Seeing him in various roles, Opatoshu never gave a bad performance in his career. He was a leading actor in the Yiddish Theater and to be in this film must have been a dream come true. Making this film must have been the highlight of the career of David Opatoshu. But that was a year rich in supporting performances. Why the Academy overlooked either of them for nominations is beyond me. You will remember both of these people after viewing Exodus. Two of my favorites are David Opatoshu as Akiva Ben Canaan, an Irgun leader and Gregory Ratoff as Lazavitch who was the rabble rouser on the ship Exodus.

Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint are capable enough leads, but it is the supporting characters that really make this film. It's a vigorous and uplifting melody and like so many other good film scores it carries the viewer along in what is a lengthy movie. I remember how much it was played back when I was a lad. Ernest Gold's musical score is one of the great ones done for the cinema. Exodus got only one Oscar, but there was really no competition there. The novel is about Israel's founding, but the issues still remain and Exodus should be required viewing for all who wonder about the need for a Jewish state. But we're not talking about a mythical future. So when Otto Preminger made the film, he had a built in audience, almost in the same way that every Star Trek movie has. The characters in Exodus among the people I grew up with became as known as family members. Growing up in Brooklyn in the Fifties and Sixties, I can tell you that every Jewish household seem to have a copy of Herman Wouk's Marjorie Morningstar and Leon Uris's Exodus.

Exodus uris novel