‘Exodus’ is a 1960 epic war film adapted from the 1958 novel ‘Exodus’ written by Leon Uris. Directed and produced by Otto Preminger, the movie has been made by Alpha and Carlyle Productions, while the distribution has been done by United Artists. The leading roles of the film have been played by Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford, Lee J. Cobb, Sal Mineo, John Derek, Hugh Griffith, Gregory Ratoff, Felix Aylmer, David Opatoshu, Alexandra Stewart, Jill Haworth, Marius Goring, Victor Maddern and George Maharis. The movie showcases some of the historical and fictional events connected with the liberation of the state of Israel in the year 1947-48. It also centers on the events that the ship Exodus had to undergo. Find the plot and summary of this flick in the lines below.
Exodus Story
The movie begins at the Karaolos Internment in Cyprus where thousands of Jews – Holocaust survivors are provided with a homeland. Katherine “Kitty” Fremont (Eva Marie Saint) is an American nurse volunteer at the same camp. A former captain in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army in WWII, Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman) manages to get a ship and is able to free some 611 Jewish inmates from the camp. While escaping to Mandate Palestine, the ship is blockaded by the British in the harbor of Famagusta. The refugees go on a hunger strike, while Ari threatens to kill the refugees and blow up the ship. Hopeless, the British allow the ship to pass by safely.
Back in the camp, Kitty gets fond of Karen Hansen (Jill Haworth), a young Danish-Jewish girl who is separated from her father during the war. She hopes to travel America, along with Kitty, where she plans to start fresh. Meanwhile, the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states is on its high. Karen’s young beau Dov Landau (Sal Mineo) joins the Irgun, a radical Zionist underground network. However, he is caught by the police, but is freed. He meets the members of the real Irgun. He is caught by Ari’s uncle Akiva (David Opatoshu) and forces him to confess his identity as a Sonderkommando in Auschwitz and being raped by the Nazis. Akiva is disowned by Ari’s father, Barak (Lee J. Cobb), head of the mainstream Jewish Agency, attempting to create a separate Jewish state.
The King David Hotel is bombarded resulting in dozens of fatalities and arrest of Akiva. Karen’s father is found, but since he is suffering from clinical depression, he fails to identify his daughter. Karen moves to live at Gan Dafna, a fictional Jewish kibbutz near Mount Tabor where Ari was raised. Kitty and Ari fall for each other. Dov escapes from the soldiers, but returns to find the route to help escape the prisoners. Along with Akiva, hundreds are set free. While Akiva is shot dead by British soldiers, Ari too is severely wounded. He moves to Abu Yesha, an Arab village where his childhood friend, Taha is the mukhtar. Kitty enters and treats his wounds. The Arab nationals come to know about the Jews’ stay in Gan Dafna. Ordered by Mohammad Amin Al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, the soldiers plan to kill all the villagers.
Taha informs Ari about this in advance and hence, Ari is successful in fleeing the kids from the town on the same night. Karen and Dov meet and confess their love. Dov assures her of marrying her one day. On her journey to Gan Dafna, Karen is killed by Arab militiamen. Her body is found by Dov in the morning. The same day, Taha too is killed by Arab Extremists and hung in his village with a Star of David symbol carved on his body. While burying Karen and Taha, Ari swears that the Jews and Arabs will reside together at one place someday in future. The movie ends with Ari, Kitty and a Palmach contingent loading up in trucks and heading towards the battle.
