Pros: Realistic sets, great acting by Crenna and McQueen, excellent weapons and battle sequences
Cons: McQueen's character is a little too alienated (and alienating) to carry the central focus
The Bottom Line: An interesting look at China on the eve of the Communist uprisings. Steve McQueen and Richard Crenna deliver knock-out performances. Don't miss!
Gunboat Diplomacy: Those not familiar with this concept should see "The Sand Pebbles", some of Steve McQueen's best acting and, for sure, underrated Richard Crenna's greatest performance.
The plot concerns a Navy gunboat in between the World Wars on patrol duty on the great rivers of China. Steve McQueen is a new replacement on board, Jake Holman, a mechanic who tends the engines of the aging San Pablo - The Sand Pebbles. McQueen has had eight transfers in his nine-year career, so he's viewed as a troublemaker, even though he's attained the rank of Petty Officer. This impression proves true as his prickly character alienates the Chinese coolies who do all the real work aboard ship, his fellow crewmen, and the officers.
Richard Crenna plays the heroic Captain Collins, an old-school Naval Officer in the spirit of John Paul Jones or Admiral Horatio Nelson. Collins is always primed for action but never gets the opportunity to play the hero. This is 1926 China, the inter-war period, with strong man Chiang-Kai-Shek nominally in charge with the Communists nipping at his heels. The U.S. has a gunboat to protect its concession in China. They want no incidents, just a continual show of force. This is accomplished by the aging San Pablo steaming endlessly up and down the river, laying thick clouds of black smoke, the stars and stripes whipping in the breeze.
Captain Collins sublimates his desires for action by daily drills where the crew "repels boarders" showing force to keep the Chinese properly cowed. All manual work aboard ship is performed by Chinese coolies, because "that's the way it's always been done." McQueen, of course, upsets the whole time-honored system by wanting to run the engine.
The Communists want to overthrow Chiang, so they manufacture an incident -- a sailor, Frenchy, impregnated a Chinese girl -- the Yankees must go home! To emphasize the point, they kill the girl and McQueen's protege, played by Mako, whom they call a tool of the "imperialist running dogs". McQueen mercifully shoots Mako to death as he is subjected to the death of a thousand cuts, in a gruesome mock crucifixion.
The ending is especially sobering with Crenna, McQueen, and company on a rescue mission to save the American missionaries upriver. Splendid battle scenes provide Crenna ample room for heroics and he does fulfill his dream. For Steve McQueen, he is left wondering, "What the hell happened?" as his last conscious thought. Utterly absorbing, I rate it four stars.
Directed by Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still), the Sand Pebbles is a triumph of beautiful photography, by Jerry MacDonald, showing many scenes of the ship steaming majestically up the waterways and gritty sequence of work and play in the nearby barrooms when the crew have their infrequent liberties. The Jerry Goldsmith (LA Confidential, City Hall) score is a perfect mate to the visual experience.
The Fox DVD is presented in 2.35:1 theatrical format, in color, and has a full length commentary by director Robert Wise, and actors Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen, and Mako. There are also several radio spots, subtitles, and the theatrical trailer as extras.
Also recommended are 55 Days at Peking, The Good Earth, and "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" for more absorbing viewing about China.
Nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this fascinating (The New York Times) action-drama chronicles a volatile time in history a...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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