The Sand Pebbles is a 1966 film which tells the story of an American gunboat plying the rivers of China in the 1920s. It stars Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen, Makoto Iwamatsu, Emmanuelle Arsan, Simon Oakland, Ford Rainey and Gavin MacLeod. 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... Steve McQueen in The Great Escape Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930–November 7, 1980) was an American movie actor and one of the most popular and highly-successful box-office superstars of the 1960s and 1970s. ... Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, Kt, CBE, (born August 29, 1923 in Cambridge, England) is an actor, director and film producer. ... Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 - January 17, 2003) was an American actor. ... Candice Bergen, in a picture from a fashion magazine from the late 1960s. ... Makoto Iwamatsu is a Japanese actor. ... Marayat Bibidh (born 1932 in Bangkok, Thailand-) is a Thai screenwriter most famous for creating the fictional character Emmanuelle, a woman who explores her sexuality. ... Gavin MacLeod (born February 28, 1930) is an American actor, notable for playing Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat and Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. ...

The movie was adapted by Robert Anderson from the 1962 novel by Richard McKenna. It was directed by Robert Wise. Wise had wanted to make the film for years, but studio executives were reluctant to finance the project. Eventually, a green light was given, but due to the extensive location scouting and other pre-production work, Wise saw that it would take at least a year before he would be able to begin filming. At the studio's insistence, Wise agreed to do a filler project in the mean time. That film was The Sound of Music, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed movies of the 1960s. 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Richard McKenna was an American sailor and writer. ... Robert Wise (born September 10, 1914) is an Academy Award winning film producer and director. ... Julie Andrews as Maria, seeks guidance from the Mother Abbess, played by Peggy Wood, in this scene from the 1965 film version. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1960s. ...

Much of the film was filmed on location in Taiwan. Because of frequent rain, and tremendous production difficulties, the film was almost never finished. Steve McQueen took an entire year off from film-making after production was done because he was so exhausted. He later said that whatever sins he had committed in his life were paid for when he made the film.

The film deals with the racism and colonialism of the era, both in the small scale of how the American sailors treat coolies on the boat and bar girls on shore, and in the large scale of how gunboat diplomacy was used on under-developed China. The film is considered by some to be a commentary on the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. However, at the time the film came out, anti-Vietnam feelings were nowhere near the peak they would achieve three years later. An African-American drinks out of a water cooler designated for use by colored patrons in 1939 at a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City. ... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ... Newly arrived Indian coolies in Trinidad. ... The Vietnam War was fought from 1957 to 1975 between Soviet-supported Vietnamese nationalist and Communist forces and an array of Western and pro-Western forces, most notably the United States. ...

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Steve McQueen), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Mako), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Music Score, Best Picture and Best Sound. It is now available on DVD with an extensive commentary track by the director and several of the remaining actors. A website devoted exclusively to this motion picture can be found at: http://www.thesandpebbles.com Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... The Academy Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is awarded each year to a cinematographer for his work in one particular motion picture. ... The Academy Award for Film Editing was first given for films issued in 1934. ... From Rule Sixteen of the Special Rules for The Music Awards Original Score: An original score is a substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ... The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the awards are voted on by other people within the industry. ... This is a list of films that have received an Oscar for best sound. ...