The Long Voyage Home

Released Nov 11, 1940

1 hr. 44 min.

Drama

List

100%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

70%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the early day of World War II, the crew of English cargo ship the SS Glencairn -- including Swede Olsen (John Wayne), Englishman Smitty (Ian Hunter), American Yank (Ward Bond), and Irishmen Driscoll (Thomas Mitchell) and Cocky (Barry Fitzgerald) -- is sailing from the West Indies to Baltimore. Upon their arrival, their new cargo -- a load of dynamite -- puts the men ill at ease, as does the chance that there may be a Nazi spy on board and the general loneliness of seafaring.

Read More

Read Less

Max

Watch The Long Voyage Home with a subscription on Max.

ed m

Early John Ford. Interesting, but not his best. Fabulous cast.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/29/23

Full Review

david l

Technically speaking, John Ford's The Long Voyage Home is excellent. The direction is reliably good, the score is terrific and its cinematography is particularly inspired with some strangely unique framing of certain shots making the viewing experience more interesting. With that being said, for a movie about a crew of sailors, the characterization is far from great. The actors did the best they could, but the roles were underdeveloped. The plot is also just solid while its pace is too slow.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

steve d

It felt even longer...

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

it was pretty entertaining and the black n white gritty cinematography was very good. However, at times it seemed to play on clichés of the drunken Irish. Some of the accents were pretty bad n of course white women play the Spanish women. Sad how these man couldn't get away from their addiction or the sea, but I can see the draw altho its a lonely n hard life. It wasn't my fav sea-faring movie or movie with John Wayne but pretty good.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

God help me...another six attempts trying to get through another film of a Eugene O’Neil work. I can’t do it. Guaranteed to put you to sleep in 30 minutes. Even the great John Ford couldn’t make this remotely interesting.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/20

Full Review

Audience Member

Not terribly interesting by todays standards

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

John Ford

Director

John Wayne

Olsen

Thomas Mitchell

Driscoll

Ian Hunter

Smitty

Ward Bond

Yank

Barry Fitzgerald

Cocky

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

95%

93%

Hundreds of Beavers

TRAILER

for Hundreds of Beavers

67%

29%

The Stranger

TRAILER

for The Stranger

50%

92%

The Stolen Valley

TRAILER

for The Stolen Valley

93%

95%

Dune: Part Two

TRAILER

for Dune: Part Two

71%

60%

Immaculate

TRAILER

for Immaculate

82%

75%

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

TRAILER

for In the Land of Saints and Sinners

69%

86%

Sweet Dreams

TRAILER

for Sweet Dreams

56%

84%

DogMan

TRAILER

for DogMan

%

36%

Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer

%

%

An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th

TRAILER

for An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

Adapted by Dudley Nichols from four of Eugene O’Neill’s one-act plays, the film is deeply concerned with the threshold between land and sea.

Jul 11, 2023

Full Review

Pauline Kael

New Yorker

One of the finest of all the movies that deal with life at sea, and one of the most successful of all attempts to put Eugene O'Neill on film ...

Oct 8, 2015

Full Review

Sean Burns

Crooked Marquee

An achingly beautiful movie.

Jan 8, 2023

Full Review

Marion Aitchison

Tampa Bay Times

The picture is splendidly directed and boasts some unusual photography. The cast is a fine one with Thomas Mitchell, John Wayne, John Qualen and Ian Hunter giving especially impressive performances.

Jan 13, 2021

Full Review

John Kinloch

California Eagle

Performances are uniformly excellent, Mitchell topping everything he has ever done in motion-pictures. Ian Hunter and John Wayne are brilliant.

Oct 31, 2019

Full Review

Austin Kennedy

Film Geek Central

It's not the most focused and sustained movie, but the solid acting and elegant direction elevate this to another level. What could have been a routine melodrama ends up being quite a classy production.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 14, 2013

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

In the early day of World War II, the crew of English cargo ship the SS Glencairn -- including Swede Olsen (John Wayne), Englishman Smitty (Ian Hunter), American Yank (Ward Bond), and Irishmen Driscoll (Thomas Mitchell) and Cocky (Barry Fitzgerald) -- is sailing from the West Indies to Baltimore. Upon their arrival, their new cargo -- a load of dynamite -- puts the men ill at ease, as does the chance that there may be a Nazi spy on board and the general loneliness of seafaring.

Director: John Ford
Screenwriter: Dudley Nichols
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Walter Wanger Productions, Inc., Argosy Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 11, 1940, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020

Most Popular at Home Now