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The Long Voyage Home (1940)

 -  Drama | War  -  11 November 1940 (USA)
7.0
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Ratings: 7.0/10 from 1,892 users  
Reviews: 34 user | 24 critic

Aboard the freighter Glencairn, the lives of the crew are lived out in fear, loneliness, suspicion and cameraderie. The men smuggle drink and women aboard, fight with each other, spy on ... See full summary »

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(based on: four sea plays by), (adapted for the screen by)
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Title: The Long Voyage Home (1940)

The Long Voyage Home (1940) on IMDb 7/10

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Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins. See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Ian Hunter ...
...
Wilfrid Lawson ...
...
Axel
...
Freda
...
Arthur Shields ...
Donkeyman
Joe Sawyer ...
Davis (as Joseph Sawyer)
J.M. Kerrigan ...
Crimp
Rafaela Ottiano ...
Carmen Morales ...
Principal Spanish Girl
Jack Pennick ...
Johnny
Bob Perry ...
Paddy (as Bob E. Perry)
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Storyline

Aboard the freighter Glencairn, the lives of the crew are lived out in fear, loneliness, suspicion and cameraderie. The men smuggle drink and women aboard, fight with each other, spy on each other, comfort each other as death approaches, and rescue each other from danger. Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

John Ford's epic of savage emotions ! See more »

Genres:

Drama | War

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

11 November 1940 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Eine lange Reise  »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

John Wayne once told biographer Maurice Zolotow: "Usually it would be Mr. Ford [John Ford] who helped the cinematographer get his compositions for maximum effect . . . but in this case it was Gregg Toland who helped Mr. Ford. 'Long Voyage' is about as beautifully photographed a movie as there ever has been." See more »

Goofs

Wilfrid Lawson's name is spelled Wilfred in the opening credits, but is spelled correctly in the end credits. See more »

Quotes

Donkeyman: Best thing to do with memories is... forget em.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in RKO 281 (1999) See more »

Soundtracks

"Harbor Lights"
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by Will Grosz
Lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Lots of silly fistfights and drinking, but the threat of a story, too, and GREAT photography
21 July 2010 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

The Long Voyage Home (1940)

Any movie with Gregg Toland behind the camera is worth watching, with an emphasis on the visual experience. From Wuthering Heights (1939) to the Little Foxes, Ball of Fire, and Citizen Kane (all 1941), in three years, Toland lifted (again) the standards of the best Hollywood could do. This isn't just me saying this, and of course there are other great cinematographers, but if you've seen these movies you know they are exceptional. I falls right in the middle of this great stretch, and it has the revered John Ford directing, letting Toland do his thing, right from the first scene.

This is a solid, sometimes moving, sometimes dramatic movie, for sure. But the long first part is a composite of manly clichés: drinking, fighting, and womanizing. It's all in good fun, in a way, and the exoticness is made to sell movies. But there's quite a lot of nothing going on beyond seducing native women in some unnamed distant land. The dancing and fighting are filmed with Toland perfection, but it turns quickly to farce, or stereotype.

Thomas Mitchell is a lively Irishman in his best form, and John Wayne is an improbable Swede, and doesn't stand out much from the bunch except toward the end, when he is a block of wood with a bad accent. The story is a series of misunderstandings and friendships, but since the plot is made of four different Eugene O'Neill plays (from 20 years earlier), there is a little discontinuity to it all.

All of this is set during that strange cusp between World War II beginning in Europe and the U.S. still not joining in. The ship is carrying ammunition, and hints of things that really matter are given right at the start, with some news reports crackling into the seeming isolation of the ship. As the captain says as they are to depart from New York with the military cargo, "If it doesn't get there it'll be missed. But we won't."

Isolationism gets a more famous treatment in Casablanca two years later, after the Americans are already at war, so in a way, a big name movie like this had more potential influence on American sentiment. It's fascinating to see this Walter Wanger/John Ford/John Wayne collaboration after their breakthrough Stagecoach the year before (producer, director, star). But the stakes are raised, and the production level is much higher.


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