Exodus (1960)

An American widow (Eva Marie Saint) is visiting the island of Cyprus in 1947 when she becomes involved with Jewish refugees being detained by the British which refuse to allow them to enter Palestine (then under British "protection"). When she falls in love with a Zionist rebel (Paul Newman), she further becomes involved in what ultimately will become the new state of Israel. Based on Leon Uris' massive best selling novel (reputedly the biggest seller since GONE WITH THE WIND), its length notwithstanding (Mort Sahl joked "Otto, let my people go!") Otto Preminger's three and a half our epic remains a compelling look at the birth of Israel. The film is decidely pro-Israel but I realize there are two sides to every story (the Arabs are minimized in the film) but that's another movie yet to be made. With two exceptions, the film is crammed with strong performances notably Sal Mineo (Oscar nominated). The two exceptions are Gregory Ratoff who couldn't resist hamming it up and Peter Lawford who embraces a stereotype rather than give us a real human being. Beautifully shot in 70 millimeter by Sam Leavitt (1954's A STAR IS BORN) with a famous Oscar winning score by Ernest Gold. With Ralph Richardson, Lee J. Cobb, John Derek, Hugh Griffith, George Maharis, Jill Haworth, David Opatoshu, Felix Aylmer, Marius Goring and Alexandra Stewart.