Conflito Sangrento

I first saw Judith years ago on the big screen when it first came out and was blown away by both Sophia Loren's beauty and her performance as concentration camp survivor Judith Auerbach. Even among the nameless, faceless members of her faith in those camps Judith has a unique story to tell.

For she was in fact the wife of Wehrmacht General Hans Verner who was given a choice by the Nazis his career or his Jewish wife. Verner disowned her and she was thrown into Dachau her daughter taken from her and presumed dead. She lived on hate to survive with only one mission, nail her ex-husband any way she can.

But the Haganah in Palestine in the days just before the formation of Israel want Verner as well. He's rumored to be in Damascus teaching the Arabs the rudiments of tank warfare, Nazi blitzkrieg style. There aren't any good pictures of Verner and there is only one who can really identify him. Hence Loren is smuggled into Palestine from the refugee camps at Cyprus that we all know from Exodus.

She's brought to a Kibbutz on the Syrian border in the care of Haganah commander Peter Finch. He's the one with the mission of getting Verner taken alive to extract information and they need Loren, but Loren has other ideas.

Finch also takes an interest in Sophia personally, who wouldn't. Another who is taken with her is British Major Jack Hawkins in one of his last films before throat cancer claimed his larynx. He's a spit and polish army regular, but he turns out to have a streak of humanity in him that even he didn't realize.

Judith kind of got lost between those other two great films about the founding of Israel, Exodus and Cast A Giant Shadow. It's been not broadcast for several years for inexplicable reasons and that's a pity because Sophia and the whole cast is wonderful.

Judith more than either of the other two films shows a good deal more of life on the Kibbutz. Israeli actress Zaharira Harifai plays the camp doctor and more than anyone else awakens in Loren a feeling that she is among friends and that the new state of Israel will give her a home and she can make a unique contribution to its founding.

Judith is not a film to be missed if it ever sees the light of day again. Demand TCM broadcast it.

Underrated drama widely more interesting and exciting than the mammoth "Exodus", which by all means has its great qualities, but this is more universal in its deeper human presentation.

Sophia Loren has been described as miscast in this role, but that doesn't diminish her acting qualities. She is always superb and no less here than in any other of her films. It's true, her make-up and hair style, eye mascara and sometimes overwhelming sex appeal might seem a little out of place for a concentration camp veteran with a past as a German officer's s fling bent only revenge in extreme bitterness dominating all her life, but Sophia Loren manages it. Although she is as flamboyant a character as she is, she makes even this ruin of a girl a convincing character.

Peter Finch is equally good and as perfect as ever, while Jack Hawkins as the major approaching the end of the line gives the film the one soft touch it needs to become supremely interesting.

Saul Kaplan's music is also very adequate, actually vying with the "Exodus" theme sometimes, so there is nothing wrong with this film. On the contrary, it is underrated and as a human drama much more interesting and engaging than "Exodus", and Peter Finch is more convincing than Paul Newman.

This is the story of Jewish underground fighters' efforts to track down a former Nazi Panzer commander who has been helping the Syrians with tank strategies in the months before Israeli nationhood was declared. Only one woman can help them identify the commander, so they smuggle her into Palestine. Judith, the central character in the story, is a survivor of Dachau where she lost her son. But she has a darker past at the concentration camp which gives her the ability to identify the German commander. Played by Sophia Loren, Judith certainly has the physical ability to appeal to various men and get the information she needs. She also has a personal reason to find the German which complicates the story. For some reason, this movie has gotten a bad rap from some of the ratings guides but it is an entertaining and well-produced film. The technical aspects are first-rate as is most of the acting with Peter Finch and Jack Hawkins acquitting themselves admirably in opposing roles.

This film is a superb film. I managed to get the soundtrack of it on vinyl but have not seen it anywhere on DVD. I think it is possibly one of Sophia Loren's best films. Does anyone know if it is likely to be released at any time. This film used to be shown regularly on British television and now seems to have gone into the archives. The film shows a very good matching of characters to the parts they play. Jack Hawkins also plays his character with feeling and depth.The subject matter to certain people in view of the current situation in Israel could make this film a little to near the mark for certain people. I would ask that someone reviews the issue of non availability on DVD.

Sexy Sophia is always worth watching (even when saddled with possibly the worst hairstyle of her career), and she is well-supported here by Peter Finch, Jack Hawkins and Hans Verner, but this is one of her lesser films. More than the entire first hour is all setup, and lacks tension. Things get a little more engaging in the last half hour, and the film does close with some well-staged epic-scale battle scenes. So it's not quite the BOMB Leonard Maltin classifies it as. But the ending leaves the story unfinished - were they naively hoping for a "Judith II"? **1/2 out of 4.