Academy Awards, USA 1938
| Winner Oscar | Best Picture |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role Joseph Schildkraut | |
| Best Writing, Screenplay Heinz Herald Geza Herczeg Norman Reilly Raine | |
| Nominee Oscar | Best Actor in a Leading Role Paul Muni |
| Best Director William Dieterle | |
| Best Writing, Original Story Heinz Herald Geza Herczeg | |
| Best Art Direction Anton Grot | |
| Best Sound, Recording Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD) | |
| Best Assistant Director Russell Saunders | |
| Best Music, Score Leo F. Forbstein (head of department) Score by Max Steiner. |
Warner Bros.
Directed by William Dieterle
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)
The life of French author and activist Emile Zola, portrayed by Paul Muni, traces his history from a struggling writer living in a decrepit attic with artist Paul Cezanne. A chance encounter with a prostitute inspires him to write Nana, which brings him fame. He follows it up with more than a dozen novels, eventually settling in his middle age for a comfortable life of wealth and leisure. He is lured into defending a man framed for spying and writes a treatise exposing the French generals responsible. They vigorously defend themselves in libel trial which is little more than a farce. Zola flees to London rather than face prison time. Eventually the truth comes out but Zola dies accidentally at about the same time. Another long, predictable Hollywood biopic, with the so-called "Dreyfus affair" consuming far too much running time.
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