{"id":43914,"date":"2019-06-20T09:37:59","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T16:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43914"},"modified":"2022-02-21T23:05:47","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T06:05:47","slug":"life-of-emile-zola-the-1937","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43914","title":{"rendered":"Life of Emile Zola, The (1937)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Posterity will choose between your name and mine.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-43916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Poster.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter steadily growing fame and fortune, French author Emile Zola (Paul Muni) &#8212; enjoying a comfortable life with his loving wife (Gloria Holden) &#8212; is called to action when a Jewish captain (Joseph Schildkraut) is falsely accused of treason, and his wife (Gale Sondergaard) seeks Zola&#8217;s help.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Biopics<\/li>\n<li>Courtroom Drama<\/li>\n<li>Donald Crisp Films<\/li>\n<li>Falsely Accused<\/li>\n<li>Louis Calhern Films<\/li>\n<li>Paul Muni Films<\/li>\n<li>William Dieterle Films<\/li>\n<li>Writers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nWilliam Dieterle directed this Oscar-winning biopic about France&#8217;s most famous &#8220;naturalist&#8221; author, who gained both infamy and renewed respect after <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/J%27Accuse%E2%80%A6!\">speaking out against<\/a> the French government on behalf of falsely accused Jewish military captain <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dreyfus_affair\">Alfred Dreyfus<\/a>. Indeed, only the first half-hour of this film is focused on Zola&#8217;s meteoric rise from a penniless artist sharing quarters with his childhood friend Paul Cezanne (Vladimir Sokoloff) to a best-selling author who appears to have &#8220;sold out&#8221; and settled into a life of comfort and riches. At this point, we abruptly switch to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dreyfus_affair\">the Dreyfus Affair<\/a>, and viewers unfamiliar with this historical travesty may well wonder what&#8217;s going on with the film&#8217;s pacing and narrative focus. Naturally, Zola steps up to save the day &#8212; where else could the story be headed? &#8212; and is appropriately honored as a hero. <\/p>\n<p>Peary doesn&#8217;t discuss this movie in <em>GFTFF<\/em>, but in <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em> he admits that while &#8220;Muni was terrific&#8221; as a &#8220;man with the courage of his sometimes foolhardy convictions&#8221;, the &#8220;film [he] loved so much as a kid is quite tiresome today&#8221;, and he questions how the Academy could consider &#8220;honoring this biography in which there is no <em>verbal<\/em> mention that Alfred Dreyfus was Jewish.&#8221; Along those lines, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1512zola.html\">DVD Savant<\/a> writes in his review: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>At only one point in <em>The Life of Emile Zola<\/em> is Alfred Dreyfus identified as Jewish, and I&#8217;ll bet that the writers and producers of the movie had to fight to keep that reference, seen only as a fleeting word on a statistical blotter. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Jew.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Jew.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43921\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Jew.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Jew-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Jew-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThe script emphasizes the incompetence and corruption in the French general staff but barely touches on the heinous anti-Semitism that was at the heart of the Dreyfus affair.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I&#8217;ll agree that even a brief glimpse of the words &#8220;Religion: Jew&#8221; on a piece of paper &#8212; after which Dreyfus is accused of a crime without any evidence &#8212; remains a minor but laudible gamble on the part of the filmmakers at a time when European anti-semitism was so rampant. While the film focuses on military corruption more broadly, the point is clearly made that celebrities with pulpits should be brave enough to use them.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paul Muni as Emile Zola<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Muni.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Muni.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43917\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Muni.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Muni-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Muni-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Tony Gaudio&#8217;s atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43918\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Cinematography.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Cinematography-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Life-of-Emile-Zola-Cinematography-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s recommended for its historical importance as an Oscar-winning feature. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0029146\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1937\/08\/12\/archives\/the-screen-the-life-of-emile-zola-a-brilliant-biography-of-the.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/the-life-of-emile-zola\/review\/104245\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/81353\/the-life-of-emile-zola#articles-reviews?articleId=66967\">TCM Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1512zola.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Posterity will choose between your name and mine.&#8221; Synopsis: After steadily growing fame and fortune, French author Emile Zola (Paul Muni) &#8212; enjoying a comfortable life with his loving wife (Gloria Holden) &#8212; is called to action when a Jewish captain (Joseph Schildkraut) is falsely accused of treason, and his wife (Gale Sondergaard) seeks Zola&#8217;s help. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Biopics Courtroom Drama Donald Crisp Films Falsely Accused Louis Calhern Films Paul Muni Films William Dieterle Films Writers Review:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43914\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43914"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81591,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43914\/revisions\/81591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}