Home / The Life of Emile Zola

The Life of Emile Zola

Year:

1937

Duration:

116 min

Genres:

Biography | Drama

IMDB rate:

7.4

Director:

William Dieterle

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1937-10-02

Filming Locations: Goff Island, Laguna Beach, California, USA

Cast

Actor

Character

Morris Carnovsky

The Life of Emile Zola

Paul Muni

Emile Zola

Gale Sondergaard

Lucie Dreyfus

Joseph Schildkraut

Capt. Alfred Dreyfus

Gloria Holden

Alexandrine Zola

Donald Crisp

Maitre Labori

Erin O'Brien-Moore

Nana

John Litel

Charpentier

Henry O'Neill

Colonel Picquart

Louis Calhern

Major Dort

Ralph Morgan

Commander of Paris

Robert Barrat

Major Walsin-Esterhazy

Vladimir Sokoloff

Paul Cezanne

Grant Mitchell

Georges Clemenceau

Harry Davenport

Chief of Staff

Robert Warwick

Major Henry

Charles Richman

M. Delagorgue

Gilbert Emery

Minister of War

Walter Kingsford

Colonel Sandherr

Paul Everton

Assistant Chief of Staff

Montagu Love

M. Cavaignac

Frank Sheridan

M. Van Cassell

Lumsden Hare

Mr. Richards

Marcia Mae Jones

Helen Richards

Florence Roberts

Madame Zola

Dickie Moore

Pierre Dreyfus

Rolla Gourvitch

Jeanne Dreyfus

Arthur Aylesworth

Chief Censor (uncredited)

Maurice Black

Minor Role (uncredited)

Stanley Blystone

(uncredited)

Egon Brecher

Brucker (uncredited)

Iphigenie Castiglioni

Madame Charpentier (uncredited)

Robert Cummings Sr.

Gen. Gillian (uncredited)

Frank Darien

Albert (uncredited)

Franklyn Farnum

(uncredited)

Holmes Herbert

Commander of Paris (uncredited)

Paul Irving

La Rue (uncredited)

Alexander Leftwich

Maj. D'Aboville (uncredited)

Eric Mayne

Member of the Court (uncredited)

Frank Mayo

Mathieu Dreyfus

Alex Novinsky

Member of the Court (uncredited)

Moroni Olsen

Capt. Guignet (uncredited)

Frank Reicher

M. Perrenx (uncredited)

Walter O. Stahl

Sen. Scheurer-Kestner

Wilhelm von Brincken

Swartzoppen (uncredited)

Pierre Watkin

Prefect of Police (uncredited)

Dolores Weisenfreund

Small Role (uncredited)

Harry Worth

Lieutenant (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

This was the first film to receive 10 Academy Award nominations.

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The same story was later told in Jose Ferrer's film I Accuse! (1958) which flopped badly despite a screenplay by Gore Vidal.

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Studio boss Jack L. Warner, who was himself Jewish, personally ordered that the word "Jew" be removed from all dialogue in this movie, apparently in order not to offend the Nazi regime and hurt business for the film in Germany--this according to Ben Urwand in his controversial 2013 study, 'The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact With Hitler'.

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Goofs

When Erin O'Brien-Moore as Nana comes into the café from the snow, the artificial snow stays on her clothes long after real snow would have melted, then suddenly in a second it disappears with the next cut.

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The lettering on the door to Clemenceau's office at the newspaper misspells his first name "George" instead of the correct French spelling, "Georges".

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Quotes

Émile Zola: At this solemn moment, in the presence of this tribunal, which is the representative of human justice, before France, before the whole world, I swear that Dreyfus is innocent! By all that I have won, by all that I have written to spread the spirit of France, I swear that he is innocent. May all that melt away; may my name perish if Dreyfus be not innocent. He is innocent.

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Minister of War: Books? Books? I don't read books!

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Émile Zola: [reading from his letter "I Accuse"] I shall tell the truth. Because if I did not, my nights would be haunted by the spectre of an innocent man expiating under the most frightful torture a crime he never committed.

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