Exodus (1960)

The state of Israel is created in 1948, resulting in war with its Arab neighbors.

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Dalton Trumbo (screenplay), Leon Uris (novel)

Stars:

Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

The theme is the founding of the state of Israel. The action begins on a ship filled with Jewish immigrants bound for Israel who are being off loaded on Cyprus. An Intelligence officer succeeds in getting them back on board their ship only to have the harbor blocked by the British with whom they must negotiate. The second part of the film is about the situation in Israel as independence is declared and most of their neighbors attack them.

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Plot Keywords:

israel | jewish | 1940s | jewish refugee | based on true story | 

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Taglines:

The drama and the passion of one of the epic events of the twentieth century !

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 January 1961 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Exodus

Filming Locations:

Israel

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$18,966,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,750,000, 31 January 1970

Company Credits

Production Co:

Otto Preminger Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

208 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are important historical differences between the actual "Exodus 1947" ship ("the ship that launched a nation"), and the ship as presented in the movie (and in the original novel by Leon Uris). In the movie, the immigrants are allowed to disembark in Haifa in the spring of 1946, after which they witness the King David Hotel bombing (July 1946) and the Acre prison break (May 1947). The real Exodus 1947 was rammed and attacked by British warships on July 18, 1947. One crew member and two refugees were killed and dozens were injured. The ship was escorted to Haifa, but the refugees were sent back to France the next day, using three more seaworthy ships. When U.N. Resolution 181 was voted on November 29, most of them were back in D.P. camps, in a British occupation zone near Hamburg, Germany.

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Goofs

Karen tells Kitty that "when you're 16, you join the Palmach. Everybody joins." In fact, the Palmach was an elite force of specially selected fighters within the Haganah. It was not open to general membership.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits shown over a background of flames.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Michael Palin/Eugene Record (1978)

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Soundtracks

Shir HaEmek
(uncredited)
Music Traditional
[Hummed by the children crossing the valley]

User Reviews

Most impressive thing about "Exodus" is Ernest Gold's robust score...

The years have dimmed my memory of EXODUS but I realized that I should have written a review for it long ago. What stayed with me, after seeing the film, was the gorgeous and uplifting "Theme from Exodus" by Ernest Gold.

I never read the Leon Uris novel, but understand that a lot of incidents had to be underplayed in the film because the huge novel required a long film of over three hours to do it justice. As it is, it's a bit overlong and full of rich, episodic incidents in the story of the creation of the Palestian war of liberation. It's a sprawling epic and does get a bit tedious at times but the performances all hold the interest.

Especially good are PAUL NEWMAN and EVA MARIE SAINT in the leads, with SAL MINEO giving what is arguably his best performance as a rebel with a cause, and numerous other international players lending their talents.

But the overall effect is somewhat blunted by too much exposition and a lethargy that seems to build during the middle of the story. However, no denying it's quite an achievement on an historical basis and that Ernest Gold score is still worth admiring.