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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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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

Considered highly contentious in France, the film wasn't granted a proper release in that country until 1952.

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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.

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Quotes

Émile Zola: At this solemn moment, in the presence of this tribunal, which is the representative of human justice, before France, before the whole world, I swear that Dreyfus is innocent! By all that I have won, by all that I have written to spread the spirit of France, I swear that he is innocent. May all that melt away; may my name perish if Dreyfus be not innocent. He is innocent.

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Connections

Referenced in The Majestic (2001)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

May my name be forgotten, if Dreyfus is not innocent.. He is innocent.

In 1937, The Life of Emile Zola was nominated for the largest number of awards, ten. The movie won three including Best Picture. However, sadly and in some ways shamefully, this film has been ridiculed for being dated today, it's ways and means a little obsolete, and it's style rather unusual. That is downright unjust! The style which is portrayed in this remarkable seventy year old film is quite conventional. The dialogue is perhaps overwritten, but the powerful story is there, and the story line is enhanced by intelligent dialogue to say the least, as well as, first rate performances by an excellent cast, preferably Paul Muni (giving possibly his best performance) as Emile Zola and supported well by Joseph Schildkraut as Dreyfus. Not to mention, the film is technically excellent. Editing, costuming, lighting - without doubt, and all the production values stand up beautifully even several decades later.

Sure it's a fictionalized version of the life of the great French writer Emile Zola, however, great fiction can make a great film and that is the case with The Life of Emile Zola. One may forget that this film was released in 1937 when anti-Semitism was again sweeping the continent of Europe, and for that very reason, the word "Jew" is never mentioned and we are only given a short visual reference. To avoid lawsuits from their descendants, only Major Dort and Major Esterhazy names were specifically identified. Others are referred to as the Chief of Staff, the Minister of War, etc. Also, Dreyfus was not freed and restored to rank in 1902, the year of Zola's death, but in 1906 after being found guilty again in an 1899 retrial. These historical errors can be forgiven, because it's the films message which stands and given the current climate, the movie's message is all the more important.

The shifting focus of this film doesn't make it a frustrating experience for modern viewers. In fact, the film flows quite nicely: struggling writer, gets in trouble for his book, then the film follows Zola's success as he becomes a powerful force in society. Eventually we get to 1894, where many claim the film to zoom away from its subject, where the film begins to focus on Dreyfus. With that being said, if you sit down to watch The Life of Emile Zola, don't skip the first third of the movie, because it's every bit as moving and powerful as the dramatic court scene, most notably in the unforgettable self-defense scene in which Muni delivers an outstanding performance.

Unfortunately, had Muni not won the previous year for another biopic, The Story of Louis Pasteur, he would have received the Oscar for his portrayal of Zola. Muni was not only nominated for an Oscar for this role but also received awards from many critics groups. Today many dismiss the significant talent of Muni (one of films first devoted actors), however, one cannot deny he had a great deal with elevating the art of film acting.