"THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 178, 14 August 1937, Page 10

"THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA"

• "The. Life of Emile. Zola," a combination of biograpliieal narrative and ; kistqric drama, is one of the most im« ■pprtantpictures of the year, its. proctucprs claim. The name. role, in which A*V :"f ' i -ia c.ast) is a worthy snccessor td"i/hat in ''The Story of Louis Pasteur/'V • ; . • - The- story opensrin 1862 with Zola, a etmggling ■young: " writer in poverty with Paul ' Cezanne, the paintOr, in a Paris ■ garret, „and. the iirst third.of the picture is a narrative of the novelist 's struggle for reeognition and his * final success,N wealth and acciaim. He is ready to rest on his laurels and his story seeni3 over. Then aomea the fanioua spy scarej of 1895, the trial of Alfrcd DreyfuS afnd his sentence to Devil's Island to save the prestige of the Proneh general staff. On.the appeal of Dreyfus 's wife, Zola is at last aroused and once more gebs into action to expose the rottenness of the military clique. TEe drama tightens. Zola, fi'ghting an almost lone hand against the military machine, is brought to trial for libellous writingp. The trial is long and detailed, with speeches of greater length than hasv been dared in any previous picture. Zola is found guilty. and fleea to England, whence ' he carriea on with unabated zeal his campaign to establish the innocence of Dreyfus. And he lives to see victory— the suicide of the real culprit, and the restoration of Dreyfus to rank and honour. The golden thread of Zola's nncompromising love of truth and justice ties the opening episodes together skilfiilly. He is the areh-foe of shams and hypocrites, and' they are his nneeasing menace. Muni draws this character^ with its Erencfi explosiveness, its tenderness and its fightihg strengtk — eonsis^nt from early manhood to maturW — with deep insight and unfailing artistry.