Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

edwagreen Stanley Kramer always made successful films dealing with social issues and this 1953 film is no exception to that rule.As a Holocaust survivor who lost his wife and children, Hans Muller (Douglas) comes to Israel in 1949.He reminded me somewhat of Rod Steiger in "The Pawnbroker," as he is unable to come to grips with what has occurred in his life and he constantly confuses his current life with what has happened to him in the past. A routine encounter with an Israeli policeman leads to near tragedy and Douglas runs away to a Kibbutz where he finds love and understanding with a woman and a young sabra who he meets along the way.The final scene where Douglas is trapped in a one- room area is similar to that of his captivity in a concentration camp. The torture expressed on his face was reminiscent of what he would exhibit in "Lust for Life" years later.

Robert J. Maxwell I don't know why this isn't a better know film because it's generally well acted and thoroughly absorbing.Kirk Douglas is a famous German juggler who has survived a concentration camp where he lost his wife and children. He winds up a refugee in Haifa but his experiences have left him deranged, mistaking strange women for his wife, claustrophobic, bitterly mistrustful of authority. He runs away from the refugee camp, battering a curious policeman almost to death, and hikes across much of Israel with a boy, Joseph Walsh, that he's picked up along the way. When he reaches a remote kibbutz, they welcome him, and he and one of the staff, Milly Vitale, fall in love. But the police are on his trail because of the assault on the cop. They capture him and take him away for trial and psychiatric treatment.Describing the tale in a precis like this drains it of all blood. Along with "Champion", it's certainly one of Kirk Douglas' finest performances. The climactic scene in which he's locked all the doors to a tiny cabin and threatens to kill any policeman who tries to break in is indescribable. Milly Vitale, at the door, makes the point that he hasn't locked others out, he's locked himself in. And when Douglas realizes that she's speaking the truth, his eyes roll back and his face is distorted with anguish.Of course it's overdone. This is Hollywood speaking. And they want to make sure you get each particular point, even if they have to hit you over the head with a crowbar to do it. Thus, when Douglas' shirt sleeve is accidentally rolled back, uncovering his tattoo, someone must remark, "That's a concentration camp number. You must have been in a concentration camp!" The last shot is a disappointment, with Douglas on his knees, begging for help.At the kibbutz we get the happy peasant cliché. Everyone is kindly and unpretentious. They take pleasure in simple things, like the arrival of two cows, which they decorate with flowers. And after that, there must be a folk dance to George Antheil's frenzied music and Edward Dmytryk's gigantic close ups of wildly happy faces.The cast look genuine enough in dusty work clothes. Douglas appears only briefly with his hair carefully trimmed, combed, and moussed. But Milly Vitale is always made up and wears a stylish 1953 do. That's a mistake, because Milly Vitale is radiant and doesn't need her face plastered with goo.But there are moments, sometimes brief, just a line or two of dialog, that stand out as if accompanied by barely perceived fanfares. On a hilltop, Douglas is explaining how he lost his family -- thank God, no flashbacks -- and then he answers all her questions with old jokes or tricks. As for how he was swept up, "The juggler is juggled." Why can't he accept the kibbutz as his home? Douglas is juggling four oranges (he's pretty good) and he repeats, in time with the rotation of the fruit, "Home . . is a place . . you lose." Like "The Pawn Broker," the film deals not with the suffering of the concentration camps but with the suffering that lives on within us after the horror is "over." It's a difficult movie to forget.

elfinadrawer Considering that Hollywood never really tackled the Holocaust until Schindler's List and that it only set one other prominent film (Exodus) in Israel, this remarkable movie is amazing on many levels. Douglass shows once again that he was as versatile as any actor, not merely as a juggler and stage-comedian, but also as a rugged but tortured individual on the run from his pursuers. The setting in post war Israel is wonderful, the supporting players all fine, and some of the scenes sublime (the dance sequence at the kibbutz, the couple's tender embrace, the juggling show, etc.). It is one of the few American films that mentions the terrors of the Holocaust in any direct manner, and one of the few that portrays contemporary Israel realistically. Although, as noted by some critics, it has its flaws, including the lack of a German accent by Kirk, it is still an incredible production on so many levels that it deserves to be seen by a greater audience, which may happen, since it was just screened by TCM this afternoon, where I was luck enough to see it.

dbdumonteil One of Kirk Douglas' more intense performances,it is a pity that this movie should remain a buried treasure."Surviving the horror" could be another title for "the juggler" .A Jew ,who has lost all his family and who has known the concentration camps comes back to the promised land in 1949.Life during WW2 camps has often been described,but life AFTER the nightmare is a subject which has rarely been told in movies with a few exceptions ("die Morder sind unter uns ":Susanne's character and "Exodus": the young man played by Sal Mineo).But never as successfully as here.Hans cannot forget.His psyche is shot."I'm the juggler and the juggled" . He tries to find back his dear departed although he knows they were killed.He suffers from claustrophobia and Douglas makes us FEEL his disease (the film owes a great deal to this extraordinary actor),and every time he sees men in uniform ,he thinks of his torturers.Admirable sequences: Douglas in the desert town ,with all these walls which imprison him ,and those men around who are threats .The minefield where the distraught man and his young pal are rescued by their fellow men who form a human chain.In his absorbing memoirs,Douglas wrote that he once helped Dmytryk who was one of the Unfriendly Tens .But when they made "the juggler" ,the director acted as if they had never met.Douglas thought he was ashamed for having been an informer.But he did not judge him at all.What would I have done if I had been in his shoes ? he wrote.Many films might suggest that Dmytryk was suffering from of a strong guilty feeling: "the sniper" with his burned arm,José Ferrer's arm in a sling in "Caine Mutiny" .And in this film ,Douglas "gagging" his arm-mouth ,or covering it to hide his tattooed number.I agree with all the precedent users.A film which must be restored to favor.