When Steve McQueen was talk of the town in Hong Kong
Fifty years ago, the Hollywood legend spent eight weeks making one of his finest films, The Sand Pebbles, in Hong Kong. But was he the brawling womaniser his reputation suggested, asks Stuart Heaver
Fifty years ago this month, Hollywood legend Steve McQueen was in Hong Kong with his family and a large film crew, to shoot scenes for , the hugely successful movie about an American gunboat patrolling the inland waters of revolutionary China.
Filming was undertaken mostly in Sai Kung, where the USS San Pablo, a replica American gunboat, engaged in a large maritime battle. Local filming took less than eight weeks but it made a significant impact on the city, which in turn left an indelible mark on the movie. Press reports and interviews from that period also reveal a little of the latent character of McQueen, the so-called King of Cool, a charismatic but troubled and insecure movie icon.
, directed by Oscar-winning Robert Wise, who later described it as "the most difficult film I ever made", is based on the 1962 best-selling novel by Richard McKenna, which topped the best-seller list for 28 weeks. It's the colourful tale of the hard-bitten crew of the San Pablo, an antique gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River that becomes entangled in the patriotic fervour and social instability of post-revolutionary, 1920s China. The captain, played by Richard Crenna, and the ship's company have to navigate maritime, romantic and diplomatic hazards as they attempt to fulfil their duty during the early, fragmented days of the Chinese Republic. That duty includes protecting resident American missionaries, including an enchanting and vulnerable schoolteacher, Shirley Eckert, played by 19-year-old Candice Bergen.
McQueen, who arrived at Kai Tak airport on March 22, 1966, from Taiwan, with his wife and two children, plays the lead: recalcitrant sailor and moody hero Jake Holman. The steely ship's engineer and taciturn man of the world forms an unlikely romantic attachment with the prim young schoolteacher in a part that was perfect for McQueen. Off screen, he, too, was often more comfortable in the company of machines (notably high-performance motorbikes and sports cars) than people and the curious on-screen chemistry between the two stars still makes compelling viewing five decades later.
"He was the perfect choice for Jake Holman," Wise has been quoted as saying. "I've never seen an actor work with mechanical things the way he does. He learned everything about operating that ship's engine, just as Jake Holman did in the script. Jake Holman is a very strong individual who doesn't bend under pressure, a guy desperately determined to maintain his own personal identity and pride. Very much like Steve."
