The Sand Pebbles

1966 · 182 MIN · IMDB 7.5 · 17,091 VOTES · DIR. Robert Wise

The Sand Pebbles poster

Overview

Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat USS San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and cynical nature soon clash with the 'rice-bowl' system which runs the ship and the uneasy symbiosis between Chinese and foreigner on the river. Hostility towards the gunboat's presence reaches a climax when the boat must crash through a river-boom and rescue missionaries upriver at China Light Mission.

DramaWar1960s

Dialogue Timeline — 1,431 lines

A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE

00:05:13 - You got orders? - Yeah.
00:09:56 The good, the bad... the innocent.
00:16:24 No, just the skipper and the exec. You'll be the senior engineering rate.
00:22:54 - Repel boarders starboard. - Yes, sir.
00:29:03 Black gangs ain't supposed to stand topside watches.
00:37:24 All right. Come on. Out, out.
00:43:38 Wait. You new sailor! What you name?
00:47:58 Come on. Come on. All right, break it up.
00:52:55 - May stim stop wowel? - Main steam stop valve.
00:58:40 Now, wait a minute. Hold it, hold it. Hold it! Hold it! Just one minute! Hold it!
01:03:10 Come on. Fight. Fight!
01:08:42 You're damned right you do!
01:15:56 They'd do great on the San Pablo, huh?
01:21:17 Four hundred!
01:34:38 If your superior officers are not prepared to go to war against the United States
01:41:28 Strip her. Strip her!
01:47:41 Oh, hey. Mr Jameson said I could lend these to you.
01:53:09 Somethin' called a "block committee" is trying to kick 'em out of their rooms.
02:03:36 - Perna, you... - I said lay below!
02:12:47 Within two days this'll be an international incident.
02:24:12 Then, instead of turning downriver to Shanghai, we will cross the lake
02:33:36 Fix bayonets!
02:42:39 by the warlord troops you favour with your treaties?
05:00:06 a cable from bow to bow.

Cast & Characters

Steve McQueen Jake Holman Richard Attenborough Frenchy Burgoyne Richard Crenna Captain Collins Candice Bergen Shirley Eckert Emmanuelle Arsan Maily Mako Po-han Larry Gates Jameson Charles Robinson Ensign Bordelles Simon Oakland Stawski Ford Rainey Harris

Dialogue Record

Lines indexed1,431
Dialogue density7.9 lines / min
First line00:05:13
Final line05:00:06

Production Record

DirectorRobert Wise
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12,000,000
Revenue$20,000,000
IMDb votes17,091