MovieChat Forums > The Sand Pebbles (1966) Discussion > Graphic scenes for a 1966 movie audience...

Graphic scenes for a 1966 movie audience?

posted 11 years ago by zooeyhall
18 replies | jump to latest

Has anyone else noticed what extremely brutal scenes this movie has? They include:

1) An extended scene where a mob of Chinese grab a Chinese guy. He is hung up by the wrists, with his arms behind his back, while being repeatedly slashed with a machete--all the while he is begging McQueen to put him out of his misery.

2) A man is mangled in the ship's steam engine. McQueen goes in to rescue him and shreds of flesh are hanging from the machinery.

3) McQueen buries an ax in the guts of a young Chinese man.

There is also discussion of how a gang rape (by Chinese) will be the fate of a white woman if captured.

I am curious how this and other scenes in the movie went down with audiences in the 60's? These were extremely graphic depictions for a movie of that time.

[–] jbaddock 11 years ago

I saw the film when it first came out in 1966 and what I particularly remember was the gasp/grunt that came from almost everyone in the cinema when the axe was buried in the student's stomach - it was as if we all felt it. Yes, the film was pretty brutal, but it was meant to be - this was not glamourising war at all. The film was making the point that the slaughter at the boom was all down to Collins's desire to seek redemption, no matter what it cost.

[–] joscco 11 years ago

I was only a kid when I first saw The Sand Pebbles, but the most shocking scene for me and the audience I was with, was our sailors being covered with filth thrown at them and not being able to do anything about it. Not long after the movie's release, it started happening to our military personnel coming home from overseas.

"I told you it was off." The Jackal

[–] zooeyhall 11 years ago

Yes--I remember that scene also.

I also seem to remember a brief shot of someone trying to throw stuff from a window at the passing Americans, but an old man stops it and shakes his head as if saying "No don't do it".

It's been years since I have seen the film however, so I may be mistaken.

[–] movies789 11 years ago

"Not long after the movie's release, it started happening to our military personnel coming home from overseas."

Wellll, not actually. (Any documentation or evidence?)

-- 1st Cavalry Division (Infantry), Vietnam

[–] joscco 11 years ago

www.wcyb.com/Tennessee-Remembering-Vietnam-War-Veterans/14592910

http://www.newstopic.net/news/local/x112096426/Vietnam-veterans-offer- personal-stories-to-West-Caldwell-students

"I told you it was off." The Jackal

[–] movies789 11 years ago

"Musick says he spent exactly 365 days in Vietnam and there wasn't much fanfare when he finally came home, 'I was wearing my uniform and the ribbons identifying [me] as a Vietnam Veteran and I guess my recollection is [that] I wasn't even spoken to, much less [respected],' he said... Musick says [that] when they returned from what some called an unwinnable war, some soldiers were [spat] on and even had garbage thrown at them."

"Dixon said [that] when he came home, he was encouraged not to wear his uniform because protesters were waiting in airports to harass returning veterans, calling them 'baby killers' and throwing bags of human waste at them."

That's it? Third-hand hearsay anecdotes? <Yawn>

[–] joscco 11 years ago

You asked for "Any" documentation or evidence to back up a general observation I had made. I took a chance that you were not some obnoxious troll, and spent time providing several links indicating some of our military personnel returning from overseas were treated badly. I see that I was mistaken and that you are a waste of my time.

"I told you it was off." The Jackal

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] thomasm5 11 years ago

Every time I've heard a story of Viet Nam vets being spat on or worse when coming home it's always a third party urban legend type story. I've never ever heard any one say it happened to them or even some one they knew. Never saw a news story or an article in the paper. I've never heard it from a Viet Nam vet (I've met quite a few) I went to a college from 68-72 which had many protests. There were several Viet vets at the school- I roomed with one- and I never saw them treated with any sort of disrespect. My roommate was often asked about what went on there and I heard many, many conversations between him and anti war types as well as other vets(many of whom had negative attitudes about the war). There were never any fights and it rarely got loud.

[–] Lokisgodhi 8 years ago

Yeah, I quite agree. This seems to be an urban legend created sometime after the war.

Attacking a fresh combat veteran a few days or hours back from Vietnam would be a great way to develop a really pressing need for dental or medical attention.

[–] tropicaldiver2001 8 years ago

I served in the US Army from 1970-1973. I flew in and out of a number of airports including LAX. I was never treated badly. In fact airline personnel always let military standbys on the aircraft ahead of civilians. Back then you could fly for half price if you were willing to gamble that there would be an empty seat left on the plane after the regular fare passengers got on.

One time I was seated in first class as a standby and the stewardesses were very friendly as I recall. I think many people had brothers, sons and husbands in the military and went out of their way to be nice to servicemen. This was during the draft and so many more families had someone in the military.

I'm sure if I had gone on the UC Berkeley campus in my uniform some radical might have said something stupid. But not in middle America.

[–] KBiker (1256) 4 years ago

I was also with the 1st Air Cav in Vietnam, and I have to agree with you and a few other posters about the stories of soldiers returning home from Vietnam being spat upon and worse when returning home. I never saw that and no one else I knew did either. It's mostly a case of, "I heard it from somebody, who heard it from somebody else," rather than the reality. That's how most urban legends get started.

[–] rwsmith29456 11 years ago

They were brutal scenes of brutal times. Violence, but not gratuitous in any sense.

[–] movies789 11 years ago

By today's standards, those scenes were pretty tame. There was little in the way of blood & guts spewing forth, as would be the case today.

[–] rready4198-693-489748 11 years ago

I saw this movie in 1967 with my school (Catholic Girls High School) and I did not see it as being violent. To me it was realistic and maybe because we were seeing scenes from Viet Nam War on the evening news, which could be graphic, it appeared normal to me. I would have thought it fake if it were not shown realistically. Also, do you think Steve would have stood for any thing that might appear phony? That was not Steve and if you know anything about Steve...he did not let Directors get away with foolishness. He had a reputation and everybody knew it. As a Director if you showed weakness...he would eat you for lunch. He respected those who stood up to him and had an uneasy peace with others. One he ruined his relationship with was John Sturges they made three movies together, “Never So Few,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Great Escape” after “The Great Escape” John Sturges was finished and could not take it anymore.

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

One he ruined his relationship with was John Sturges they made three movies together, “Never So Few,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Great Escape” after “The Great Escape” John Sturges was finished and could not take it anymore. - rready4198-693-489748

What do you mean "John Sturges was finished and could not take it anymore"? Maybe his relationship with Steve McQueen was finished (although it appears that Sturges was initially tapped to direct McQueen's 1971 racing film Le Mans but dropped out). But Sturges's directing career continued for another decade or more after The Great Escape, including the high-profile films Ice Station Zebra, Marooned, and The Eagle Has Landed.
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[–] rready4198-693-489748 10 years ago

While he was directing "Le Mans," John Sturges had, had enough of Steve's tantrums and all that went along with them. He never talked to Steve again and that was sad. He had been so instrumental in working with Steve. By the time they were doing "Le Mans" Steve was doing so many drugs and he was not making sense. John quit and that was the end of there friendship and relationship.

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

While he was directing "Le Mans," John Sturges had, had enough of Steve's tantrums and all that went along with them. - rready4198-693-489748

Thanks for the information. I couldn't find a reason why Sturges left Le Mans. Too bad about their relationship.

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