Character mistake: Following McQueen's viewing of Naval Shipmate Attenborough's corpse, he then fails to recover the decedents dogtag; a United States Military Protocol.
The Sand Pebbles (1966)
1 character mistake
Directed by: Robert Wise
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Steve McQueen, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen
Factual error: The uniforms worn by the engineering force are from the wrong era. Prior to 1941 the left arm rates had the head of the eagle pointing to the wearer's rear. Steve McQueen and the rest of the Engineering force rate eagle head is pointing forward, which is from WW2.
Captain Collins: Do you know what this is? Desertion in the face of the enemy.
Jake Holman: I don't got no more enemies. Shove off, Captain.
Trivia: In the novel, in the fight at the boom, many American sailors are injured, but Harris is the only one killed. Then, in the final confrontation at China Light, Jameson and Holman are the only ones killed; even the captain escapes, despite having been wounded at the boom. In addition, there is a third American missionary at China Light, a young man who escapes and (by implication) ends up with Shirley.
Question: Why was the movie called "The Sand Pebbles?
Chosen answer: It's a pun on the name of the boat which features in the film: the fictional U. S. Navy ship USS San Pablo. The sailors on the San Pablo call themselves the sand pebbles.
Sierra1 ★