The Sand Pebbles (1966)
Country: US
Technical: col/Panavision70 193m
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Steve McQueen, Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Emmanuelle Arsan
Synopsis:
During the 1920s an American gunboat escorting missionaries struggles to maintain diplomatic aloofness when Chinese warlords succumb to Nationalist troops along the Yangtze.
Review:
Very long, spectacularly shot on 70mm, this typically 60s action movie with a conscience is short on incisiveness. It merits respect for attempting to lend depth to the complex political and racial givens of the era of gunboat diplomacy and unequal treaties: the sailors fight over whores during shore leave and rely on coolies when under steam; the officers enjoy a fragile respect from marauding natives and crew alike. Then there is the character of Holman, played by McQueen, an insubordinate individualist fitted up for his time and place, but treated as a Jonah by his shipmates. What with Attenborough's sympathetic tar, Frenchie, succumbing to a chill two-thirds of the way in, and his half-caste wife facing an uncertain future, it is hardly a laugh a minute, and a sudden downbeat ending ensured meagre box office, but it met with a favourable critical reception, enough to justify a somewhat troubled shoot in Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are clearly intended parallels with Vietnam, but with ambiguous consideration being given to that precarious national characteristic, military pride, it is not even that clear of its ideological position.
Country: US
Technical: col/Panavision70 193m
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Steve McQueen, Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Emmanuelle Arsan
Synopsis:
During the 1920s an American gunboat escorting missionaries struggles to maintain diplomatic aloofness when Chinese warlords succumb to Nationalist troops along the Yangtze.
Review:
Very long, spectacularly shot on 70mm, this typically 60s action movie with a conscience is short on incisiveness. It merits respect for attempting to lend depth to the complex political and racial givens of the era of gunboat diplomacy and unequal treaties: the sailors fight over whores during shore leave and rely on coolies when under steam; the officers enjoy a fragile respect from marauding natives and crew alike. Then there is the character of Holman, played by McQueen, an insubordinate individualist fitted up for his time and place, but treated as a Jonah by his shipmates. What with Attenborough's sympathetic tar, Frenchie, succumbing to a chill two-thirds of the way in, and his half-caste wife facing an uncertain future, it is hardly a laugh a minute, and a sudden downbeat ending ensured meagre box office, but it met with a favourable critical reception, enough to justify a somewhat troubled shoot in Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are clearly intended parallels with Vietnam, but with ambiguous consideration being given to that precarious national characteristic, military pride, it is not even that clear of its ideological position.
Country: US
Technical: col/Panavision70 193m
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Steve McQueen, Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Emmanuelle Arsan
Synopsis:
During the 1920s an American gunboat escorting missionaries struggles to maintain diplomatic aloofness when Chinese warlords succumb to Nationalist troops along the Yangtze.
Review:
Very long, spectacularly shot on 70mm, this typically 60s action movie with a conscience is short on incisiveness. It merits respect for attempting to lend depth to the complex political and racial givens of the era of gunboat diplomacy and unequal treaties: the sailors fight over whores during shore leave and rely on coolies when under steam; the officers enjoy a fragile respect from marauding natives and crew alike. Then there is the character of Holman, played by McQueen, an insubordinate individualist fitted up for his time and place, but treated as a Jonah by his shipmates. What with Attenborough's sympathetic tar, Frenchie, succumbing to a chill two-thirds of the way in, and his half-caste wife facing an uncertain future, it is hardly a laugh a minute, and a sudden downbeat ending ensured meagre box office, but it met with a favourable critical reception, enough to justify a somewhat troubled shoot in Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are clearly intended parallels with Vietnam, but with ambiguous consideration being given to that precarious national characteristic, military pride, it is not even that clear of its ideological position.