Movie Reviewed: The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Movie Reviewed: The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Paul Muni brings Emile Zola into real life

This film is a masterpiece of Hall B. Wallis’ brilliant production, Paul Muni’s monumental performance as Emile Zola, and William Dieterle’s exceptional direction. No expense was spared in the re-creation of this tumultuous period in France. The film was the first ever to win an Academy Award in the best film category for Warner Brothers Studio. The re-creation of the “J’accuse” courtroom scene is especially very powerful part of the movie. The supporting cast included Joseph Schildkraut as Dreyfus who was also awarded an Academy Award in best supporting actor category. Gale Sondergaard, Gloria Holden and Donald Crisp gave brilliant performance which added some depth to this great movie. Paul Muni was nominated in the best actor category but only lost to the strong challenge by Spenser Tracy for “Captain Courageous.”

The gist of the story is about Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a French-Jewish artillery officer in the French army. When French intelligence found information about someone giving the German Embassy military secrets, anti-Semitism caused senior French officers to suspect Dreyfus, though there was no direct evidence of any wrongdoing. Dreyfus was court-martialed, convicted of treason and sent to Devil's Island in French Guiana. Emile Zola, a leading thinker and writer of the day in France wrote a letter on January 13, 1898 called "J'accuse" in the Paris daily L'Aurore. He accused the French Army of obstruction of justice and anti-Semitism by having wrongfully convicted Alfred Dreyfus. Zola was brought to trial for criminal libel on February 7, 1898 and was convicted and removed from the Legion of Honor.