Though I don't think he was quite that far.

^^^^ Nice pic. That was a brutal scene.

The Flag Day speech is my favorite part.

-Tom

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
One of my favorite all-time movies. A period of history that many aren't aware of and shows the dynamics that tore China apart, pre-WWII, between the Nationalists and Communists. They did a good job depicting the harsh reality of how the Western powers looked down on the Chinese, either through overt racism by the sailors & businessman or, the patronizing attitudes of the missionary's and diplomats. A rough time in a tough world, very poignant.

Link with a number of interesting tidbits and other links about the movie

Finished watching last night; last couple of weeks were really busy and just didn’t have time. I always thought I had seen the movie. I have thought about McQueen’s line, “Well, shoot somethin’,” many times over the years, but I don’t think I had ever seen the entire movie.

I quoted corsair’s post because I followed his link and found it very interesting, especially the video about the gunboat being constructed in Hong Kong, which included dedication ceremonies and some shots from the movie.

I note that a few who posted in this thread are Navy vets. One thing that bothered me, in the movie, was the appearance of the San Pablo. The boat as constructed was gleaming white, and it seems to me a U.S. Navy ship—even a gunboat designed for river patrol, should be maintained that way. Am I wrong for being bothered by the rust trails streaking the sides of the San Pablo in the movie?

I believe the fictional “USS San Pablo” was based upon the “USS Villalobos”, a Spanish gunboat from the Spanish-American War of 1898 that became a “prize of war”. As for the “rust streaks”, once the Chinese coolies left the ship, maintenance took a downturn.

The San Pablo was repurposed after the the film and renamed the Nola D. Seiscom Delta Exploration (later to become Seiscom Delta) purchased the Nola D in the very early 1970's. She was engineless then and had to be towed everywhere. The last job she was used on was in 1974-1975. This was in the area of the Mahakam River Delta and a place called Bontang in Indonesian Borneo.

She was converted to a base camp for seismic operations. The area between the forward and aft cabins was built in and become a mess room. The aft top cabin area became the Kitchen, Cold rooms and accommodation for the cooks and cleaners. The area directly below was the mechanics workshop. The lower Middle area was the electronics and cable workshop, The forward Top and lower cabin sections were expat accommodation. The bridge (empty) was left bare. The below deck area (Coolie quarters in the movie ) was made into fresh water storage The engine had been removed. Fuel tanks were built into the aft steering area. The Power shed was built onto the back deck. Even after she was sold, you could still see the outline of the name 'San Pablo' on the stern from where it was cut off.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I note that a few who posted in this thread are Navy vets. One thing that bothered me, in the movie, was the appearance of the San Pablo. The boat as constructed was gleaming white, and it seems to me a U.S. Navy ship—even a gunboat designed for river patrol, should be maintained that way. Am I wrong for being bothered by the rust trails streaking the sides of the San Pablo in the movie?

The 'San Pablo' was apart of the Yangtze Patrol which was apart of the Asiatic Fleet, which was completely separate from the Pacific Fleet. As Holman explains to Shirly Eckert, things are different here than in the rest of the Navy; sailors looked at that region as either purgatory or, an escape. The captain allowed San Pablo to have two crews: the undermanned USN sailors and the coolies, who did the menial/labor work. Clearly, when they were on-patrol the boat looks good, it's when they're stranded in Changsa when the water level has receded and they are trapped does the lethargy set-in. It's also a metaphor to what's going on with the crew, the ugliness of the situation takes hold and the worst of people emerge.