History Trivia / TheSandPebbles

* HostilityOnTheSet: Creator/SteveMcQueenActor gave writer Robert Anderson such a hard time, that Anderson left the project after [=McQueen=] was cast. Years earlier, [=McQueen=] was not cast in a play by Anderson and [=McQueen=] never forgave him.
* StarDerailingRole: The film ended up being this for Creator/SteveMcQueenActor despite its critical success, not because of its disappointing box office numbers but because his experience left him exhausted. He would not return to the screen again until 1968, when ''Film/TheThomasCrownAffair'' and ''Film/{{Bullitt}}'' were released.

** Wise planned to use the Tamsui River in northern Taiwan as a stand-in for the Yangtze. Unfortunately, it was a tidewater river which wasn't broad or deep enough for the film's purposes and was extremely susceptible to inclement weather and tidal shifts. While filming an early scene with Creator/SteveMcQueen and Creator/RichardAttenborough, a sudden swell caused by a shift in the tide capsized a fifteen foot camera boat, nearly drowning the crew and the actors. Indeed, Wise found that the tide regularly receded without warning, and it became nearly impossible to use the ''San Pablo'' (an expensive replica of an authentic turn-of-the-century gunboat) without it running aground in the shallows. Ultimately, Wise decided to re-shoot scenes of the ''San Pablo'' at sail in the ocean near Hong Kong, finding little of his Tamsui footage usable.

** Creator/SteveMcQueen, a difficult star on the best of shoots, didn't help either. [=McQueen=]'s behavior on the set was strictly professional; he had a cordial relationship with Wise (although the two initially butted heads over [=McQueen=]'s request to pare his character's dialogue, Wise ultimately agreed that it was the right call) and, unlike other films, he got along well with his cast members. His behavior '''off''' the set, however, was often anything '''but''' professional. [=McQueen=] was detained by customs upon arrival in Taipei for carrying a revolver in his luggage; he quickly grew restless in the face of the production's restrictions and often drove off on his motorcycle to explore the countryside without notifying cast, crew or government minders. Later he invited friends from the United States to join him in Taipei, and as production wore on they became increasingly onerous, spending the evenings drinking and carousing in the city and causing problems with local authorities. Finally, near the end of the shot [=McQueen=] developed a severe flu, then an abscess tooth and demanded that he return to Los Angeles for surgery, further delaying the shoot for several weeks.

* WagTheDirector: Creator/SteveMcQueen requested that the filmmakers trim his character's dialogue because he felt it fit Jake's loner personality better. Creator/RobertWise resisted at first, but came to accept it when [=McQueen=] explained that it would allow Wise to focus on his staging and camerawork rather than the actors' performances, which Wise accepted as a complement.

** Creator/RobertWise's first choice to play Jake Holman was Creator/PaulNewman. Creator/CliffRoberson was also considered.

* StarDerailingRole: The film ended up being this for Creator/SteveMcQueen despite its critical success, not because of its disappointing box office numbers but because his experience left him exhausted. He would not return to the screen again until 1968, when ''Film/TheThomasCrownAffair'' and ''Film/{{Bullitt}}'' were released.
* TroubledProduction: ''The Sand Pebbles'' encountered most of the usual hurdles inherent in filming an EpicMovie, and some unique ones besides.

** Creator/RobertWise's first choice to play Jake Holman was Creator/PaulNewman.

* WagTheDirector: Creator/SteveMcQueen requested that the filmmakers trim his character's dialogue because he felt it fit Jake's loner personality better. Creator/RobertWise resisted at first, but came to accept it when [=McQueen=] explained that it would allow Wise to focus on camerawork for his scenes rather than delivery of dialogue, which Wise accepted as a complement.

** Creator/RobertWise wanted to adapt Richard [=McKenna's=] book soon after its publication. Despite the novel's success, Wise found that studios didn't think a film version had much box office potential; 20th Century Fox sat on the rights for several years, forcing Wise to pursue other projects while it languished in DevelopmentHell. This actually worked out well for Wise, who made ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' for Fox before the studio finally gave ''Sand Pebbles'' the green light (partly because, after ''Music'''s success, Wise now had the clout to pick and choose his projects).

** Most of the location shooting took place in Taiwan, which proved less-than-ideal for numerous reasons. Creator/CandiceBergen recalled that the film's "intricate shooting schedule...depending on weather, river tides and currents, was hourly subject to change." Wise and the crew were forced to reshoot scene after scene due to the inclement weather, remarking that it often took "four, five different calls to shoot different scenes, depending on the conditions. If the tide was out, we had to try to shoot things on the deck where you wouldn't see the water. If it was a good day and the wind was blowing from the bow, I had to shoot a certain set of scenes because the smoke would have to match." He also recalled spending an entire day getting shots of the ''San Pablo'''s flag flying in the breeze because the weather made it impossible to shoot anything more elaborate.

** Filming in Taiwan during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar posed its own difficulties. The Taiwanese government wasn't happy with the film's portrayal of UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek and the Kuomintang, and though they didn't interfere with filming directly, they forced cast and crew to restrict themselves to hotels and an American army base when they weren't filming. (Both [=McQueen=] and Bergen regularly ignored this edict, to the irritation of both Wise and the government.) Unruly Taiwanese extras complicated filming further; when another scene was ruined by monsoons, a crowd of extras literally rioted rather than film another take. And Taiwan's ongoing tensions with mainland China added an unnerving RealitySubtext to the movie; just a week before principal photography began, a skirmish between Nationalist and Red Chinese gunboats occurred in the Taiwan Strait, and soon afterwards, Wise was forced to cancel a day's shooting when he accidentally filmed a Taiwanese special forces team on maneuvers.
** Creator/SteveMcQueen, a difficult star on the best of days, didn't help either. Surprisingly, considering some of his past films, [=McQueen=] got along well with his co-stars and his behavior on set was strictly professional. His behavior '''off''' the set, however, was often anything but. [=McQueen=] soon grew restless in the face of the production's restrictions and often drove off on his motorcycle to explore the countryside without notifying Wise or his costars. Later he invited friends from the United States to join him in Taipei, and as production wore on they became increasingly onerous, spending the evenings drinking and carousing in the city and causing problems with local authorities.
** Eventually it became too difficult to maintain production on Taiwan, and Wise, the cast and crew relocated to the relative comfort of Hong Kong soon afterwards. Shooting finally wrapped back in Los Angeles after eight-and-a-half months, the budget having ballooned from a projected $8 million to over $12 million. Wise would later call it "the most difficult film...I've ever made" and that Taiwan was "the most difficult location I've ever tackled."

** Most of the location shooting took place in Taiwan, which proved less-than-ideal for numerous reasons. Creator/CandiceBergen recalled that the film's "intricate shooting schedule...depending on weather, river tides and currents, was hourly subject to change." Wise and the crew were forced to shoot and reshoot scene after scene due to the inclement weather, remarking that it often took "four, five different calls to shoot different scenes, depending on the conditions. If the tide was out, we had to try to shoot things on the deck where you wouldn't see the water. If it was a good day and the wind was blowing from the bow, I had to shoot a certain set of scenes because the smoke would have to match." He also recalled spending an entire day getting shots of the ''San Pablo'''s flag flying in the breeze because the weather made it impossible to shoot anything.
** Wise planned to use the Tamsui River in northern Taiwan as a stand-in for the Yangtze. Unfortunately, it was a tidewater river which wasn't broad or deep enough for the film's purposes and was extremely susceptible to inclement weather and tidal shifts. While filming an early scene with Creator/SteveMcQueen and Creator/RichardAttenborough, a sudden swell caused by a shift in the tide capsized a fifteen foot camera boat, nearly drowning the crew and the actors. Indeed, Wise found that the tide regularly receded without warning, and it became nearly impossible to use the ''San Pablo'' (an expensive replica of an authentic turn-of-the-century gunboat) without it running aground in the shallows. Ultimately, Wise decided to re-shoot scenes of the 'San Pablo'' at sail in and around Hong Kong, finding little of his Tamsui footage usable.
** Filming in Taiwan during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar posed its own difficulties. The Taiwanese government wasn't happy with the film's portrayal of UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek and the Kuomintang, and though they didn't interfere with filming directly, they forced cast and crew to restrict themselves to hotels and an American army base on the island when they weren't filming. (Both [=McQueen=] and Bergen regularly ignored this edict, to the irritation of both Wise and the government.) Unruly Taiwanese extras complicated filming further; when another scene was ruined by monsoons, a crowd of extras literally rioted rather than film another take. And Taiwan's ongoing tensions with mainland China added an unnerving RealitySubtext to the movie; just a week before principal photography began, a skirmish between Nationalist and Red Chinese gunboats occurred in the Taiwan Strait, and soon afterwards, Wise was forced to cancel a day's shooting when he accidentally filmed a Taiwanese special forces team on maneuvers.

* HeAlsoDid: French actress Marayat Andriane (Maily) is mainly known under the pen-name of "Emmanuelle Marsan", as the writer of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuelle_(novel) a series of erotic novels]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/RobertWise's first choice to play Jake Holman was Creator/PaulNewman.

* HeAlsoDid: French actress Marayat Andriane (Maily) is mainly known under the pen-name of "Emmanuelle Marsan", as the writer of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuelle_(novel) a series of erotic novels]].