The Long Voyage Home 08/29/23

This 2016 restoration helps Eugene O’Neill’s seagoing story retake its place as one of John Ford’s most accomplished pictures. John Wayne stars as part of an ensemble — Ford’s direction and Gregg Toland’s cinematography are the stars. A crew of ordinary merchant seaman must sail into wartime waters. O’Neill provides the ironic character studies, and John Ford’s philosophical view of men at sea fills out the details. With no conventional romance, this melancholy thriller faced an uphill battle at the box office — O’Neill and Ford offer a more realistic representation of the sailors’ women in port. The cast is a full roster of Ford actors — Thomas Mitchell, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, John Qualen — and a melancholy outsider, Ian Hunter. On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
08/29/23