Babel of Accents in “Long Voyage Home”
Glencaim is the name of the tramp steamer that figures prominently in "The Long Voyage Home,” John Ford’s motion picture production based on Eugene O’Neill’s plays of the sea. But during the production of the film it was nicknamed "The Floating Tower of Babel,” for aboard the ship was the most curious collection of accents Hollywood has ever known. The four one-act plays of O’Neill that were fashioned into a scenario by Dudley Nichols’ cast, as the crew of the Glencaim a group of men owing allegiance to half a dozen different countries and speaking a dozen different dialects. Ford was obliged to find
actors who, if such dialects were not instinctive with them, could at least imitate them convincingly. As a result the Walter Wanger Studios, during the filming of “The Long Voyage Home,” resembled Geneva during a particularly cosmopolitan congress of the League of Nations.
All members of the cast speak English in the picture. It is only in the Interpretation of the various words that they differ.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19410524.2.142
Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21971, 24 May 1941, Page 12
Word Count
177Babel of Accents in “Long Voyage Home” Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21971, 24 May 1941, Page 12
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Timaru Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in