The Sand Pebbles

A cynical Navy engineer (Steve McQueen) finds himself changed by his experiences aboard a gunboat in 1927 China.

The Sand Pebbles could have gone wrong in so many ways. Steve McQueen could have sat back and chewed up the scenery, instead of delivering the restrained performance he does. Director Robert Wise could have been much more heavy handed with both the dramatic and political aspects of the story, instead of letting them creep up on you subtly. Screenwriter Robert Anderson could have painted the US sailors as innocent bystanders, instead of the monsters some of them were. The Sand Pebbles could have gone wrong in so many ways, but the worst it does is stumble at the end.

For almost the film’s entire three hour running time, director Robert Wise and screenwriter Robert Anderson do a wonderful job of reflecting the social and political climate of 1927 China through eyes of Steve McQueen’s character. They take a complex situation and make it intensely personal, allowing the viewer to come to their own conclusions, instead of preaching at them. Until then end.

In the movie’s only real misstep, Larry Gates has an over-emoting and preachy soliloquy about countries and wars that makes the cardinal error of telling the audience something when it should be showing them. This is all the more glaring given the wonderful job the film had been doing for the last two and half hours.