The Life of Emile Zola
Encyclopedia
The Life of Emile Zola is a 1937 American biographical film
about French author Émile Zola
. Set in the mid through late 19th century, it depicts his friendship with noted painter Paul Cézanne
, and his rise to fame through his prolific writing, with particular focus on his involvement in the Dreyfus affair
. The film had its premiere
at the Carthay Circle Theatre
in Los Angeles
and was a great success both critically and financially; contemporary reviews cited it as the best biographical film made up to that time. It is still held in high regard by many critics. It is the second biographical film to win the Oscar for Best Picture
.
In 2000, The Life of Emile Zola was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
) shares a drafty Paris attic with his friend, painter Paul Cézanne (Vladimir Sokoloff
). A chance encounter with a street prostitute (Erin O'Brien-Moore
) hiding from a police raid leads to his first bestseller, Nana
, an exposé of the steamy underside of Parisian life.
Other successful books follow. Zola becomes rich and famous; he marries Alexandrine (Gloria Holden
) and settles down to a comfortable life in his mansion. One day, his old friend Cézanne, still poor and unknown, visits him before leaving the city. He tells Zola that he has become complacent, a far cry from the zealous reformer of his youth.
Meanwhile, a French secret agent steals a letter addressed to a military officer in the German embassy. The letter confirms there is a spy within the top French army staff. With little thought, the army commanders decide that Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus (Joseph Schildkraut
) is the traitor. He is courtmartialed and imprisoned on Devil's Island
in French Guyana.
Later, Colonel Picquart (Henry O'Neill
), the new chief of intelligence, discovers evidence implicating Major Walsin-Esterhazy (Robert Barrat
) as the spy, but he is ordered by his superiors to remain silent, as this revelation would embarrass them. He is quickly reassigned to a distant post.
Years go by. Finally, Dreyfus's loyal wife Lucie (Gale Sondergaard
) pleads with Zola to take up her husband's cause. Zola is reluctant to give up his comfortable life, but the evidence she has brought him piques his curiosity. He publishes a letter in the newspaper accusing the army of covering up a monstrous injustice
. Zola barely escapes from an angry mob incited by agents provocateurs
employed by the military.
As he had expected, he is brought to trial for libel. His attorney, Maitre Labori (Donald Crisp
) does his best, but the presiding judge refuses to allow him to bring up the Dreyfus affair and the military witnesses all commit perjury, with the exception of Picquart. Zola is found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison. He reluctantly accepts the advice of his friends and flees to England, where he continues to write on behalf of Dreyfus.
A new administration finally admits that Dreyfus is innocent, those responsible for the coverup are forced to resign or are dismissed, and Walsin-Esterhazy
flees the country. However, Zola dies of carbon monoxide poisoning
due to a faulty stove the night before the public ceremony in which Dreyfus is exonerated.
Academy Award nominations
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
about French author Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
. Set in the mid through late 19th century, it depicts his friendship with noted painter Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
, and his rise to fame through his prolific writing, with particular focus on his involvement in the Dreyfus affair
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
. The film had its premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
at the Carthay Circle Theatre
Carthay Circle Theatre
The Carthay Circle Theatre was one of the most famous movie palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age. It opened at 6316 San Vicente Boulevard in 1926 and was considered developer J...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and was a great success both critically and financially; contemporary reviews cited it as the best biographical film made up to that time. It is still held in high regard by many critics. It is the second biographical film to win the Oscar for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.
In 2000, The Life of Emile Zola was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Struggling writer Émile Zola (Paul MuniPaul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
) shares a drafty Paris attic with his friend, painter Paul Cézanne (Vladimir Sokoloff
Vladimir Sokoloff
-Biography:Sokoloff was born in Moscow, Russia. He became an actor and assistant director with the Moscow Art Theatre, before emigrating to Berlin in 1923...
). A chance encounter with a street prostitute (Erin O'Brien-Moore
Erin O'Brien-Moore
Erin O'Brien-Moore was an American actress.Moore's acting career began onstage. Noticed in a Broadway stage production, she was signed to a movie contract...
) hiding from a police raid leads to his first bestseller, Nana
Nana (novel)
Nana is a novel by the French naturalist author Émile Zola. Completed in 1880, Nana is the ninth installment in the 20-volume Les Rougon-Macquart series, the object of which was to tell "The Natural and Social History of a Family under the Second Empire", the subtitle of the series.-Origins:A year...
, an exposé of the steamy underside of Parisian life.
Other successful books follow. Zola becomes rich and famous; he marries Alexandrine (Gloria Holden
Gloria Holden
-Early life:Gloria Holden came to America as a child. She attended school in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.-Theater:...
) and settles down to a comfortable life in his mansion. One day, his old friend Cézanne, still poor and unknown, visits him before leaving the city. He tells Zola that he has become complacent, a far cry from the zealous reformer of his youth.
Meanwhile, a French secret agent steals a letter addressed to a military officer in the German embassy. The letter confirms there is a spy within the top French army staff. With little thought, the army commanders decide that Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus (Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...
) is the traitor. He is courtmartialed and imprisoned on Devil's Island
Devil's Island
Devil's Island is the smallest and northernmost island of the three Îles du Salut located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana . It has an area of 14 ha . It was a small part of the notorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952...
in French Guyana.
Later, Colonel Picquart (Henry O'Neill
Henry O'Neill
Henry O'Neill was a film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s.-Life and career:...
), the new chief of intelligence, discovers evidence implicating Major Walsin-Esterhazy (Robert Barrat
Robert Barrat
Robert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.-Career:Born in New York, Barrat's theatrical debut was in a stock company in Springfield, Massachusetts...
) as the spy, but he is ordered by his superiors to remain silent, as this revelation would embarrass them. He is quickly reassigned to a distant post.
Years go by. Finally, Dreyfus's loyal wife Lucie (Gale Sondergaard
Gale Sondergaard
Gale Sondergaard was an American actress.Sondergaard began her acting career in theatre, and progressed to films in 1936. She was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her film debut in Anthony Adverse...
) pleads with Zola to take up her husband's cause. Zola is reluctant to give up his comfortable life, but the evidence she has brought him piques his curiosity. He publishes a letter in the newspaper accusing the army of covering up a monstrous injustice
J'accuse (letter)
"J'accuse" was an open letter published on January 13, 1898, in the newspaper L'Aurore by the influential writer Émile Zola.In the letter, Zola addressed President of France Félix Faure, and accused the government of anti-Semitism and the unlawful jailing of Alfred Dreyfus, a French Army General...
. Zola barely escapes from an angry mob incited by agents provocateurs
Agent provocateur
Traditionally, an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act...
employed by the military.
As he had expected, he is brought to trial for libel. His attorney, Maitre Labori (Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
) does his best, but the presiding judge refuses to allow him to bring up the Dreyfus affair and the military witnesses all commit perjury, with the exception of Picquart. Zola is found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison. He reluctantly accepts the advice of his friends and flees to England, where he continues to write on behalf of Dreyfus.
A new administration finally admits that Dreyfus is innocent, those responsible for the coverup are forced to resign or are dismissed, and Walsin-Esterhazy
Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy
Charles Marie Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy was a commissioned officer in the French armed forces during the second half of the 19th century who has gained notoriety as a spy for the German Empire and the actual perpetrator of the act of treason for which Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused...
flees the country. However, Zola dies of carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after enough inhalation of carbon monoxide . Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas, but, being colorless, odorless, tasteless, and initially non-irritating, it is very difficult for people to detect...
due to a faulty stove the night before the public ceremony in which Dreyfus is exonerated.
Cast
- Paul MuniPaul MuniPaul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
as Émile Zola - Gloria HoldenGloria Holden-Early life:Gloria Holden came to America as a child. She attended school in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.-Theater:...
as Alexandrine Zola - Gale SondergaardGale SondergaardGale Sondergaard was an American actress.Sondergaard began her acting career in theatre, and progressed to films in 1936. She was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her film debut in Anthony Adverse...
as Lucie Dreyfus - Joseph SchildkrautJoseph SchildkrautJoseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...
as Captain Alfred DreyfusAlfred DreyfusAlfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history... - Donald CrispDonald CrispDonald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
as Maitre Labori - Erin O'Brien-MooreErin O'Brien-MooreErin O'Brien-Moore was an American actress.Moore's acting career began onstage. Noticed in a Broadway stage production, she was signed to a movie contract...
as Nana - John LitelJohn LitelJohn Litel was an American film actor. During World War I, Litel enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery....
as Charpentier - Henry O'NeillHenry O'NeillHenry O'Neill was a film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s.-Life and career:...
as Colonel PicquartGeorges PicquartMarie Georges Picquart , was a French army officer and Minister of War. He is best known for his role in the Dreyfus Affair.-Early career:... - Morris CarnovskyMorris CarnovskyMorris Carnovsky was an American stage and film actor born in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked briefly in the Yiddish theatre before attending Washington University in St. Louis...
as Anatole FranceAnatole FranceAnatole France , born François-Anatole Thibault, , was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters...
, Zola's friend and supporter - Louis CalhernLouis CalhernLouis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.- Early life :Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
as Major Dort - Ralph MorganRalph MorganRalph Morgan was a Hollywood film, stage and character actor, and the older brother of Frank Morgan .-Early life:...
as Commander of Paris - Robert BarratRobert BarratRobert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.-Career:Born in New York, Barrat's theatrical debut was in a stock company in Springfield, Massachusetts...
as Major Walsin-EsterhazyFerdinand Walsin EsterhazyCharles Marie Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy was a commissioned officer in the French armed forces during the second half of the 19th century who has gained notoriety as a spy for the German Empire and the actual perpetrator of the act of treason for which Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused... - Vladimir SokoloffVladimir Sokoloff-Biography:Sokoloff was born in Moscow, Russia. He became an actor and assistant director with the Moscow Art Theatre, before emigrating to Berlin in 1923...
as Paul CézannePaul CézannePaul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th... - Grant MitchellGrant Mitchell (actor)Grant Mitchell was an American stage actor on Broadway and character actor in many Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s...
as Georges ClemenceauGeorges ClemenceauGeorges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the... - Harry Davenport as Chief of Staff
- Robert Warwick as Major Henry
- Charles RichmanCharles Richman (actor)Charles J. Richman was an American film actor who appeared in 66 films between 1914 and 1939.He was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in The Bronx, New York.-Selected filmography:*The Man From Home...
as M. Delagorgue - Gilbert EmeryGilbert EmeryGilbert Emery was the stage name of Gilbert Emery Bensley Pottle, an American actor who appeared in over 80 movies from 1921 to his death in 1945.- Early years :...
as Minister of War - Walter KingsfordWalter KingsfordWalter Kingsford was a British stage, film and television actor born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was born Walter Pearce and had several sisters...
as Colonel Sandherr - Paul Everton as Assistant Chief of Staff
- Montagu LoveMontagu LoveMontagu Love , also known as Montague Love, was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor.Born Harry Montague Love in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and educated in Great Britain, Love began his career as an artist and military correspondent. His first important job was as a London newspaper...
as M. Cavaignac - Frank Sheridan as M. Van Cassell
- Lumsden HareLumsden HareLumsden Hare was an Irish born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer....
as Mr. Richards - Marcia Mae JonesMarcia Mae JonesMarcia Mae Jones was an American actress whose prolific career spanned 47 years.-Career:Jones made her film debut at the age of two in the 1926 film Mannequin...
as Helen Richards - Florence RobertsFlorence RobertsFlorence Roberts was an actress of the stage and in motion pictures.-Stock Company Actress:Born in Frederick, Maryland, she began acting on the stage in New York, New York at the age of 19. Her career began at the Brooklyn, New York Opera House in Hoop of Gold...
as Madame Zola, Zola's mother - Dickie Moore as Pierre Dreyfus, Captain Dreyfus's son
- Rolla Gourvitch as Jeanne Dreyfus, Dreyfus's daughter
Awards
The film won three Academy Awards and was nominated in another seven categories.- Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
: Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
(Henry BlankeHenry BlankeHenry Blanke was a German-born film producer who also worked as an assistant director, supervisor, writer, and production manager. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for The Nun's Story ....
, producer) - Supporting ActorAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
: Joseph SchildkrautJoseph SchildkrautJoseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions... - Best Writing, Screenplay: Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg and Norman Reilly RaineNorman Reilly RaineNorman Reilly Raine was the creator of Tugboat Annie and a prolific screenwriter who won an Oscar for the screenplay of The Life of Emile Zola .-Early years:...
Academy Award nominations
- Best ActorAcademy Award for Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
: Paul MuniPaul MuniPaul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor... - Best Art Direction: Anton GrotAnton GrotAnton Grot was a Polish art director. He was born in Kelbasin, Poland and died in Stanton, California.-Awards:Grot was nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:* The Sea Hawk...
- Best Assistant Director: Russell Saunders
- Best DirectorAcademy Award for DirectingThe Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
: William DieterleWilliam DieterleWilliam Dieterle was a German actor and film director, who worked in Hollywood for much of his career. His best known films include The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Story of Louis Pasteur and The Hunchback of Notre Dame... - Best Music, Score: Max SteinerMax SteinerMax Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...
, awarded to Leo F. ForbsteinLeo F. ForbsteinLeo F. Forbstein was an American film musical director and orchestra conductor who worked on more than 550 projects during a twenty-year period.-Early years:... - Best Sound, Recording: Nathan LevinsonNathan LevinsonNathan Levinson was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award in the category Sound Recording for the film Yankee Doodle Dandy and was nominated for 16 more in the same category...
(Warner Bros. SSD) - Best Writing, Original Story: Heinz Herald and Geza Herczeg