The Best Picture of 1937 is…..”The Life of Emile Zola.” The film is about French writer and journalist Emile Zola (1840-1902), and his defense of Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus, falsely imprisoned by the French government for being a spy. Many in leadership and in society turned against Zola for his pro-Dreyfus newspaper articles and writings, and the heavy drama proceeds from there.
Paul Muni delivered quite a tour de force performance in the title role. His co-stars include Gloria Holden, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp, Louis Calhern, Erin O’Brien-Moore, Ralph Morgan, Grant Mitchell, Harry Davenport, Dickie Moore, and Joseph Schildkraut as Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Schildkraut won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The thrid Oscar for the film went for Best Screenplay (Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg, Norman Reilly Raine).
Director William Dieterle (“The Story of Louis Pasteur” 1936) was also nominated for an Oscar, as was Paul Muni for Best Actor. The film had a total of ten nominations and three wins. The watchable movie “The Life of Emile Zola” was a modest success at the box office for Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
cinema
My Review
The Best Picture of 1937 is…..”The Life of Emile Zola.” The film is about French writer and journalist Emile Zola (1840-1902), and his defense of Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus, falsely imprisoned by the French government for being a spy. Many in leadership and in society turned against Zola for his pro-Dreyfus newspaper articles and writings, and the heavy drama proceeds from there.
Paul Muni delivered quite a tour de force performance in the title role. His co-stars include Gloria Holden, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp, Louis Calhern, Erin O’Brien-Moore, Ralph Morgan, Grant Mitchell, Harry Davenport, Dickie Moore, and Joseph Schildkraut as Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Schildkraut won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The thrid Oscar for the film went for Best Screenplay (Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg, Norman Reilly Raine).
Director William Dieterle (“The Story of Louis Pasteur” 1936) was also nominated for an Oscar, as was Paul Muni for Best Actor. The film had a total of ten nominations and three wins. The watchable movie “The Life of Emile Zola” was a modest success at the box office for Warner Bros. Pictures.