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The Long Voyage Home

Released Nov 11, 1940 1h 44m Drama List
100% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 70% Audience Score 500+ Ratings
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
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Critics Reviews

View All (13) Critics Reviews
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

Audience Reviews

View All (48) audience reviews
Lynn G The B&W photography of Greg Toland & his depth of field photography add to John Fords direction, bringing out great performances of the "Ford" cast of seasoned actors including Thomas Mitchell & one of John Wayne's non western leading roles. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/16/24 Full Review 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 Read all reviews
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The Long Voyage Home

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Movie Info

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
Producer
John Ford, Walter Wanger
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
Runtime
1h 44m
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