The Long Voyage Home

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The Long Voyage Home

1940

1h 44m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In the early days 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.

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Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

07/11/2023

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.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

10/08/2015

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 ...

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Sean Burns

Crooked Marquee

01/08/2023

An achingly beautiful movie.

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Marion Aitchison

Tampa Bay Times

01/13/2021

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.

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John Kinloch

California Eagle

10/31/2019

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

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Austin Kennedy

Film Geek Central

04/14/2013

3/4

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.

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Bob H

@RT17518208 Nov 26

Excellent depiction of the difficulties faced by the brave merchant mariners on their unarmed ships in the early days of ww2

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Lynn G

@RT43166931 07/16/2024

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.

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ed m

@RT80499164 05/29/2023

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

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steve d

@RT35616104 07/22/2020

It felt even longer...

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02/28/2020

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.

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10/14/2018

Not terribly interesting by todays standards

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John Ford

Director

John Wayne

Olsen

Thomas Mitchell

Driscoll

Ian Hunter

Smitty

Ward Bond

Yank

Barry Fitzgerald

Cocky

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Synopsis

In the early days 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: Argosy Pictures, Walter Wanger Productions, Inc.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 11, 1940, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020
Runtime: 1h 44m