Our story begins in Shanghai. Hefting his big duffel bag, Steve McQueen strides into the picture and owns it with his height, athleticism, and authority. We immediately learn that he has orders to join a new ship -- the gunboat San Pablo.
Our story begins in Shanghai. Hefting his big duffel bag, Steve McQueen strides into the picture and owns it with his height, athleticism, and authority. We immediately learn that he has orders to join a new ship -- the gunboat San Pablo.
On the steamer to the interior of China where he is to join the ship, Holman dines with the other Westerners aboard. An argument between an American missionary, Mr Jameson (Larry Gates - right), and the British businessman Mr Outscout sets up the political issues tearing China apart. Clearly there was no prohibition on talking politics at the table in this saloon! The dialog here is taken almost verbatim from the book.
Another passenger on the steamer is Shirley Eckert, a teacher headed for a 7-year hitch at Rev. Jameson's mission, China Light. Both new to Central China, Jake and Shirley share a rather strained conversation on the promenade deck.
This is Jake's (and our) first glimpse of the San Pablo, tied up to a pontoon dock in a slip off the Yangtze.
Holman makes a long and impressive entrance down the steps along the red-brick wall. This is shown with cutaways to the crew on the ship sitting out and sizing him up.
Holman kids around with Frenchy Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) as he reports aboard.
Jake had thought that by joining a small ship he would be getting away from military drill and mickey-mouse; but he has a rude awakening his first day aboard. The San Pablo has more drill and ritual than a battleship. It is run by the captain, Lt. Collins (Richard Crenna) and his first officer, Lt. Bordelles (Charles Robinson). I had Bordelles pegged for Princeton. Imagine my surprise when I read my program notes and found that Robinson was a genuine Princeton tiger!
Watching the crew at muster, a couple of Chinese boys mimic the sailors saluting in one of the film's brilliant vignettes.
Every day the crew practices a different scenario. Holman's first experience is a memorable Repel Boarders drill. Chinese coolies crowd the slip to watch Chief Franks (Barney Phillips) brandish his cutlass and bellow, "Keep back, you slopeheaded slobs! Cheelah! Cheelah!" while the rest of the crew point their rifles and look mean. This publicity still was issued as an original lobby card for the film. Ship was welded together; the hundreds of rivets in evidence were painstakingly glued on to give the appearance of 19th-century warship construction.
The San Pablo resumes its summer schedule of patrols on the inland rivers of the Yangtze system and Tungting Lake -- a routine known as "show the flag cruising," intended to intimidate the natives and assist corrupt warlords favored by the imperial Powers.
One of the bearings in the ship's crankshaft is seriously malfunctioning, forcing a shutdown and repacking. Deck officers come down to the engine room to watch the repair. Holman mans the controls while Chien, the boss of the coolie crew in the engine room, climbs into the crankpit to facilitate disassembly of the connecting rod.
The jacking gear, used to immobilize the engine, fails while Chien is in the crankpit, and the engine twirls spastically for a couple of revolutions.
Chien (Tommy Lee) lies fatally wounded in the crankpit, and Holman has to climb in to remove him before completing the repair to the bearing. In the book (which takes place over a two-year period) Holman discovers that an ancient grounding bent the soft iron hull so that one pillar of the engine mount is out of alignment, causing perpetual problems with the crank bearing. Since this requires frequent and laborious repairs, and so is a source of much 'squeeze' for the coolies, it has remained unaddressed for years; but during a winter layover, Holman and Po-han tear down the engine and realign it, making it work smoothly instead of with the familiar thump every time the crankshaft goes round.
With Chien dead, Holman is ordered to train a new coolie boss. Engine room work is coolie work, and with coolies running the engine, Holman will be free to join the deck crew in its military mickey-mouse. He chooses Po-han the bilge coolie (Mako). In a moving montage, Po-han proves a bright pupil and the two jointly overcome the language barrier. In the novel, the relationship is developed further with a lot of on-shore fraternizing with Po-han's family and community.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
A motor pan (motorized sampan) draws up to the ship. Steam is up and she's ready to get under way.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
On the steamer to the interior of China where he is to join the ship, Holman dines with the other Westerners aboard. An argument between an American missionary, Mr Jameson (Larry Gates - right), and the British businessman Mr Outscout sets up the political issues tearing China apart. Clearly there was no prohibition on talking politics at the table in this saloon! The dialog here is taken almost verbatim from the book.
Another passenger on the steamer is Shirley Eckert, a teacher headed for a 7-year hitch at Rev. Jameson's mission, China Light. Both new to Central China, Jake and Shirley share a rather strained conversation on the promenade deck.
Another passenger on the steamer is Shirley Eckert, a teacher headed for a 7-year hitch at Rev. Jameson's mission, China Light. Both new to Central China, Jake and Shirley share a rather strained conversation on the promenade deck.
This is Jake's (and our) first glimpse of the San Pablo, tied up to a pontoon dock in a slip off the Yangtze.
Holman makes a long and impressive entrance down the steps along the red-brick wall. This is shown with cutaways to the crew on the ship sitting out and sizing him up.
Holman kids around with Frenchy Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) as he reports aboard.
Jake had thought that by joining a small ship he would be getting away from military drill and mickey-mouse; but he has a rude awakening his first day aboard. The San Pablo has more drill and ritual than a battleship. It is run by the captain, Lt. Collins (Richard Crenna) and his first officer, Lt. Bordelles (Charles Robinson). I had Bordelles pegged for Princeton. Imagine my surprise when I read my program notes and found that Robinson was a genuine Princeton tiger!
Watching the crew at muster, a couple of Chinese boys mimic the sailors saluting in one of the film's brilliant vignettes.
Every day the crew practices a different scenario. Holman's first experience is a memorable Repel Boarders drill. Chinese coolies crowd the slip to watch Chief Franks (Barney Phillips) brandish his cutlass and bellow, "Keep back, you slopeheaded slobs! Cheelah! Cheelah!" while the rest of the crew point their rifles and look mean. This publicity still was issued as an original lobby card for the film. Ship was welded together; the hundreds of rivets in evidence were painstakingly glued on to give the appearance of 19th-century warship construction.
The San Pablo resumes its summer schedule of patrols on the inland rivers of the Yangtze system and Tungting Lake -- a routine known as "show the flag cruising," intended to intimidate the natives and assist corrupt warlords favored by the imperial Powers.
One of the bearings in the ship's crankshaft is seriously malfunctioning, forcing a shutdown and repacking. Deck officers come down to the engine room to watch the repair. Holman mans the controls while Chien, the boss of the coolie crew in the engine room, climbs into the crankpit to facilitate disassembly of the connecting rod.
The jacking gear, used to immobilize the engine, fails while Chien is in the crankpit, and the engine twirls spastically for a couple of revolutions.
Chien (Tommy Lee) lies fatally wounded in the crankpit, and Holman has to climb in to remove him before completing the repair to the bearing. In the book (which takes place over a two-year period) Holman discovers that an ancient grounding bent the soft iron hull so that one pillar of the engine mount is out of alignment, causing perpetual problems with the crank bearing. Since this requires frequent and laborious repairs, and so is a source of much 'squeeze' for the coolies, it has remained unaddressed for years; but during a winter layover, Holman and Po-han tear down the engine and realign it, making it work smoothly instead of with the familiar thump every time the crankshaft goes round.
With Chien dead, Holman is ordered to train a new coolie boss. Engine room work is coolie work, and with coolies running the engine, Holman will be free to join the deck crew in its military mickey-mouse. He chooses Po-han the bilge coolie (Mako). In a moving montage, Po-han proves a bright pupil and the two jointly overcome the language barrier. In the novel, the relationship is developed further with a lot of on-shore fraternizing with Po-han's family and community.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
A motor pan (motorized sampan) draws up to the ship. Steam is up and she's ready to get under way.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
Holman makes a long and impressive entrance down the steps along the red-brick wall. This is shown with cutaways to the crew on the ship sitting out and sizing him up.
Holman kids around with Frenchy Burgoyne (Richard Attenborough) as he reports aboard.
Jake had thought that by joining a small ship he would be getting away from military drill and mickey-mouse; but he has a rude awakening his first day aboard. The San Pablo has more drill and ritual than a battleship. It is run by the captain, Lt. Collins (Richard Crenna) and his first officer, Lt. Bordelles (Charles Robinson). I had Bordelles pegged for Princeton. Imagine my surprise when I read my program notes and found that Robinson was a genuine Princeton tiger!
Jake had thought that by joining a small ship he would be getting away from military drill and mickey-mouse; but he has a rude awakening his first day aboard. The San Pablo has more drill and ritual than a battleship. It is run by the captain, Lt. Collins (Richard Crenna) and his first officer, Lt. Bordelles (Charles Robinson). I had Bordelles pegged for Princeton. Imagine my surprise when I read my program notes and found that Robinson was a genuine Princeton tiger!
Watching the crew at muster, a couple of Chinese boys mimic the sailors saluting in one of the film's brilliant vignettes.
Every day the crew practices a different scenario. Holman's first experience is a memorable Repel Boarders drill. Chinese coolies crowd the slip to watch Chief Franks (Barney Phillips) brandish his cutlass and bellow, "Keep back, you slopeheaded slobs! Cheelah! Cheelah!" while the rest of the crew point their rifles and look mean. This publicity still was issued as an original lobby card for the film. Ship was welded together; the hundreds of rivets in evidence were painstakingly glued on to give the appearance of 19th-century warship construction.
The San Pablo resumes its summer schedule of patrols on the inland rivers of the Yangtze system and Tungting Lake -- a routine known as "show the flag cruising," intended to intimidate the natives and assist corrupt warlords favored by the imperial Powers.
One of the bearings in the ship's crankshaft is seriously malfunctioning, forcing a shutdown and repacking. Deck officers come down to the engine room to watch the repair. Holman mans the controls while Chien, the boss of the coolie crew in the engine room, climbs into the crankpit to facilitate disassembly of the connecting rod.
The jacking gear, used to immobilize the engine, fails while Chien is in the crankpit, and the engine twirls spastically for a couple of revolutions.
Chien (Tommy Lee) lies fatally wounded in the crankpit, and Holman has to climb in to remove him before completing the repair to the bearing. In the book (which takes place over a two-year period) Holman discovers that an ancient grounding bent the soft iron hull so that one pillar of the engine mount is out of alignment, causing perpetual problems with the crank bearing. Since this requires frequent and laborious repairs, and so is a source of much 'squeeze' for the coolies, it has remained unaddressed for years; but during a winter layover, Holman and Po-han tear down the engine and realign it, making it work smoothly instead of with the familiar thump every time the crankshaft goes round.
With Chien dead, Holman is ordered to train a new coolie boss. Engine room work is coolie work, and with coolies running the engine, Holman will be free to join the deck crew in its military mickey-mouse. He chooses Po-han the bilge coolie (Mako). In a moving montage, Po-han proves a bright pupil and the two jointly overcome the language barrier. In the novel, the relationship is developed further with a lot of on-shore fraternizing with Po-han's family and community.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
A motor pan (motorized sampan) draws up to the ship. Steam is up and she's ready to get under way.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
Watching the crew at muster, a couple of Chinese boys mimic the sailors saluting in one of the film's brilliant vignettes.
Every day the crew practices a different scenario. Holman's first experience is a memorable Repel Boarders drill. Chinese coolies crowd the slip to watch Chief Franks (Barney Phillips) brandish his cutlass and bellow, "Keep back, you slopeheaded slobs! Cheelah! Cheelah!" while the rest of the crew point their rifles and look mean. This publicity still was issued as an original lobby card for the film. Ship was welded together; the hundreds of rivets in evidence were painstakingly glued on to give the appearance of 19th-century warship construction.
Every day the crew practices a different scenario. Holman's first experience is a memorable Repel Boarders drill. Chinese coolies crowd the slip to watch Chief Franks (Barney Phillips) brandish his cutlass and bellow, "Keep back, you slopeheaded slobs! Cheelah! Cheelah!" while the rest of the crew point their rifles and look mean. This publicity still was issued as an original lobby card for the film. Ship was welded together; the hundreds of rivets in evidence were painstakingly glued on to give the appearance of 19th-century warship construction.
The San Pablo resumes its summer schedule of patrols on the inland rivers of the Yangtze system and Tungting Lake -- a routine known as "show the flag cruising," intended to intimidate the natives and assist corrupt warlords favored by the imperial Powers.
One of the bearings in the ship's crankshaft is seriously malfunctioning, forcing a shutdown and repacking. Deck officers come down to the engine room to watch the repair. Holman mans the controls while Chien, the boss of the coolie crew in the engine room, climbs into the crankpit to facilitate disassembly of the connecting rod.
The jacking gear, used to immobilize the engine, fails while Chien is in the crankpit, and the engine twirls spastically for a couple of revolutions.
Chien (Tommy Lee) lies fatally wounded in the crankpit, and Holman has to climb in to remove him before completing the repair to the bearing. In the book (which takes place over a two-year period) Holman discovers that an ancient grounding bent the soft iron hull so that one pillar of the engine mount is out of alignment, causing perpetual problems with the crank bearing. Since this requires frequent and laborious repairs, and so is a source of much 'squeeze' for the coolies, it has remained unaddressed for years; but during a winter layover, Holman and Po-han tear down the engine and realign it, making it work smoothly instead of with the familiar thump every time the crankshaft goes round.
With Chien dead, Holman is ordered to train a new coolie boss. Engine room work is coolie work, and with coolies running the engine, Holman will be free to join the deck crew in its military mickey-mouse. He chooses Po-han the bilge coolie (Mako). In a moving montage, Po-han proves a bright pupil and the two jointly overcome the language barrier. In the novel, the relationship is developed further with a lot of on-shore fraternizing with Po-han's family and community.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
A motor pan (motorized sampan) draws up to the ship. Steam is up and she's ready to get under way.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
The San Pablo resumes its summer schedule of patrols on the inland rivers of the Yangtze system and Tungting Lake -- a routine known as "show the flag cruising," intended to intimidate the natives and assist corrupt warlords favored by the imperial Powers.
One of the bearings in the ship's crankshaft is seriously malfunctioning, forcing a shutdown and repacking. Deck officers come down to the engine room to watch the repair. Holman mans the controls while Chien, the boss of the coolie crew in the engine room, climbs into the crankpit to facilitate disassembly of the connecting rod.
One of the bearings in the ship's crankshaft is seriously malfunctioning, forcing a shutdown and repacking. Deck officers come down to the engine room to watch the repair. Holman mans the controls while Chien, the boss of the coolie crew in the engine room, climbs into the crankpit to facilitate disassembly of the connecting rod.
The jacking gear, used to immobilize the engine, fails while Chien is in the crankpit, and the engine twirls spastically for a couple of revolutions.
Chien (Tommy Lee) lies fatally wounded in the crankpit, and Holman has to climb in to remove him before completing the repair to the bearing. In the book (which takes place over a two-year period) Holman discovers that an ancient grounding bent the soft iron hull so that one pillar of the engine mount is out of alignment, causing perpetual problems with the crank bearing. Since this requires frequent and laborious repairs, and so is a source of much 'squeeze' for the coolies, it has remained unaddressed for years; but during a winter layover, Holman and Po-han tear down the engine and realign it, making it work smoothly instead of with the familiar thump every time the crankshaft goes round.
With Chien dead, Holman is ordered to train a new coolie boss. Engine room work is coolie work, and with coolies running the engine, Holman will be free to join the deck crew in its military mickey-mouse. He chooses Po-han the bilge coolie (Mako). In a moving montage, Po-han proves a bright pupil and the two jointly overcome the language barrier. In the novel, the relationship is developed further with a lot of on-shore fraternizing with Po-han's family and community.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
A motor pan (motorized sampan) draws up to the ship. Steam is up and she's ready to get under way.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
The jacking gear, used to immobilize the engine, fails while Chien is in the crankpit, and the engine twirls spastically for a couple of revolutions.
Chien (Tommy Lee) lies fatally wounded in the crankpit, and Holman has to climb in to remove him before completing the repair to the bearing. In the book (which takes place over a two-year period) Holman discovers that an ancient grounding bent the soft iron hull so that one pillar of the engine mount is out of alignment, causing perpetual problems with the crank bearing. Since this requires frequent and laborious repairs, and so is a source of much 'squeeze' for the coolies, it has remained unaddressed for years; but during a winter layover, Holman and Po-han tear down the engine and realign it, making it work smoothly instead of with the familiar thump every time the crankshaft goes round.
Chien (Tommy Lee) lies fatally wounded in the crankpit, and Holman has to climb in to remove him before completing the repair to the bearing. In the book (which takes place over a two-year period) Holman discovers that an ancient grounding bent the soft iron hull so that one pillar of the engine mount is out of alignment, causing perpetual problems with the crank bearing. Since this requires frequent and laborious repairs, and so is a source of much 'squeeze' for the coolies, it has remained unaddressed for years; but during a winter layover, Holman and Po-han tear down the engine and realign it, making it work smoothly instead of with the familiar thump every time the crankshaft goes round.
With Chien dead, Holman is ordered to train a new coolie boss. Engine room work is coolie work, and with coolies running the engine, Holman will be free to join the deck crew in its military mickey-mouse. He chooses Po-han the bilge coolie (Mako). In a moving montage, Po-han proves a bright pupil and the two jointly overcome the language barrier. In the novel, the relationship is developed further with a lot of on-shore fraternizing with Po-han's family and community.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
A motor pan (motorized sampan) draws up to the ship. Steam is up and she's ready to get under way.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
With Chien dead, Holman is ordered to train a new coolie boss. Engine room work is coolie work, and with coolies running the engine, Holman will be free to join the deck crew in its military mickey-mouse. He chooses Po-han the bilge coolie (Mako). In a moving montage, Po-han proves a bright pupil and the two jointly overcome the language barrier. In the novel, the relationship is developed further with a lot of on-shore fraternizing with Po-han's family and community.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
Incurring the wrath of the coolie commander of the ship, Po-han has to win a prize fight with a blubbery white stoker in order to retain his job on the San Pablo. In what is surely one of the most farcical boxing matches ever filmed, Po-han rallies to blow the doors off Stawski (Simon Oakland), keep his place as engine room coolie boss, and win a pile of money for Jake. The bout takes place in the Red Kettle, the crew's shoreside hangout, a bar/whorehouse owned by a Changsha gangster. This publicity still of the fight was issued as an original Fox lobby card.
A motor pan (motorized sampan) draws up to the ship. Steam is up and she's ready to get under way.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
The ship's coolie commander, Lao P'ai Shing (Henry Wang) revenges himself on Po-han for insubordination. Shing finds an indirect way to get rid of Po-han: to save him from torture and death, Jake shoots his friend through the forehead. When Jake is bugged he goes into the boiler room and furiously shovels coal. Ever a physical actor (but in no way lacking in subtlety), McQueen conveys the character's spiritual Angst. This frame captures Holman's deep pain and guilt over killing one of his few friends. The incident also puts him in dutch with the Captain.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
Holman's buddy Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls in love with Maily (Maryat Andriane), a Chinese beauty who is in debt to Victor Shu (James Hong), a Eurasian gangster. After Frenchy and Holman ransom her from Shu, Frenchy "shacks up" ashore and searches in vain for a way to marry her: interracial marriage was not only taboo but formally illegal, although shacking up was quite common.
