Exodus

The title Exodus is taken from the second book of the Torah and the Old Testament of the Bible. It details the departure of Hebrew slaves out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. In a sequence designed by Saul Bass, the opening credits appear against a blue screen under a burning flame that moves back and forth, right to left, rising very gradually until Otto Preminger's producer-director credit, when flames "subsume" the entire screen. The title Exodus appears with a drawing of several raised arms, some reaching upward, one hand clenched in a fist and the highest hand clutching a rifle. The drawing also was used in the film's publicity, sometimes presented within engulfing flames.
       A Daily Variety news item indicates that in May 1958 United Artists and Preminger purchased the rights to the Leon Uris novel Exodus, set to be published the following Sep. Upon its publication, the novel became an immediate best seller, remaining on the best-seller list for eighty weeks, despite the fact that, according to an October 1959 Variety article, numerous critics, including those from Jewish publications, had panned it. New York Post called it a "Jewish Western"; the New York Times literary critic wrote that "the history of modern Israel strains credulity"; and Israel Horizons described it as "artificial...the characterizations poor, the love interest foolish." The American Council of Judaism described the work as "an unhistorical novel being read as history." The book went on to be translated into over fifty languages and remains Uris' most popular work.
       Modern sources indicate that Uris became interested in writing about Israel after covering the Arab-Israeli conflict as a war correspondent in 1956. According to a July 1959 Variety item, Dore Schary, who had been the M-G-M studio production head, had commissioned the material as an original screenplay written by Uris, intending to produce it. The item concluded that with Schary's departure from the studio in October 1956, the studio lost interest in the project and Uris used the material to create his novel. In his autobiography, Preminger stated that when he read a draft of Exodus and learned the rights were held by M-G-M, he met with them and suggested that if they produced the film they would likely suffer boycotts from Arab countries that he, as an independent producer, would avoid. According to Preminger, concern over a potential boycott motivated M-G-M's sale of the property.
       Writing credits for Exodus became intertwined in the larger issue of the Hollywood Blacklist: A December 1959 Hollywood Reporter "Rambling Reporter" item noted that blacklisted writer Albert Maltz was rumored to be writing the script for Exodus, but in January 1960 Preminger announced that another blacklisted writer, Dalton Trumbo, had been set to write the screenplay. Preminger disclosed in his autobiography that he initially started work on a script with Uris, but that the author could not make the adjustment between novel and script writing and so was fired. Preminger acknowledged going to Maltz to complete the script, but stated that the writer never got past the research stage. Like Maltz, Trumbo was a member of the "Hollywood Ten" and had served eleven months in jail in 1950 for contempt of Congress. Using pseudonyms, Trumbo had continued writing scripts and had won an Academy Award under one of his pseudonyms, Robert Rich, for The Brave One (RKO, 1956; ).
       After years of confusion and rumors over Rich's identity, when the Academy repealed its blacklist bylaw in January 1959, Trumbo identified himself as the film's writer. Despite his admission, Trumbo was not openly publicized as the writer for Universal's Spartacus (see below) until February 1960, after Preminger's public hiring of him for Exodus. Anticipating protests over Trumbo's participation in Exodus, UA announced that Preminger had full autonomy in deciding on the screenwriter. Throughout February 1960 the American Legion campaigned against Trumbo's participation in Exodus and Spartacus.
       In late Feb, the Screen Publicists Guild protested the "interference by the American Legion in the private employer-employee relationships of the film industry," according to a Hollywood Reporter news item. In May 1960, a New York Post article stated that Trumbo had been "fired" as the writer of the Exodus screenplay. An May 18, 1960 Variety article quoted Preminger's assistant as stating that "the Hearst Press had been conducting a campaign against Hollywood rehiring of the writers who had been blacklisted" and that, at any rate, it was impossible to fire Trumbo as the screenplay was "being employed in the filming now taking place in Israel." After 1960, both Preminger and Spartacus producer-star Kirk Douglas claimed credit for being the first to "break the blacklist" by restoring Trumbo's onscreen credit. Spartacus was released two months prior to Exodus.
       A September 1959 Hollywood Reporter item noted that Timmy Everett would be cast as "Dov Landau," and a February 1960 item indicated that John Saxon was under consideration for the role. Hollywood Reporter's "Rambling Reporter" revealed in late February 1960 that Sal Mineo had "taken over" the role of Dov from Everett. Other items stated that Broadway actress Lauri Peters was up for the role of "Karen Clement Hansen" and Ziva Rodann and Suzanne Pleshette were contenders for the part of "Jordana."
       As noted in numerous contemporary sources, the film was shot on location in Cyprus and Israel. A May 1960 Los Angeles Mirror-News article stated that the British Army refused to cooperate with the filmmakers in providing soldiers and equipment on the grounds that the film was anti-British. According to the article, seventy-five U.S. Marines were hired to portray British soldiers guarding the displaced persons camp in Caraolos. The article added that Israeli destroyers were being sent to Cyprus to portray British ships. A July 1960 Variety article indicated that the U.S. Department of Defense had issued instructions to all foreign-based military commands ordering that no off-duty servicemen appear in the film due to "the commercial aspects of the project." The article noted that the objection was likely issued as a response to the active oil lobby echoing concerns by Arab nations over the film's production.
       The film roughly follows Uris' novel, but eliminates nearly all of the lengthy back stories the author provided for each main character. The back stories illustrated the Jewish immigrant experience in Europe and Russia from the late 19th century through Nazi persecution and murders during the Holocaust. Some major character and narrative developments from the book that do not appear in the film include: "Brig. Gen. Bruce Sutherland" is half Jewish and retires to Palestine; the passengers on board the Exodus are almost exclusively children and in addition to a hunger strike, they threaten to commit suicide one by one to force the British release of the Exodus; "Taha" and "Ari" end their long friendship in bitter animosity and Taha is not killed by fellow Palestinians but by a Jewish attack on Abu Yesha. The novel ends not on the eve of the founding of Israel in 1948, but in 1950 after the War of Independence on Passover when Karen is murdered. A 1995 Hollywood Reporter item, commenting on the rerelease of the film, suggests that Ari Ben Canaan was very loosely based on one-time Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), who, as a leading member of Haganah, smuggled over 200 Jewish refugee children into Palestine in 1945.
       Despite dramatic license of some historical facts, both the film and novel Exodus trace the formation of the modern state of Israel using actual events. Sutherland explains to "Kitty Fremont" that the British occupied Palestine after their 1917 defeat of the Turks. British administration over the territory was upheld by the League of Nations at the conclusion of World War I and a 1922 "mandate" outlined British responsibilities in establishment of a Jewish homeland while safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine. Sutherland also mentions the Balfour Declaration, a 1917 document in which British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour stated British support of Zionist plans for a Jewish home in Palestine. As commented on in the film, the British had also made promises to local Arabs, in exchange for their support during the war, for the independence of a united Arab country covering most of the Middle East. Growing anti-Semitism in Europe and Russia during the years between the First and Second World Wars resulted in a marked increase in Jewish immigration to Palestine and brought about Arab hostility that resulted in British restrictions on Jewish immigrants.
       Both the novel and film Exodus open with the British intervention in the voyage of a ship of European Jewish immigrants illegally attempting to reach Palestine. In July 1947 a ship named Exodus 1947 was the first immigrant ship to be turned back by British authorities. Just outside Palestinian territorial waters the ship, which sailed from Site, France, was rammed by a British destroyer and boarded. Three people were killed in the ensuing resistance and passengers were deported back to France where they staged a twenty-four-day strike, refusing to disembark to the vessel. The British eventually returned the Jewish passengers to two German camps. The resulting negative publicity against the British action caused them to change their policy to transport illegal Jewish immigrants to detention camps in Cyprus, where the first portion of Exodus takes place.
       Ari is a principle member of Haganah, an underground Zionist defense organization formed in 1920 in response to Arab attacks on Jewish communities in Palestine. With the Arab riots of 1929 and the Arab Revolt (against the proposed partition of Palestine) from 1936-1939, Haganah turned from a militia into a military body, then with the 1948 formation of Israel, Haganah transformed into the regular state army, the Israel Defense Force. Stated in the novel, and implied in the film, Ari remains with Haganah/I.D.F. As detailed in Exodus, after World War II, Haganah resisted British occupation of Palestine and restrictions on Jewish immigration, but did not support extreme violence, as did the militant organizations Irgun and Lehi.
       In the novel and film, Dov and "Akiva Ben Canaan" are zealous members of Irgun (called "The Maccabees" by Uris), which was responsible for anti-British attacks such as the bombing of the King David Hotel and the bloody breakout at Acre prison, both incidents depicted in the film. The continued unrest in Palestine compelled the British to announce the end of their mandate by May 1948, a major turning point in Exodus. The United Nations, successor to the League of Nations, attempted to solve the continuing civil and ethnic conflict by appointing a committee to vote on the creation of an independent Jewish and Arab state. As shown in the climax of Exodus, the UN vote on November 29, 1947 resulted in the creation of modern Israel the following year.
       News items during the film's production note that, for the first time in motion picture history, premiere ticket reservations were placed on sale the day the picture started filming. By August 1960, the film had advanced ticket sales of over $400,000. Exodus screened in Israel for the first time in July 1961, and then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion deemed it "not always accurate and a bit too long [but] a very impressive picture," according to a July 5, 1961 Variety article. In April 1962, Daily Variety reported that the film had purportedly been seen by twenty-five percent of Israelis. Exodus won an Academy Award for Best Music (Score) and Sal Mineo received a nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Modern sources add Ya'ackov Banai, Larry Frisch, Robert Goodstein, Yossi Graber, Anna Maria Millo, Amos Mokadi, Geula Nuni, Abraham Ofarim, Paul Smith, Mary Ann Spencer and John Van Eyssen to the cast.