The Life Of Emile Zola (1937) Warner Bros. Director: William Dieterle Producers: Henry Blanke, Hal B. Wallis, Jack L. Warner Cast: Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut, Gloria Holden, Donald Crisp. Awards ceremony: -10th Academy Awards: March 10, 1937. Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California. Other films nominated for Outstanding Production this year: -The Awful Truth. -Captains Courageous. -Dead End. -The Good Earth. -In Old Chicago. -Lost Horizon. -One Hundred Men And A Girl. -Stage Door. -A Star Is Born. Plot summary: Based on a true story, Paul Muni stars as Emile Zola, a popular but penniless 19th century French author who gets dragged a into a scandal in which an innocent French army Captain, Alfred Dreyfus, is found guilty of treason and imprisoned on Devil's Island in French Guiana. Years later, when evidence comes to light regarding the real culprit, the higher-ups bury it to avoid exposing their mistake and risking the reputation of the French army being tarnished. Zola is encouraged by Dreyfuss' wife to defend her husband in a highly publicized trial but he too is condemned by the judicial system and flees to England to avoid incarceration. Dreyfus is eventually freed and returns to active duty within the French army. Standout scene: Despite the obvious court battle, I found the scene where Dreyfus is finally released from his jail cell and he walks out looking bewildered, not knowing what to do with himself, to be rather moving. Facts: -The 10th Academy Awards. -The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning 3. -Joseph Schildkraut won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. -Some regular Hal Roach stars appear in the film, including (click link for screenshot): Jerry Mandy, Florence Roberts. Personal opinion: The film takes a little while to get warmed up but accelerates strongly when we reach the courtroom scenes. Paul Muni's long speeches are delivered with confidence and do steal up quite a bit of film time but he is impressive nonetheless. The first time I watched the film I was slightly confused by it all but the second viewing of it (for the purposes of this project) made it all much more clear and my opinion of it went up significantly. A powerful movie, filled with corruption, a cover-up, a terrible miscarriage of justice and a courtroom scenario which was both tense and frustrating at times. Joseph Schildkraut absolutely deserved his Best Supporting Actor for his role as the wrongly-accused Dreyfus. This is one of those films I doubt I would have ever bothered with had it not been for my desire to review every Best Picture winner but I am grateful that I got to see this one. Recommended. Did it deserve the Oscar? YES. 7/10

Review date: 11 February 2025