"The Sand Pebbles"

Midnight will pass here in the South China Sea by the time I finish this post, although I will attempt uncharacteristic brevity.

I write at this late hour because I spent the evening in the Flag Mess enjoying our special pre-Hong Kong movie, "The Sand Pebbles."

I was the only member of tonight's audience who saw the original theater run of this 1966 Robert Wise epic story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy machinist mate aboard the gunboat USS SAN PABLO in 1920s China. The film hit our old Phoenix Fox Theater the year that I dropped out of the seminary, and I saw it -- drumroll please! -- on my first ever actual date with a real live girl! Seeing it again tonight, I realized I'd forgotten much of the movie's plot and dialogue. Not sure whether to attribute that to the 44 year lapse between viewings, or to my nervous distraction at the delightfully novel female presence next to me...i.e., on the initial viewing. Tonight my left and right seatmates were -- isn't it ironic? -- our Catholic priest and a supply guy. I'm pretty sure I'll remember this movie much better when I see it again 40 or so years hence.

Although the plot and some of the dialogue may be slightly arcane by today's standards, "The Sand Pebbles" is still a darned good movie with a stellar cast: Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, and a young, and very attractive Candice Bergen. Add to these fine performances some really spectacular scenery shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong, plus enduring soundtrack music, and you have a truly timeless epic. It is definitely worth a download or rental.