The Long Voyage Home (1940)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Eugene O'Neill (plays)
Dudley Nichols (adaptation)

Release Date:

11 November 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Women ! the world passed by.

Plot:

Aboard the freighter Glencairn, the lives of the crew are lived out in fear, loneliness, suspicion and cameraderie...

Plot Keywords:

Rescue | Friendship | Swede | Munitions | London England

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

John Wayne	...	Olsen
Thomas Mitchell	...	Driscoll
Ian Hunter	...	Smitty
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Cocky
Wilfrid Lawson	...	Captain
John Qualen	...	Axel
Mildred Natwick	...	Freda
Ward Bond	...	Yank
Arthur Shields	...	Donkeyman
Joe Sawyer	...	Davis (as Joseph Sawyer)
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Crimp
Rafaela Ottiano	...	Bella
Carmen Morales	...	Principal Spanish Girl
Jack Pennick	...	Johnny
Bob Perry	...	Paddy (as Bob E. Perry)

Runtime:

105 min | Soviet Union:72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6410)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Harbor, Wilmington, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

Barry Fitzgerald, who plays the character of Cocky, and Arthur Shields, who played Donkeyman, were brothers in real life. They also appeared together in director John Ford's The Quiet Man (1952).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Wilfrid Lawson's name is spelled Wilfred in the opening credits, but is spelled correctly in the end credits.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Visions of Light (1992)

Soundtrack:

Irish Washerwoman

Splendid Ford movie about a crew members aboard a merchant steamer attempting to get home during 1939s

The talented cast act this excellent screen rendition of Eugene O'Neill's play (it's adapted from three of his one-act plays)about crew sailors aboard a freighter steamer called Glencairn carrying charge containing war-smuggling,TNT, explosives from US to England, at the beginning WWII. The crew talk and contend each other but also save each other from bombing and risks. At the ending terminates with epilogue saying :'Some men like Ole and the Driscolls come a and go and the others live and die and the Yanks and Smittys leave their memories- but for the others the long voyage never ends'.

This dramatic film is a classic Ford displaying his usual themes as strong factor in many films, as emotionalism, partnership, friendship and unlovable camaraderie between the sailors. However looks over-melodramatic during the reading letters from Smittys.The sailors show a nostalgic longing for things past and old values and own home: Sweden,Ireland, England. Straightforward acting by John Wayne as a Swedish sailor named Ole , he was to star habitually for Ford after the director rose his career from B Western in Poverty Row productions, with his greatest hit, 'Stagecoach'. There's magnificent secondary cast playing the seamen, as Thomas Mitchell as a sympathetic sailor, Ian Hunter as the drunk and unbalanced Smittys, Barry Fitzgerald as the humorous cooker,Mildred Natwick as a swindler prostitute, Rafaela Ottiano as a tropical woman, Jack Pennick, a Ford's usual, among others. Descriptive, evocative black-and-white cinematography by Gregg Toland(Citizen Kane) plenty of lights and dark, reflecting loneliness, suspicion,frightening from crew and the smoky, greasy, sweaty atmosphere from merchant ship. The picture belongs period when John Ford(1895-1973) made a rich variety of stories and his reputation rightly rests on his work in the 1940s, as ¨Grapes of wrath,How green was my valley,Fugitive,They were expendable, My darling Clementine¨and the Cavalry trilogy: ¨Fort Apache, She wore a yellow ribbon, Rio Grande¨. Rating : Awesome, above average, a major triumph for Ford and Wayne.It's a must see from John Ford enthusiastic and John Wayne fans.