The Sand Pebbles

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.

Cast

Steve McQueen

as Jake Holman

Richard Attenborough

as Frenchy Burgoyne

Richard Crenna

as Captain Collins

Candice Bergen

as Shirley Eckert

Mako

as Po-han

Larry Gates

as Jameson

Charles Robinson

as Ensign Bordelles

Simon Oakland

as Stawski

Ford Rainey

as Harris

Joe Turkel

as Bronson

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