By Nicholas Stix
Midwesterner Richard McKenna (1913-1964) served in the Navy as machinist's mate for 22 years, ten of them as a “China sailor,” a Navy man who served in China.
The young McKenna listened closely to the stories of the old salts he served with, particularly about skirmishes they’d had in the late 1920s.
When McKenna left the Navy, he went to the University of North Carolina on the G.I. Bill, and married one of the librarians.
Two of McKenna’s greatest influences were Ernest Hemingway and James Jones. His tragic protagonist, machinist’s mate Jake Holman, had aspects of the character and experiences of Jones’ tragic hero, Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt, from From Here to Eternity--a white, working-class fatalism. And Jake Holman had much in common with McQueen’s background.
The novel won the Harper Prize for 1962. Before it was even published, McKenna sent a copy of the manuscript to director Robert Wise, who had just produced and directed West Side Story (1961), for which he would win two Oscars. Wise wanted to film the epic story from the get-go, but could not get studio backing, not even after it became a bestseller. Only after his production of The Sound of Music broke all box office records, and won Wise another two Academy Awards, was he able to get studio backing.
This story is typically misrepresented as being a political statement against America’s intervention in the Far East. Marxists smugly project their totalitarian, racist, anti-Americanism on an earlier time, while other people (e.g., producer and director Robert Wise) just go along to get along.
The story focuses on the men and coolies (Chinese servants) of the U.S.S. San Pablo (the “Sand Pebbles”), and their preoccupations, internecine conflicts, and loves, against the backdrop of civil war in China.
Steve McQueen got his only Oscar nomination for this picture, and he was very good, but nowhere near deserving an Oscar (Paul Scofield won it for A Man for All Seasons), despite the protests of his fanatical followers.
Actually, for my money, McQueen wasn’t even the best thing in The Sand Pebbles. That would be Richard Crenna’s performance as the tragic hero, Lt. Collins.
Reflections from a Distant Shore: The Sand Pebbles
By Russell Graystone
“Apologise for any infringement of any kind, but this is a story worth telling. Author Richard McKenna was himself a 'China Sailor'. The movie, The Sand Pebbles, is based on his book of the same name. It was a big hit in its day. It became a 'cult classic' for many sailors in many navies. I was 16 Years Old and had been in the Royal Australian Navy for exactly one year, when on Leave and Draft to my first ship, about to sail on my first Deployment to the Far East Station. I went to the movies and saw it. It was Xmas 1969. It was a very controversial time in history. The movie had a huge impact upon me. Maybe in more ways than even I know, or can explain.
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Come down Ho-man, come down. Come down Ho-man, come down.
Tuesday, March 24 would have been Steve McQueen's 90th birthday. In recognition TCM is showing a series of his films, starting at 7:45 am ET with Soldier in the Rain (1963). Following in succession are The Great Escape (1963), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Sand Pebbles (1966), An Enemy of the People (1978).
The Sand Pebbles shows at 2:45 ET. An Enemy of the People was McQueen attempting to "stretch" his acting range as a 19th Century Danish teacher.
Steve McQueen died of cancer in 1980, age 50.
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