The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

The biopic of the famous French muckraking writer and his involvement in fighting the injustice of the Dreyfuss Affair.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Norman Reilly Raine (screen play), Heinz Herald (screen play)

Stars:

Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut

Won 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Muni	...	Emile Zola
Gale Sondergaard	...	Lucie Dreyfus
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Capt. Alfred Dreyfus
Gloria Holden	...	Alexandrine Zola
Donald Crisp	...	Maitre Labori
Erin O'Brien-Moore	...	Nana (as Erin O'Brien Moore)
John Litel	...	Charpentier
Henry O'Neill	...	Colonel Georges Picquart
Morris Carnovsky	...	Anatole France
Louis Calhern	...	Major Dort
Ralph Morgan	...	Commander of Paris
Robert Barrat	...	Major Walsin-Esterhazy
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Paul Cezanne
Grant Mitchell	...	Georges Clemenceau
Harry Davenport	...	Chief of Staff

Storyline

Fictionalized account of the life of famed French author Emile Zola. As portrayed in the film, he was a penniless writer sharing an apartment in Paris with painter Paul Cezanne when he finally wrote a best-seller, Nana. He has always had difficulty holding onto a job as he is quite outspoken, being warned on several occasions by the public prosecutor that he risks charges if he does not temper his writings. The bulk of the film deals with his involvement in the case of Captain Alfred Dreyfus who was falsely convicted of giving secret military information to the Germans and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devils Island. Antisemitism played an important role in the real-life case but is hardly mentioned in the film. Even after the military found definitive evidence that Dreyfus was innocent, the army decided to cover it up rather than face the scandal of having arbitrarily convicted the wrong man. Zola's famous letter, J'Accuse (I Accuse), led to his own trial for libel where he was ...

---

Plot Keywords:

writer | trial | dreyfus affair | wrongful conviction | false accusation | 

---

Taglines:

He'll Hold You In Silence As Deep As Your Emotions !

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Story of Emile Zola

Filming Locations:

Goff Island, Laguna Beach, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writers Heinz Herald and Geza Herczeg initially took the project to Ernst Lubitsch at Paramount, who immediately recognized the potential of the film. He also knew that Paul Muni was the best choice for the role of Émile Zola -- but Muni was contracted to Warner Brothers at the time, so Lubitsch sold the project on to Warners.

---

Goofs

Alfred Dreyfuss was sent to the French Penal Colony in French Guiana. A map showing "Devil's Island" places it in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Mexico. Devil's Island was in the Atlantic, off the coast of French Guiana. They missed it by more than 3000 miles.

---

Quotes

Minister of War: Books? Books? I don't read books!

---

Connections

Remade as Lux Video Theatre: The Life of Emile Zola (1955)

---

Soundtracks

La Marseillaise
(1792) (uncredited)
Written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
Variations often in the score

User Reviews

A Wonderful Life of Emile Zola ****

Marvelous historical biography of Emile Zola, splendidly played by Paul Muni.

Always for the poor person, Zola immerses himself in the Dreyfus Affair. Count Esterhazy, the guilty person, is successfully able to frame Dreyfus for passing secrets to the enemy during the Franco-Prussian War. What hurts the most is that Dreyfus, a high ranking official in the French army, was immediately condemned due to a wave of anti-semitism throughout France.

Zola shall fight for the exoneration of Dreyfus all the way. In his famous J'Accuse, he drives this goal into total action.

Joseph Schildkraut, as Dreyfus, won the best supporting actor award for his portrayal of the condemned man. You feel his hurt and ultimate triumph through every step of the way. His imprisonment at Devils Island is so realistic. His wife in all this is well played by actress Gale Sondergaard, who shed her usual evil-like performances and turned in a remarkable one as the grief stricken faithful wife of the apparently hopeless Dreyfuss.

When Dreyfus is ultimately exonerated, tragedy strikes. Zola dies accidentally from poisonous gas seeping through his home. He may be gone but his legacy would live on.