself instead of leaving the work to the Chinese crewmen, which sets the sailors and Stawski against him. When an engine failure kills the chief Chinese engine-room hand, Lop-eye Shing, who speaks for the Chinese aboard, blames Holman, and the captain tells him to find a replacement; he chooses Po-han. On shore leave the crew visits a bar and brothel where Maily captivates them, and Frenchy learns that the money she needs is what she owes for her freedom. Upriver, missionary Jameson and his schoolteacher assistant Shirley Eckert keep a mission.
Cast
- Joe Di Redaas Shanahan (as Joseph di Reda)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Sand Pebbles (1966)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- For years Robert Wise had wanted to make The Sand Pebbles, but extensive location scouting, preproduction work and a monsoon in Taipei meant photography could not begin for more than a year, so at Fox's insistence he agreed to direct a fill-in project, the Academy Award-winning The Sound of Music.
- McQueen had developed an abscessed molar and returned to California because he did not wish to be treated in Hong Kong. By the time he received treatment in Los Angeles he was very ill and was ordered to take an extended rest, further delaying production for several more weeks.
- Fox spent $250,000 building a replica gunboat named the San Pablo, based on a former Spanish Navy gunboat that was seized by the U.S. Navy in the Philippine Islands during the Spanish-American War of 1898 to 1899.
- At one point a 15-foot camera boat capsized on the Keelung River, setting back the schedule because the soundboard was ruined when it sank.
- Although the 1962 novel antedated extensive U.S. activity in Vietnam and was not based on any historic incidents, by the December 1966 release of the film it was seen as an explicit statement on the Vietnam War in reviews published by The New York Times and Life.
- After more than 40 years, 20th Century Fox found 14 minutes of footage that had been cut from the film's initial roadshow version shown at New York's Rivoli Theatre, and the restored version has been released on DVD.
- The performance earned Steve McQueen the only Academy Award nomination of his career, making The Sand Pebbles the single Oscar-nominated role of his filmography.
