The Long Voyage Home

"The Love of Women in Their Eyes... The Salt of the Sea in Their Blood!"

1940 1h 45m EN

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6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 105

DramaWar

Synopsis

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The crew of the merchant ship Glencairn hope to survive a transatlantic crossing during World War II. Adapted from four Eugene O'Neill one-act plays.

“The Love of Women in Their Eyes... The Salt of the Sea in Their Blood!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

John Wayne
Ole Olsen
Thomas Mitchell
Driscoll
Ian Hunter
Smitty
Barry Fitzgerald
Cocky
Wilfrid Lawson
Captain
John Qualen
Axel
Mildred Natwick
Freda
Ward Bond
Yank

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Ford
Writers: Dudley Nichols
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

86 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Ford, shot by Gregg Toland. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Richard Hageman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sherman Todd shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

John Wayne and Thomas Mitchell and Ian Hunter carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Love of Women in Their Eyes... The Salt of the Sea in Their Blood!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0032728 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Ford directs. Gregg Toland behind the camera. Richard Hageman scores. Sherman Todd cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by John Ford, shot by Gregg Toland. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Richard Hageman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Sherman Todd shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5John Wayne and Thomas Mitchell and Ian Hunter carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The Love of Women in Their Eyes... The Salt of the Sea in Their Blood!".
7IMDB entry: tt0032728 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gregg Toland
Original score: Richard Hageman
Editing: Sherman Todd
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Long Voyage Home (1940)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

John Ford

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-01-15
★ 7/10
John Wayne takes on the mantle of a Swedish sailor embarked on a freighter carrying a cargo of high explosives from the USA to the UK at that start of WWII. His "Olsen" character is maybe the most stable of the crew aboard the vessel as at least he has an home and an elderly mother to go home to. Just about everyone else on the ship is truly rudderless. They live their lives staving of the peril and the loneliness by drinking as much rum as they can lay their hands on and availing themselves of any ladies who will deign to come aboard. It's a tight community and though they fight and bicker, sometimes quite violently, they do look out for each other. They are led, after a fashion, by the wily "Driscoll" (Thomas Mitchell) but there is also Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald and Ian Hunter amongst their number who also have to deal with a gamut of emotions not often portrayed by men in Hollywood movies. There's a prevailing humanity in this John Ford adventure that's not so much an action on the high seas story as a psychological analysis of just how permanently toxic conditions can affect the mind sets of even the strongest of characters - and, let's face it, none of these men are exactly that! It also delivers quite a salutary lesson in just what constitutes masculinity in the face of prolonged uncertainty and is entirely devoid of any semblance of romance - unless you count Mildred Natwick's duplicitous "Freda" towards to end! It's quite a thoughtful piece that's maybe not quite what you'd expect.

Production companies