Exodus

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

1960 3h 28m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 239

DramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Ari Ben Canaan, a passionate member of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, attempts to transport 600 Jewish refugees on a dangerous voyage from Cyprus to Palestine on a ship named the Exodus. He faces obstruction from British forces, who will not grant the ship passage to its destination.

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

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Otto Preminger
Writers: Dalton Trumbo
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

At 208 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

66 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Otto Preminger, shot by Sam Leavitt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Ernest Gold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Louis R. Loeffler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint and Ralph Richardson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Otto Preminger directs. Sam Leavitt behind the camera. Ernest Gold scores. Louis R. Loeffler cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1At 208 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
2Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 5.0× over at the box office.
466 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Directed by Otto Preminger, shot by Sam Leavitt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Ernest Gold. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Louis R. Loeffler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint and Ralph Richardson carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The drama and the passion of one of the epic events of the twentieth century!".
10IMDB entry: tt0053804 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "israel", "palestinian-israeli conflict", "propaganda", "jewry".

The technical file

Cinematography: Sam Leavitt
Original score: Ernest Gold
Editing: Louis R. Loeffler
Makeup / hair: A. G. Scott
Runtime: 208 min · 3h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $20,000,000
Return: 500% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Exodus (1960)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Otto Preminger

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2013-11-01
★ 4/10
A want-to-be epic story that fails quite miserable. Excessively long and not well edited with tons of meaningless scenes and quite a bad positioning of the camera which outcomes in wrong lightning and shadows from the filming team. The best is its soundtrack, by far.
CinemaSerf2023-06-17
★ 6/10
Despite having quite a formidable, international, cast - this is really a rather plodding history that's really only memorable because of the Ernest Gold score. The story all centres around a group of Jewish immigrants who are stuck in British-mandated territory and they want to get to Israel. Luckily for them, "Ari" (Paul Newman) is on hand and using a combination of British indifference, politics and guile manages to get them onto a boat and on to their promised land. Thing is, once they get there and try to stand on their own two feet (collectively) they realise that they are quite literally surrounded by hostility. There's even the odd aspect of that from the factions within their own communities as their struggle for independence becomes as much one to survive. The history of this time is fascinating, especially as it's probably not a great deal less lively sixty years on, but the way this chronology unfolds is really wordy and pedestrian. It's clearly a bit of a labour of love for Otto Preminger, but that enthusiasm just isn't contagious as almost 3½ hours really does lumber along in a stop-start manner that makes it difficult to get involved with. The same s truly of the characterisations whom, aside from maybe Lee J. Cobb, don't really engage either. Pity, it's a subject with story well worth the telling - this just isn't really a film that's well worth the watching.