The Long Voyage Home (DVD, 2006)

Director John Ford took four of Eugene O'Neill's one-act plays about the sea, and created this classic 1940 film about seamen and their lives, changing the setting from the turn of the century to WWII. This was O'Neill's favorite film based on his plays, and he actually watched it often enough to eventually wear out his film print. This is also one of the few films in which Duke played a non-American, creating an impressive Swedish accent!

This is not your standard John Wayne film. This is one of the few roles Duke played in which he is not the strong hero, doing what's right against the odds. In Wayne's character Ole Olsen, we see a young Swedish farmer, vulnerable, naive and easily taken-advantage of. He does an impressive and convincing job in the skin of Ole, and it is a joy to watch him as such a very different man.

THE LONG VOYAGE HOME is also well worth seeing for its highly unusual film techniques. It is one of the most beautifully photographed films ever made, profound in its angular shots and wide-angle close-ups, techniques next-used by cinematographer Gregg Toland for CITIZEN KANE.

THE LONG VOYAGE HOME clearly demonstrates the brilliance of legendary director John Ford. A haunting film not to be missed.