Not Without Historical Interest, Hollywood and the Jewish "Survivors" Post-War Situation, it is Nonetheless a Less than Engaging Melodrama that doesn't Quite Know how to Handle the Whole Thing. Like Some Excellent Film-Noirs, this is Not that Gripping in its Display of Post War Trauma and the Psychological Impairments that Resulted.
This Film does Try Very Hard but is Ultimately Stagy and Flat and Barely Interesting. Although the First Hollywood Movie to Go to the Newly Formed Country Israel, it is Rather Unremarkable the Way it Portrays the Location. Ironically it's just Bland and Not Very Compelling.
There are Some Fine Moments, Like when a Little Girl is Prodded into Giving Up a Photo of "The Juggler", Kirk Douglas as Hans Muller, She is Told..."Sometime we must give up our friends for the sake of the law."...Yikes...Isn't that what the Nazi's Demanded? Isn't that what the Mccarthy Commie Hunt Demanded?
Overall, the Broad Subject Matter of Concentration Camp Survivors was Rare in the Movies, and for that this One is Special. But it isn't an Especially Good Movie. A Fair Attempt at a Difficult Subject, but the Results are Inconsistent and the Film as a Whole is Less than the Talent In Front of and Behind the Camera in this Noble Mediocrity.
This Film does Try Very Hard but is Ultimately Stagy and Flat and Barely Interesting. Although the First Hollywood Movie to Go to the Newly Formed Country Israel, it is Rather Unremarkable the Way it Portrays the Location. Ironically it's just Bland and Not Very Compelling.
There are Some Fine Moments, Like when a Little Girl is Prodded into Giving Up a Photo of "The Juggler", Kirk Douglas as Hans Muller, She is Told..."Sometime we must give up our friends for the sake of the law."...Yikes...Isn't that what the Nazi's Demanded? Isn't that what the Mccarthy Commie Hunt Demanded?
Overall, the Broad Subject Matter of Concentration Camp Survivors was Rare in the Movies, and for that this One is Special. But it isn't an Especially Good Movie. A Fair Attempt at a Difficult Subject, but the Results are Inconsistent and the Film as a Whole is Less than the Talent In Front of and Behind the Camera in this Noble Mediocrity.