Those who know Robert Wise primarily as a director of big-scale musicals ("The Sound of Music," "West Side Story.") would be suprised to know that his best films, in many ways, were his NON-musicals. Consider "I Want to Live," "Odds Against Tomorrow," "Curse of the Cat People," and, most especially, "The Sand Pebbles," one of the best, most insightful films about men at war ever made.
Set in China in 1926, this film gives an honest evocation of the period between the collapse of the Monarchy in 1908 and the Communist takeover 41 years leter, when whoever had the most firepower essentially ran the country. A tumultuous period, pictured here with an honesty and candor rarely seen in a mainstream American film. In the midst of this, the men of the San Pablo try to maintain an uneasy peace, and the result is an effective film about men at war, without a lot of gratuitious sex or vulgar language.
Then there are the performances. Steve McQueen gives what's probably, along with "The Getaway," the best performance of his career. His Jake Holman is a basically honest, sane man cought up in a dishonest, insane situation. He was deservedly Oscar-nominated for this performance, but lost, perhaps inevitably, to Paul Scofield's incomparable St. Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons." Sir Richard Attenborough once again proves a better actor than director as Frenchy, Holman's best friend. Always excellent Richard Crenna SHOULD have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his Captain Phillip Collins, a by-the-book officer who finds that you can't always play by the rules in a situation where madness is an everyday occurance. Mako WAS deservedly nominated as the tragic Po-Han, McQueen's assistant who becomes an unwilling pawn between the Americans and the Chinese radicals. And Candice Bergen proves that she can act when called upon as the young missionary with whom McQueen falls in love, and whose life he dies trying to save.
They don't make 'em like this anymore. See it.
Set in China in 1926, this film gives an honest evocation of the period between the collapse of the Monarchy in 1908 and the Communist takeover 41 years leter, when whoever had the most firepower essentially ran the country. A tumultuous period, pictured here with an honesty and candor rarely seen in a mainstream American film. In the midst of this, the men of the San Pablo try to maintain an uneasy peace, and the result is an effective film about men at war, without a lot of gratuitious sex or vulgar language.
Then there are the performances. Steve McQueen gives what's probably, along with "The Getaway," the best performance of his career. His Jake Holman is a basically honest, sane man cought up in a dishonest, insane situation. He was deservedly Oscar-nominated for this performance, but lost, perhaps inevitably, to Paul Scofield's incomparable St. Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons." Sir Richard Attenborough once again proves a better actor than director as Frenchy, Holman's best friend. Always excellent Richard Crenna SHOULD have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his Captain Phillip Collins, a by-the-book officer who finds that you can't always play by the rules in a situation where madness is an everyday occurance. Mako WAS deservedly nominated as the tragic Po-Han, McQueen's assistant who becomes an unwilling pawn between the Americans and the Chinese radicals. And Candice Bergen proves that she can act when called upon as the young missionary with whom McQueen falls in love, and whose life he dies trying to save.
They don't make 'em like this anymore. See it.