I really enjoyed this film, which was made around the time of Exodus, and covered a similar theme, that of desperate refugees from Europe trying to enter the British mandate of Palestine, and the Kibutzim trying to build their settlement. The location shots were excellent, as was the acting and the story was passable, although stretching credibility somewhat, but the casting of Sophia Loren in the lead role was totally wrong. To begin with, she was far too glamorous in her brief short shorts, tight blouses and full makeup. Not to mention the way she thrust out her ample bosom and exaggeratedly wiggled her bottom from side to side as she strutted. I did not know whether to laugh or groan when she waggled her way through the dining room as if her hip joints has become loose
In her first scene, Loren climbs out of the bottom of wooden shipping crate in which she and another woman have been concealed underneath a lathe for however long it took to ship from another country. The other woman has died, but Loren's make up and hair are perfect and she hasn't a drop of sweat on her. Not to mention the fact that the weight of the lathe would likely have broken through the false floor. Another time, she is smuggled into Syria by boat wearing a very smart spotless white suit and high heels. She then parades around a street market in Damascus in these clothes, sticking out like a sore thumb. Four days later she leaves Damascus still wearing the same impeccable suit, but this time with an injured man on a stretcher, with no indication of how they got him out of the market place. Both the arrival and departure from Damacus puzzled me as it appeared to be from a lake or river. How did they get from Haifa to Damascus in a boat? Don't even ask about her running around in all directions when the shooting started rather than taking cover as she was told to do.
The film would have been much stronger if the character of Judith, who would have been in her 30's and a survivor of Dachau, should have been played by a veteran actress, preferably European with a world weary air and strong sex appeal, a woman who had suffered, seen it all and done it all, not a conventional glamor girl. Ingrid Bergman, Lily Palmer, Simone Signoret, Anouk Aimee, or Jeanne Moreau.
In her first scene, Loren climbs out of the bottom of wooden shipping crate in which she and another woman have been concealed underneath a lathe for however long it took to ship from another country. The other woman has died, but Loren's make up and hair are perfect and she hasn't a drop of sweat on her. Not to mention the fact that the weight of the lathe would likely have broken through the false floor. Another time, she is smuggled into Syria by boat wearing a very smart spotless white suit and high heels. She then parades around a street market in Damascus in these clothes, sticking out like a sore thumb. Four days later she leaves Damascus still wearing the same impeccable suit, but this time with an injured man on a stretcher, with no indication of how they got him out of the market place. Both the arrival and departure from Damacus puzzled me as it appeared to be from a lake or river. How did they get from Haifa to Damascus in a boat? Don't even ask about her running around in all directions when the shooting started rather than taking cover as she was told to do.
The film would have been much stronger if the character of Judith, who would have been in her 30's and a survivor of Dachau, should have been played by a veteran actress, preferably European with a world weary air and strong sex appeal, a woman who had suffered, seen it all and done it all, not a conventional glamor girl. Ingrid Bergman, Lily Palmer, Simone Signoret, Anouk Aimee, or Jeanne Moreau.