Exodus (1960)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

1. In spite of its obvious flaws, this movie has been grossly underrated and unfairly criticized by many reviewers, probably due to their purely political views or even more sinister motivations that transcend politics alone. It is especially reprehensible that IMDb continues to publish reviews that are blatantly and factually incorrect and even scandalous such as that of alleged Cypriot, "Mr. Charalampous", below, and this is only one of many examples. When I observe a film that has received an unjustifiable rating, I feel compelled to distort my own rating, as in this case. At the opposite extreme is the hijacking of the IMDb website by the Marion Davies cult, among others, which results in laughably high numerical values of Ms. Davies' mostly mediocre films. That is only one glaring example of many abuses here.2. Unlike many other reviewers, I read "Exodus" by Leon Uris many years ago immediately after his notable masterpiece "Mila 18" and was extremely disappointed by the inane dialogue and artificially stereotyped characters of Kitty Fremont and Ari Ben Canaan, which destroyed the book for me in spite of its very important subject matter. I don't fault Dalton Trumbo for a script which is far inferior to his other works as he was in no position to re-invent the characters from scratch, as they needed to be.3. While many reviewers of varying political persuasions had issues with the historical accuracy of the film, this again reverts back to problems with the original book by Uris and, as is the case with all works of fiction based on historical events, the disclaimer at the very beginning is as clear as day. Don't blame Preminger for any of that. He did the best that he could with the flawed source material.4. In spite of the startling brutality and mass murder that had so recently transpired in Europe for more than a decade, Ms. Kitty declares her highly hypocritical, liberal philosophy that "people are the same, no matter". If "people are the same, no matter", why did she clearly express to General Sutherland her discomfort when in the presence of Jews at the beginning of the film? What a phony. Then, a very short time later, we witness her with a rifle slung over her shoulder during the final scene. Is that because "people are the same, no matter"? Why the sudden change? I don't know about you, but most of the confirmed liberal women I know would have high-tailed it back to Indiana--more likely San Francisco--in a jiffy rather than don a rifle on the Israeli border even for the likes of Paul Newman. This is only one instance of non-credibility among several for me, and I blame Uris more than Preminger or Trumbo for all of the improbabilities from start to finish.5. Among the cast, the unsung heroes were those who took relatively minor roles, including Peter Lawford, a much underrated actor in spite of his high Kennedy connections, Hugh Griffith, and David Opatoshu. Having seen Eva Marie Saint in both her Oscar winning performance of "On the Waterfront" and another memorable contribution to "North By Northwest", I'm not going to blame her for the inferior material that was handed to her here and for the rather unsympathetic character that she portrays in this case. From one native Newarker to another, I'll always love ya, Eva Marie. Newman also did his very best under the circumstances, including the strange and unlikely combination funeral at the end.6. Unlike other reviewers, I appreciated the location cinematography in both Cyprus and Israel. Organizing thousands of extras could not have been an easy task.7. The theme song and the rest of the musical score by Ernest Gold significantly added to the emotional impact of the subject matter far more than the lengthy dialogue, which could have and should have been shortened substantially. In general, I am not a fan of cinematic romance unless it is exceptional, such as Wood and McQueen in "Love With the Proper Stranger" or Holden and Jones in "Many Splendored Thing" even if the latter two couldn't stand each other in real life. I felt none of that magical magnetism between Saint and Newman here, surely not enough to keep Ms. Kitty in the Upper Galilee wedged between Syria on one side and Lebanon on the other. No way, no how.

I love the theme music for this film and, with such powerful subject material, I expected an epic. I was sorely disappointed. Opinions of the film often seem to depend on the extent to which the reviewer sympathises with the politics as portrayed. However, setting politics aside, this is a really bad film, condemned to death by wooden acting, stilted dialog and poor direction. When 'Karen' unexpectedly dies near the end, I was convinced it was because someone couldn't stand any more of her terrible acting! Even worthies such as Newman and Richardson seem to struggle with the lines they've been given. Newman's speech at Karen's burial is cringe-worthy, and he looks embarrassed to be making it. Even the magnificent theme music is largely wasted, played at apparently arbitrary points during the film including, for example, Newman catching a bus. This film is not the epic it could have been, it's not even average.

While in Israel I met some Russian Jewish teen's refuges at a youth village that did not understand where or why they were in Israel. The best way to help them was to get them to read the book Exodus. I went Into town and bought the book Exodus in Russian. It came in two Volumes. I gave it to one of the Russian teens. The next day she with a few others came to me and asked if the story about the hero's girl friend was true. She had been raped, cut up in small pieces and put in a sack on a mule's back and sent home. I told yes it was, as a few weeks before I stumble on to the monument for the young women.Today, I help Israel with the Israel Longhorn Project but I need your help to do it. Please go to http://longhornproject.org and help.I corrected as best as I can. I am dyslexic. Making it hard to write.

I did not read any reviews about this film prior to seeing it.In retrospect I should have, as it would have saved me from wasting time on cheap trash.This film is extremely badly done piece of propaganda that has next to nothing to do with actual events it is supposed to portray.What exactly is the reason not to tell the real story? Why change even basic facts that can be proved such as origin of the ship (it was USA and NOT Cyprus), and historical fact that British actually sent Jewish people this movie is about back to Germany.This film has nothing at all to do with actual history. Its nothing but piece of garbage. A very boring one at that.