Exodus (1960)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)
Leon Uris (novel)

Release Date:

15 December 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Plot:

The theme is the founding of the state of Israel. The action begins on a ship filled with Jewish immigrants...

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Israel | Arab | Nurse | Cyprus

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Ari Ben Canaan
Eva Marie Saint	...	Kitty Fremont
Ralph Richardson	...	Gen. Sutherland
Peter Lawford	...	Maj. Caldwell
Lee J. Cobb	...	Barak Ben Canaan
Sal Mineo	...	Dov Landau
John Derek	...	Taha
Hugh Griffith	...	Mandria
Gregory Ratoff	...	Lakavitch
Felix Aylmer	...	Dr. Lieberman
David Opatoshu	...	Akiva Ben Canaan
Jill Haworth	...	Karen
Marius Goring	...	Von Storch
Alexandra Stewart	...	Jordana Ben Canaan
Michael Wager	...	David Ben Ami

Runtime:

208 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved ( certificate #19611) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Acre, Israel

Company:

Otto Preminger Films

Trivia:

Director Otto Preminger helped to end the stigma of the Hollywood blacklist by hiring Dalton Trumbo to adapt the screenplay for the film

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Shortly before escaping from prison, two of the main characters are playing a game of chess. The chessboard is set up the wrong way, as is clearly seen when the guard takes it away. Each player should have a white square on his right hand, not a black one.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Cypriot guide: The island of Cyprus, madame. World famous for beauty, and long, tragic history. Been conquered many times, conquered by Phoenicians, Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians; also conquered by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Turks. Purchased from Turkey by your esteemed self, the British Empire. All Cyprus most wanted the British.
Kitty Fremont: [correcting him] I'm an American.
Cypriot guide: Fond of Americans, also; we Cypriots are fond of everybody.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Sopranos: Remember When (#6.15)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Exodus song

Exodus Succeeds In Its Mission

The film version of Leon Uris' Exodus was intentionally scripted for an American audience unfamiliar with Holocaust and Jewish themes. In fact, the film harps on major character Kitty's discomfort just being around Jews. Exodus is a 1960's Hollywood version of the creation of the modern State of Israel "for dummies", and in this it succeeds. While not having any religious Jewish content whatsoever, the film discuss themes of Jewish identity after the Holocaust, the plight of Jewish refugees under the British, the internal struggle of the Haganah versus the militant Irgun, and major historical incidents in the War for Independence 1948. While inaccurate about the actual Exodus ship incident, the film was a milestone in American Jewish cinema and identity. To this day, the film's music remains a mainstay in Jewish American homes.