The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Norman Reilly Raine (screenplay) &
Heinz Herald (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

2 October 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Devil's Island | Writing | Paris France | Court Martial

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

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 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
Robert Warwick	...	Major Henry
Charles Richman	...	M. Delagorgue
Gilbert Emery	...	Minister of War
Walter Kingsford	...	Colonel Sandherr
Paul Everton	...	Assistant Chief of Staff
Montagu Love	...	M. Cavaignac
Frank Sheridan	...	M. Van Cassell
Lumsden Hare	...	Mr. Richards
Marcia Mae Jones	...	Helen Richards
Florence Roberts	...	Madame Zola
Dickie Moore	...	Pierre Dreyfus
Rolla Gourvitch	...	Jeanne Dreyfus
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Chief Censor (uncredited)
Maurice Black	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	(uncredited)
Egon Brecher	...	Brucker (uncredited)
Iphigenie Castiglioni	...	Madame Charpentier (uncredited)
Robert Cummings Sr.	...	Gen. Gillian (uncredited)
Frank Darien	...	Albert (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	(uncredited)
Holmes Herbert	...	Commander of Paris (uncredited)
Paul Irving	...	La Rue (uncredited)
Alexander Leftwich	...	Maj. D'Aboville (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
Frank Mayo	...	Mathieu Dreyfus (uncredited)
Alex Novinsky	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
Moroni Olsen	...	Capt. Guignet (uncredited)
Frank Reicher	...	M. Perrenx (uncredited)
Walter O. Stahl	...	Sen. Scheurer-Kestner (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Brincken	...	Swartzoppen (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Prefect of Police (uncredited)
Harry Worth	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)

Directed by
William Dieterle

Writing credits
Norman Reilly Raine		(screenplay) &
Heinz Herald		(screenplay) &
Geza Herczeg		(screenplay)
Heinz Herald		(story) and
Geza Herczeg		(story)
Matthew Josephson		(source material "Zola and His Time")

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(photography)

Film Editing by
Warren Low

Art Direction by
Anton Grot

Set Decoration by
Albert C. Wilson

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson
Ali Hubert

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Irving Rapper	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Harper Goff	....	set designer (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Irving Rapper	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1937) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (video rating) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #3212)

Filming Locations:

Goff Island, Laguna Beach, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The film was shot in reverse order; Paul Muni grew his own beard for the role, and it was trimmed and darkened as he proceeded to scenes where Zola is younger. His makeup took 3-1/2 hours to apply each morning.

Quotes:

La Rue: We've been watching your writings, young man. You're a troublemaker! These articles of yours, attacking our leading men of letters, the arts! Criticizing the civic authorities!
Émile Zola: Perhaps you know of something better for me to criticize?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Still one of the best Hollywood docudramas

Handsomely mounted in the Warner Brothers style of the 30's, and topped off with a stirring Max Steiner score, "The Life of Emile Zola" (***) remains a passionately engrossing experience. Refreshingly, the film admits upfront right after the opening titles that it's a fictionalization, something that isn't done nearly as often it should be in today's purportedly "true story" docudramas. (These days, this disclaimer is often buried in the fine print at the very end of the credits after nearly everyone has left the theater.) Even so, "Zola" remains remarkably true to the facts. It skips lightly over the author's early years in the first 20 minutes and then soars to gripping dramatic heights in the outrageous libel trial that Zola underwent after he published his celebrated "J'Accuse" which condemned the hypocrisy and corruption of the military establishment as it falsely accused high-ranking Captain Alfred Dreyfus of treason and then attempted a massive cover-up when it realized it had made a mistake. The movie has been criticized for underplaying the anti-semitic aspects of the Dreyfus prosecution, but it's implied quite neatly in the scene where the camera pans down Dreyfus's resume to his religion while one of his superiors marvels how "someone like that" could became an officer. The film does indulge in some pretty fancy compression towards the end. It implies that Dreyfus was reinstated in the Army right after returning from Devil's Island and on the same day as Zola's tragic accidental death. However, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the real facts are even more disturbing and incredible. In 1899 after his return, Dreyfus was retried and found guilty again by a court tribunal! However, he was pardoned by the President. He was finally cleared of all charges and reinstated in the service in 1906, four years after Zola's death in 1902. Interesting sidelight: Zola and his devoted wife had no children but he did carry on a 14-year affair with one of his housemaids that produced 2 children. I guess there's no way the Warner Brothers were going to complicate the image of their hero as a saintly crusader for truth and justice by including this spicy little domestic tidbit.