The Long Voyage Home

This expresses a great sadness about the lives of men at sea. Some are doomed to stay forever. One of the goals of the movie is to finally get John Wayne, an innocent Swedish man, off the boats and home to his old mother. It paints such a bleak picture you really root for him, even with Wayne's horrible performance. It goes right for the heartstrings. There's a great performance by Ian Hunter as the fellow who mainly keeps to himself. He has a secret past, and they suspect he's a spy. This one of John Ford's least self-conscious movies, there's no heavy Americana to deal with and he directs you to the heart of the story and the often drunken emotions of the sailors. **** out of ****

Director John Ford gathers friends as writer Dudley Nichol distills four classic Eugene O'Neill one-act plays into a very interesting tale of men at sea. A tightly knit crew aboard a merchant ship has different reasons to be on the sea. Some just for the money; some to try and forget memories and some to avoid trouble on dry land. The shipmates grumble when they realize they will dock to take aboard wartime ammunitions. John Wayne plays Ole, a young Swede that decides to take his pay and sail home to his family's farm. Part of the crew try to keep Ole sober on shore leave, so he can buy that ticket for home. Otherwise the seamen will get stinking drunk before signing on for another long voyage. Photographed beautifully in black and white; with a well crafted original score. The cast is a who's who featuring: Barry Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Ward Bond, John Qualen, Ian Hunter and Joe Sawyer.

SO many big hollywood stars, and so many oscar nominations in this story by O'Neill. John wayne, Thomas Mitchell, irishman Barry Fitzgerald. director John Ford and Wayne were old buddies by now, so they knew the ropes, so to speak. when a ship is bringing dangerous cargo to the war effort in London, the captain allows the locals in the west indies to bring booze and girls aboard. and when they sail, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. the weather. injured men. and when one of the men acts strangely, they think he's a spy. and they confront him. although he got top billing, Wayne has a really minor role during the first hour. but has a big scene right near the end. It's all pretty good. no big surprises, but good story. Directed by john ford, who made TONS of films with J. Wayne, and won FOUR oscars!

Beautifully shot film about the lives of a merchant ship's crew during World War II, adapted from four Eugene O'Neill plays. The episodic plot and slow pace may not appeal to some but it's very rewarding if you give it a chance. John Ford's artful direction and Gregg Toland's arresting cinematography is some of the best work from either man, both film giants. John Wayne receives top billing and he is good here in a very different role than we're used to with him. But this is really an ensemble piece. The excellent cast includes Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, Arthur Shields, and John Qualen ("By golly!"). All are exceptional actors at the top of their games. It's a moving, atmospheric, character-driven drama that is one of the best of Ford's exceptional body of work.