The Life of Emile Zola: 1937 Best Picture

Paul Muni appeared in three films in 1937. He was nominated for Best Actor for his role in “The Life of Emile Zola”.

It won Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Joseph Schildkraut as Captain Alfred Dreyfus) and Best Writing, Screenplay. It was the second year in a row that a biographical film (after “The Great Ziegfeld” for 1936) won Best Picture. Luise Rainer, who starred in “The Good Earth” this same year with Paul Muni, won the Best Actress award for the second year in a row for her role as O-Lan.

In 2000, The Life of Emile Zola was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. It is a story within a story, so to speak, in that besides Zola’s rise to fame as a noted author, it includes his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair.

Zola risked his career and reputation in January of 1898, when he authored an open letter called “J’accuse” (I accuse) on the front page of L’Aurore, a daily newspaper in Paris. Addressed to then French President, Félix Faure, the letter accused the highest levels of the French Army of obstruction of justice and anti-Semitism in convicting Alfred Dreyfus for treason and sentencing him to life on Devil’s Island. Less than a month later, Zola was brought to trial for criminal libel, which was his intention in the first place so he could bring public attention to new evidence supporting Dreyfus’ innocence. Less than a month later, it didn’t quite work out that way at Zola’s trial.

Only found a few clues on the movie “The Life of Emile Zola” itself:
MOVIE AUTHORS $1000: Though he never won a Nobel Prize, “The Life of” this Frenchman won a ’37 Best Picture Oscar
BEST PICTURES IN OTHER WORDS $2000: 1937: “A Biography Concerning Alfred Dreyfus’ Defender”
PLAYING REAL PEOPLE $1200: In 1937 Paul Muni was this French novelist who played a key role in the Dreyfus Affair

But there are still lots of clue about Emile Zola:
HISTORIC LETTERS $1,000 (Daily Double): Among those he accused in an 1898 letter were Colonel Du Paty de Clam, General Mercier & General Billot
QUOTED IN BARTLETT’S $800: Alphabetically, this French novelist is the last man quoted in “Bartlett’s”
WHAT HAPPENS IN DEGAS, STAYS IN DEGAS $1600: “J’Accuse” Degas of engaging with modernity & aligning himself with the Goncourts & this “Grog Shop” novelist
LYIN’ IN WINTER $1600: In January 1898 the Parisian newspaper L’Aurore printed his letter accusing military & civilian authorities of lies
CEMETERIES $200: Although Emile Zola’s gravestone still rests at this city’s Cimetiere de Montmartre, his body was moved to the Pantheon
ALPHABETICALLY LAST $800: …of writers buried in Paris’ Pantheon
LETTERS $1200: His “J’accuse” letter in 1898 helped secure a new trial for Alfred Dreyfus
FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE $1200: “J’accuse” this Frenchman of writing the novel “Therese Raquin”, which inspired the musical “Thou Shalt Not”
“Z” BOYS $1200: This “Germinal” novelist defended the Impressionists in newspaper articles
P.C. $2000: At school, this artist was close friends with Emile Zola
WRITERS JOURNAL $2000: His 1898 letter to the president of France accused “the War Office of having led a vile campaign in the press”
NANA $2000: Britannica notes that this French author’s 1880 work “Nana” is known as “Nana” in its English translation
WORLD OF AUTHORS $1200: After writing “J’accuse”, he was convicted of libel
ART $1600: This author wrote a pamphlet supporting Manet as well as a letter supporting Dreyfus
19th CENTURY LIT $2,001 (Daily Double): Frenchman famous for realistic novels & for an open letter published Jan 13, 1898
MR. & MISSIVE $1,200 (Daily Double): The January 13, 1898 issue of L’Aurore printed this author’s letter of accusation on the front page
“C” IN HISTORY $1000: He wasn’t yet France’s premier when he gave Emile Zola the idea to title a famous letter “J’Accuse!”
OBSCURE OPERA & BALLET $1000: Not to “J’Accuse” Alfred Bruneau, but he got opera stories like “Le Reve” from this author friend
OPERA LIBRETTISTS $800: “J’Accuse” this “Nana” novelist of writing the libretto for Bruneau’s opera “Messidor”
FAMOUS QUOTES $600: Probably Emile Zola’s most famous quote, it’s the title of a letter he wrote to the French president
WORLD AUTHORS: In 1898 he wrote, “As for the persons I have accused… they are… embodiments of social malfeasance”

Jeopardy! showered most of the movie clue love for 1937 on Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”:
MOVIEMAKERS $400: As supervising director on this 1937 film, David Hand had trouble getting Grumpy to be grumpy enough
COLORFUL MOVIES $400: “Someday My Prince Will Come” is a song from this 1937 classic
WALT DISNEY $600: Walt has more Oscars than anyone else in history, including the unique one for this 1937 classic
TALKIN’ TOLKIEN $800: Tolkien insisted on spelling this plural with a “ves”, not an “fs” as in a 1937 Disney fairy tale title
THE CINEMA $400: This 1937 film tells us, “The Prince, who had searched far and wide, heard of the maiden who slept in the glass coffin”
WHO’S THE FAIREST ONE OF ALL? $200: In a 1937 Disney film, the wicked queen is miffed when the mirror says the fairest one is this heroine
VERY ANIMATED ACTORS $400: Pinto Colvig was the original voice of Goofy, but in this 1937 classic he got to be Sleepy & Grumpy
MALTIN ON THE MOVIES $200: (Leonard Maltin starts things off.) I once wrote that only a real-life Grumpy could fail to love this 1937 animated feature
LUCKY “SEVEN” $200: Only a real-life Grumpy wouldn’t like this 1937 animated feature from Walt Disney
AT THE MOVIES $800: In the 1937 film version, he’s Snow White’s only beardless dwarf
SNEEZING $200: For the voice of Sneezy in this 1937 classic, Disney “achoo”sed Billy Gilbert
NAME THE MOVIE $200: 1937: “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”

More 1937 film clues:
LE CINEMA $1600: This director, son of a famous impressionist painter, is perhaps best known for his 1937 film ‘Grand Illusion”
THE “CAPTAIN” $1200: For his role as Manuel, Spencer Tracy won an Oscar for this 1937 fish story
CARY GRANT FILMS $800: Ghosts Cary Grant & Constance Bennett haunt a banker, the title character of this 1937 film
BEST ACTOR OSCAR WINNERS $2000: 1937: Spencer Tracy for this rollicking adventure
THAT’LL BE THE “DAY” $2000: The Marx Brothers wreak havoc at a sanitorium in this 1937 release
FILM RENOIR $800 (Daily Double): Erich Von Stroheim played the pilot who becomes a P.O.W. camp warden in this 1937 Renoir classic
BEASTLY MOVIE TITLES $400: The 1937 film about this title “boy” was Sabu’s film debut
CLASSIC MOVIE LINES $500: 1937: “Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped”
CLASSIC CINEMA $600: Katharine Hepburn appeared in this 1937 theatrical drama & in a later film that added “Canteen” to the title
FRED ASTAIRE FILMS $600: Appropriate title question of this 1937 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film
SINGING THE “BLUE”S $200: Before Elvis sang this song in a 1961 movie, Bing sang it in 1937’s “Waikiki Wedding”
IN THE SPIRIT $300: Constance Bennett & Cary Grant appeared & disappeared in this 1937 film classic
SONGS $400: The title song in an Elvis film, it was written for the 1937 Bing Crosby film “Waikiki Wedding”
THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS $400: In 1937 this “Sweater Girl” strutted across the screen in a sweater in “They Won’t Forget”
CARY GRANT FILMS $100: Grant & Constance Bennett played the ghostly George & Marion Kerby in this 1937 comedy
MOVIE MUSICALS $500 (Daily Double): The only Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire film for which these 2 brothers wrote songs was 1937’s “Shall We Dance”
SPECIAL OSCARS $200: Appropriately, the statuette presented to Edgar Bergen was made out of this
THE MOVIES: 1937 film whose 1954 & 1976 musical remakes each produced soundtracks that hit No. 1