The Life of Émile Zola** (1937)

At one time, I’m sure that grade school history books mentioned the name Emile Zola, if not then certainly the Dreyfus Affair. But with two world wars amidst a century of Western and American development, the subject matter of this early Oscar winner no longer exists in the recesses of audience’s minds. While it may have been fresh and riveting back in the day, The Life of Emile Zola feels more like the stiff, performance-focused biopics of today that are offered up as Oscar bait more so than for box office returns.

In his early days, Émile Zola (Paul Muni) ekes out a bohemian lifestyle in the heart of Paris with his friend and artist Paul Cézanne (Vladimir Sokoloff). Upon meeting a prostitute evading the police, the aspiring writer makes her his muse and writes a salacious and popular novel. As Zola becomes the voice of the people, he loses his desire to ‘fight the good fight’ and grows complacent as a wealthy and respected writer. Many years later, a chance encounter with his old friend emboldens Zola to take on the task of fighting the injustice of the Dreyfus Affair, in which a French soldier (played by Joseph Schildkraut) is falsely accused of being a spy only because he is Jewish.

I can see how the content of this film won favor with the Academy and Hollywood in general. What’s not to like about fighting injustice, especially when it involves corrupt government officials and antisemitism? The true-story aspect of it is just icing on the cake. The trouble is that, in the decades since this film’s release (and the century since Zola made his stand), America has seen enough rights fights and political shenanigans that 19th century European scandals have lost their appeal.

In theory, this fact shouldn’t take anything away from The Life of Émile Zola. Taken for the piece of cinema that it is, Zola shows signs of creakiness in its structure. The film makes the fatal error of many modern biopics and puts too much focus on the titular character. Paul Muni does a very good job, particularly in his four-and-a-half minute long extended take monologue before the French courts. Schildkraut won a Supporting Actor Oscar for little more than looking exhausted, which surprised me. The only other supporting player to make a dent in my memory is Gale Sondergaard as Dreyfus’s wife. Her passion and desperate pleas for help clearing her husband’s name are powerful, though a smidge overdone.

Herein lies the problem, for all the social justice elements fueling the drama (though the film never directly tackles the issue of French antisemitism), The Life of Émile Zola is a one-man show. The cynic in me thinks it served as little more than a star-vehicle for Muni to get a little more attention. He had already been making waves for his supporting and lead performances and was fresh off an Oscar win for The Story of Louis Pasteur. Might the studio have been looking to make him the first two-time and first back-to-back winner for Best Actor? I t wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

Unlike many of the older films I have watched, Zola actually does play in to the generalization that older films have a sluggish pace. The film drags in many places, making its runtime feel quite a bit longer than two hours. If you’re big on European history or social justice, this might be worth your while. Otherwise you can freely pass up on this winner from yesteryear because its polish has been lost with age.

RATING: 3.25 out of 5