The Sand Pebbles
Director: Robert Wise
Year Released: 1966
Rating: 1.5
A Navy engineer (Steve McQueen) stuck among conformists on a gun boat has to fight for respect; with a friend (my man Richard Attenborough, whose character comes from Philadelphia!), he helps a slave-girl attain her freedom. The Anti-American imperialism slant is a major positive, but did this have to be so bloated, plodding and obvious? For being an 'action film,' it's rather short on any kind of palpable tension, keeping most of the violence for the final battle when McQueen and comrades rescue a very miscast Candice Bergen and some missionaries.
