Exodus

The historical importance of this film is not on screen but in its credits. On 19 January 1960, Otto Preminger told the press that Dalton Trumbo had written the screenplay and would receive screen credit. Trumbo was blacklisted and had been working under other names for years. This was the first open defiance of the blacklist by a producer-director; Trumbo's name appeared on Spartacus the same year, and the list was effectively broken. The source is Leon Uris's novel. Preminger first tried working with Uris himself, but the novelist could not make the shift to screenwriting and was dismissed. The story covers Jewish refugees held on Cyprus after the Second World War, their attempt to reach Palestine, and the run-up to the founding of Israel. Paul Newman plays Ari Ben Canaan and Eva Marie Saint the American nurse, with Ralph Richardson and Peter Lawford in support. Who it is for: viewers who want large-scale classical Hollywood historical drama, and who are interested in a turning point in film history. Who it is not for: anyone expecting political balance. The film is openly one-sided, Arab characters are barely present, and it runs three and a half hours.