Exodus

The same year he broke the blacklist with Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, writer Dalton Trumbo teamed with Otto Preminger for another outsized tale of national liberation. Exodus (1960) is one of Hollywood's more challenging epics: very long, very talky and with precious little action, it should be a thudding bore. But this adaptation of Leon Uris's novel is a powerful experience.

Recently widowed nurse Kitty Fremont (Eva Marie Sant) arrives on Cyprus, where the British military governor (Ralph Richardson) is detaining hundreds of Jewish refugees. Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman), a member of the Zionist Haganah, arrives in Cyprus with a cargo ship and a plan to smuggle the refugees into Palestine. A hunger strike leads to their success, but in Palestine Ari gets caught in a struggle between his moderate father (Lee J. Cobb) and revolutionary uncle (David Opatoshu). Refugee Dov (Sal Mineo), a bitter Holocaust survivor, joins the terrorist Irgun and is arrested by the British until rescued by the Haganah. Eventually Israel achieves independence, but Arab resentment gives rise to a new conflict.

Despite its near-four-hour length, Exodus is never boring. Preminger's film is wonderfully huge in scope, mixing authentic location shooting, a perfect cast and Trumbo's literate script. The movie will frustrate those looking for action and spectacle. Like Spartacus, it sets up battles and confrontations but only shows the bloody aftermath. The second half has its share of exciting setpieces, however, especially an elaborate jailbreak of terrorist leaders and a subsequent chase scene. Ernest Gold's evocative score is another highlight.

Preminger and Trumbo endorse Zionism as a great liberal cause. Discovery of Hitler's Final Solution let to an outpouring of horror and guilt in the West. The true story of the SS Exodus isn't half so bad as similar incidents (see: MS St. Louis) which occurred before and during World War II: restrictive immigration laws and Western indifference doomed untold European Jews. The war left millions of Jewish refugees with nowhere to go; the British Mandate of Palestine, with its sizeable Jewish population, became a pragmatic solution. Championing Israel was a liberal imperative, ignoring what the Arabs might think about a Jewish nation in their midst.

Exodus has no doubts about the righteousness of Israeli statehood. Jews languish in poorly-run camps on Cyprus, overseen by British troops either anti-Semitic or indifferent. Barak's Jewish settlement is a perfectly run communal society where even Arabs are welcome. The Arabs who oppose Israeli statehood are crudely represented by an odious ex-Nazi (Marius Goring). While characters debate the righteousness of the Irgun's terror campaign, the movie never seriously questions their motives.

Given the modern left's ambivalence towards Israel, Exodus's pro-Zionist attitudes might surprise viewers. In 1960, barely a decade removed from WWII, surrounded by Arab nations and viewed warily by the West, Israel was a clear underdog. In the aftermath of the Six Day War and four decades of heavy US support and Palestinian occupation, its position is more ambiguous.



Trumbo loved utopian excess and Exodus is no different. Ben and his father indulge in purple prose oratory about the coming paradise, while Arab sheik Taha (John Ireland) pleges his undying friendship. The scenes with Karen (Jill Hayworth), an improbably-innocent teenager, register more strongly: her monologue about Denmark's reaction to Nazi occupation is enough to melt the stoniest heart. But this aspect is contrasted with reminders of real-world nastiness. Dov's anguished reminiscence of his time in Auschwitz is skin-crawlingly effective. Exodus reserves the nastiest fates for its nicest characters, showing that the promised land is a long way off.

Paul Newman is in top form. Ben Canaan is more conventionally heroic than his usual troubled protagonists, but Newman's rugged charisma and gritty determination suit him perfectly. Eva Marie Saint (North By Northwest) has a difficult character arc - grieving widow, aloof humanist, passionate patriot - that she pulls off beautifully.

The supporting cast is a pleasant surprise. Of course Ralph Richardson and Lee J. Cobb provide their usual gravitas, and old pros Hugh Griffith (How to Steal a Million), Felix Aylmer (Becket), Gregory Ratoff (All About Eve) and Marius Goring (The Red Shoes) are always good. But outside of Rebel Without a Cause, when has Sal Mineo done anything worthwhile? When have John Ireland and Peter Lawford ever been anything but embarassing hams?

They're all in unusually fine form here. Mineo is superb as a traumatized punk turned revolutionary, nourishing a budding romance and finding a cause to believe in. Ireland plays his role with unusual sensitivity, and Lawford's caricature Englishman is amusing. Best of all is Jill Hayworth, whose Karen serves as the film's emotional rock.

Exodus is a fine film. It's a shame that some viewers will be put off by its politics, because it remains one of Hollywood's most thoughtful epics.