Director: John Ford
Distributor: United Artists
Top Billed Actors: John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 6 more:
Outstanding Production - Argosy-Wanger
Best Screenplay - Dudley Nichols
Best Original Score - Richard Hageman
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Gregg Toland
Best Film Editing - Sherman Todd
Best Special Effects - R. T. Layton and Ray Binger and Thomas T. Moulton
Plot: A ship's crew exhibit the follies of man while out at sea during the start of man's greatest folly - war.
Distributor: United Artists
Top Billed Actors: John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 6 more:
Outstanding Production - Argosy-Wanger
Best Screenplay - Dudley Nichols
Best Original Score - Richard Hageman
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Gregg Toland
Best Film Editing - Sherman Todd
Best Special Effects - R. T. Layton and Ray Binger and Thomas T. Moulton
Plot: A ship's crew exhibit the follies of man while out at sea during the start of man's greatest folly - war.
The Best Director winner for 1940 was so prolific, he directed two films that were nominated for Best Picture. John Ford's The Long Voyage Home (1940) is not the movie he won for but it is still beloved by many a cinephile. Dudley Nichols adapted four one-act plays and pieced them together into a narrative that takes the World War I setting into the contemporary setting of World War II, making this Ford's first WWII picture. The collaboration that is most pertinent to film historians (other than the obvious Ford/John Wayne pairing) is that of cinematographer Gregg Toland. He made waves by winning the Oscar the year before for Wuthering Heights (1939); his work here inches him ever closer to the groundbreaking achievement the following year for Citizen Kane (1941).
Like Citizen Kane, the director shared his title card with Toland, indicating just how crucial he was to the look and feel of the film. His use of high contrast lighting allows the deep focus necessary to include many crewman in a single shot, spanning back all the way to the back of the cramped quarters where their bunks are. He also captures the isolation at sea by incorporating the famed soupy fog of the Atlantic, making the deck just as forsaken as the cabins down below. His use of shadows adds another element of artistry and further supports the dark and forlorn setting. The theme of the film includes the struggles of man such as alcoholism, war, and violence. Toland sets the tone visually to make these themes come alive.
I'm a bit torn on the structure of the screenplay. As previously stated, this is an adaptation of four one-act plays so it's impossible for this not to feel episodic. On one hand, I appreciate how these four plays are connected and maintain the thematic elements of some of the downfalls of man. On the other, the overall film feels disparate at times, like the third scenario has no weight on the fourth; perhaps I would have enjoyed a deeper dive into one theme such as alcoholism or bystanders during wartime. I saw one review call it an "Odyssey" which is the most apt description of this narrative and one that allows me to accept the build of the script. One other nitpick I had is John Wayne's accent. It took until the waning moments of the film for me to realize he was attempting to do a Swedish accent. It's a very inconsistent accent and one that would have been better left untried. I like seeing Wayne outside his eventual comfort zone of Westerns, but this is an overall miss for me.
Overall, Ford's Odyssey that displays the follies of man via four connected stories at sea is another feather in the cap of cinematographer Gregg Toland. A precursor to the noir style as well as techniques used in Citizen Kane, the photography alone is enough to bear witness to the Swedish accent of John Wayne.
My Score: 7/10
Like Citizen Kane, the director shared his title card with Toland, indicating just how crucial he was to the look and feel of the film. His use of high contrast lighting allows the deep focus necessary to include many crewman in a single shot, spanning back all the way to the back of the cramped quarters where their bunks are. He also captures the isolation at sea by incorporating the famed soupy fog of the Atlantic, making the deck just as forsaken as the cabins down below. His use of shadows adds another element of artistry and further supports the dark and forlorn setting. The theme of the film includes the struggles of man such as alcoholism, war, and violence. Toland sets the tone visually to make these themes come alive.
I'm a bit torn on the structure of the screenplay. As previously stated, this is an adaptation of four one-act plays so it's impossible for this not to feel episodic. On one hand, I appreciate how these four plays are connected and maintain the thematic elements of some of the downfalls of man. On the other, the overall film feels disparate at times, like the third scenario has no weight on the fourth; perhaps I would have enjoyed a deeper dive into one theme such as alcoholism or bystanders during wartime. I saw one review call it an "Odyssey" which is the most apt description of this narrative and one that allows me to accept the build of the script. One other nitpick I had is John Wayne's accent. It took until the waning moments of the film for me to realize he was attempting to do a Swedish accent. It's a very inconsistent accent and one that would have been better left untried. I like seeing Wayne outside his eventual comfort zone of Westerns, but this is an overall miss for me.
Overall, Ford's Odyssey that displays the follies of man via four connected stories at sea is another feather in the cap of cinematographer Gregg Toland. A precursor to the noir style as well as techniques used in Citizen Kane, the photography alone is enough to bear witness to the Swedish accent of John Wayne.
My Score: 7/10