Based on Leon Uris's sweeping novel, Exodus is the epic saga of the foundation of the state of Israel in 1947-1948. It begins with a boatload of European Jewish refugees' leaving British blockaded Cyprus, attempting to enter newly partitioned Palestine. The film continues with the struggle between Jewish guerrillas and the British occupation forces immediately prior to the UN vote to decide on the establishment of a Jewish homeland. The film concludes with the first war between the newly established Israeli state and the neighbouring Arab nations. Ari Ben Canaan (Newman) is an Israeli resistance fighter, a member of the Hagannah, involved in the smuggling of Jewish refugees, who takes up arms against the British and the Arabs. Eva Marie Saint plays an idealistic American nurse who assists the Jewish cause, and Sal Mineo plays a member of the Irgun, an extremist Jewish terrorist group. The film is visually splendid; much of it was shot on location; and the memorable music score won an Oscar.