The Story of The Exodus

To call the over three hour long 1960 film Exodus a modern epic is by no means an understatement. Like Ben-Hur, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Ten Commandments, this film chronicles struggles, triumphs, and tribulations of the Jewish people. However, Exodus has a more modern, recognizable setting in modern times, set in the year 1949 and highlighting the struggle of Jews after the atrocities of World War II and their campaign to create the now independent state of Israel.

The story begins in Cyprus, where Jewish refugees are being kept in detainment camps by the British because the Jews are not safe in Europe. Widowed American nurse Kitty Freemont (Eva Marie Saint), is in Cyprus after her photographer husband was killed in Palestine. She is a guest of General Sutherland (Ralph Richardson), who along with Major Caldwell (Peter Lawford), is dealing with Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman), a Palestini Zionist who wants to smuggle as many Jews as he can into Palestine to convince the UN to give them their own homeland. In the mix are Karen Johansson (Jill Haworth) a Jewish concentration camp refugee who Karen wants to adopt, Karen's friend Dov Landau (Sal Mineo) who is a Zionist extremist fighter, Ari's father Barak (Lee J. Cobb) and uncle Akiva (David Opatoshu), and Taha (John Derek), the Muslin friend Ari has always loved and trusted, all of whom provide further complications to the plot.

The film was made based off of the book Exodus by Leon Uris, most of the characters are composites of historical figures or act as metaphors for types of people in the world. The debates about the truthfulness and portrayal of the historical events in both the book and the film have not ceased over time. In fact, the debate seems to grow sharper with the passage of time. This article from reason.com explores how much of the story is history and how much is myth.

The film was made by Otto Preminger, who gave credit to blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, helping end the Hollywood Blacklist. It is an epic from the setting to the effects to the costuming to the words the actors communicate. The film shows the complexity of troubles in the Middle East and the hope that peace will some day come. The idea of what is a belief worth dying for is a recurring theme in the film. It showcases the need to have a home of one's home and the hope of the Jews to build back their lives after the war.

Though the film is not as popular as it once was, there are still many reviews of if you can access to help make up your mind about it. Emanuel Levy's Cinema 24/7 has done this review. Another review can be found here, thanks to nerve.com. Blog The Flicker Project has a review that can be accessed here. The San Francisco Civic Center blog had this to say about the film. For more fun with the film, you can look here for a timeline of how and where film production took place and some great screenshots can be accessed thanks to Slim Warez.com.

“Who would ever think that so much can go on in the soul of a young girl?”

For as long as I can remember, by favorite book has always been Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. Since tonight begins Hanukkah, I was thinking about the book and the movie as well, in particular the Hanukkah scene. I have read the diary around six or seven times, have watched the movie a few times, and have seen two plays about Anne Frank. I think during this holiday season, it is important to talk about the film about Anne’s brief but inspiring life.

The diary was turned into a Pulitzer award-winning play and then was adapted by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett into a film, which was directed by George Stevens. The 1959 film, The Diary of Anne Frank, was a major project of Stevens and he put a lot of himself into telling the story. Stevens spent four years working on the film, used black and white to create more drama, and Otto Frank as well as Johannes Kleiman were consulted during the making of the film.

The role of Anne was offered to both Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood. Audrey refused because she had lived in Holland during the same time as Anne and has witness the Nazi occupation and brutality first hand. She did not want to bring back old memories. Millie Perkins, instead, played Anne with Joseph Schildkraut as her father Otti, Gusti Huber as her mother Edith, and Diane Baker as her sister Margot. Shelley Winters played Mrs. Van Daan and won one of the three Oscars for the film for the supporting role. Other roles were Ed Wynn as Albert Dussell, Richard Beymer as Peter, Lou Jacobi as Mr. Van Daan, Douglas Spencer as Kraler, and Dodie Heath as Miep.

There are a plethora of reviews for the film. You can read this one, thanks to Apolloguide.com. Another comes from Altfg.com. This one comes from the Oscar Movies blog. And another great review and synopsis can be found here, thanks to beliefnet.com. If you want more information about Anne Frank, you can access the home site of the American Anne Frank Museum or the site that houses both the one of the house she hid in and the official Anne Frank website. At the bottom of this post, I will place the trailer for the 1959 film.

In one of the last pages of her diary, just before she was captured and taken away, Anne wrote: “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart”. I believe this is a testament to how brave and how hopeful humanity can be, even surrounded by the most fearsome adversity and despair. No matter your religious practices, this is the spirit that the holiday season embodies. And to any Jewish readers out there, Chag Chanuka Sameach.

Ben-Hur: The Stories Behind the Story

Everyone knows the story of Ben-Hur, how it begins with the birth of Jesus Christ, tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur and his family during the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the oppression of Jews during this period, as well as the events of the life of Jesus Christ. Of course, most people know Ben-Hur as Charlton Heston and his childhood friend turned enemy Messala as Stephen Boyd. What many do not know is that the bilblical epic Ben-Hur from 1959 is not first or only version of the story.

The original story was written by Lew Wallace, a Union general in the civil war, statesmen, lawyer, and author. Wallace’s book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was originally published in 1880, making the story close to 130 years old. The book was the bestseller of the Nineteenth Century and has never been out of print since it’s first publishing, though more people know the story of Ben-Hur than they do anything about Lew Wallace. Later, in 1899, the book was turned into a Broadway play, literally setting the stage for it to be filmed when the technology came along.

The first film version of the movie was made in 1907, titled simply Ben Hur. Most versions made of the biblical epic are at least two hours long, since the book is around 575 pages long. Not this version. Canadian director Sidney Olcott managed to condense the film down to a mere 15 minutes, which is some serious talent. You can read two reviews I have found for this version, the first one at the Bible Films blog and another thanks to absoluteastronomy. I have also posted the films below here divided up into two parts. The first is a mere eight minutes and the second is a little over three, so it isn’t a long drawn out film to watch.

The next version is yet another silent one, from 1925, titled Ben-Hur. It followed a similar plot to that of the book and the more famous 1959 version. This version has been preserved by the National Film Registry. You can get some film stills and history on this page and you can access some of the music from the film here, thanks to You Don’t Have to Visit blogspot.
Below is a trailer from this 1925 film.

And finally, we come to the famous 1959 version, which for a long time held the record of the most Academy Award nominated film. If you want more information on this flim, you can access this page, thanks to Filmsite.org, or this one, thanks to reelclassics.com. For a good review, you can read this article, thanks to Associate Content.If you notice, the one thing all of the film versions have in common is that they all include the chariot race scene, perhaps since this is action not to be missed out on. Below is an original trailer from this Ben-Hur for some entertainment.