Judith

Saw this movie many years ago in the theatre and found it most entertaining with lots of drama and action. Had a lousy ending though, with woman seeking to find her son throughout the entire movie, failing in that endeavor. Maybe this is why I have never seen it come to the small screen.

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.

Not the best nor the worst of her movies - though, to be honest it was not a very good film. I was in college and saw it as part of a double feature (with Promise Her Anything - talk about a weird pairing). I liked the movie even though it wasn't really very good.

It has been almost 40 years since I saw it so I really can't remember all the plot but basically it was an updating of the biblical story of Judith. The time period is after WWII and prior to the start of Israel. Judith (Loren) is a displaced refugee who is smuggled to Palestine in a crate via boat. She emerges (FULLY made-up and drop dead beautiful)) from the crate and the plot thickens (or maybe curdles is a better word).Seems her (ex ?) husband is a Nazi, now living in Damascus, wanted by the Israelis. sSo ....

I knew it was stupid (even in my early 20's) but just watching Sophia was enough. The production values seemed good. I even bought the soundtrack. As I said, I'd buy a DVD or tape copy ....

WHD

Yes, throughout this film and being an amateur artist who likes drawing & painting beautiful women, I was mesmerised by Sophia's eye makeup considering she played a victim of Dachau yet looked remarkably fit, healthy, well fed and sported top of the range cosmetics especially on her face!Other reviewers have adequately commented on the plot and main characters.Considering I am now 69 and have always liked going to the cinema, I was surprised I had never seen this title before but thanks to www.youtube.com it is now available to world audiences.However,this TV movie seemed to be merely a device for showing off Loren's stunning figure and beauty although the action sequences of the Syrian attack on the kibbutz were well produced.My rating was 6/10.

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.