Joe's View

Last week, I was pleased to be asked to speak at a screening of the 1937 Paul Muni film, “The Life of Emile Zola,” at Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport.

The movie was part of an ongoing Jewish film series at the synagogue.

Muni was one of the greatest stars of the 1930s — and he was a stage-trained Jew who managed to cross over to movies from the Yiddish theater in New York at a time when the Hollywood studios were nervous about “ethnic” actors.

Muni had to drop his real name, of course — imagine Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund on a movie theater marquee — but he not only became one of the most respected actors of the pre-World War II era, he was also a huge box-office attraction.

Based on his success in two early 1930s hits — “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” and “Scarface” — Muni was able to have his Warner Bros. contract rewritten to give the actor what was then unprecedented control over his career.

He instigated projects for himself and proved to be a good judge of commerce and art — a 1936 Muni film that Warner Bros. thought was extremely risky, “The Story of Louis Pasteur,” became a major hit and won the star an Oscar.

“The Life of Emile Zola” was another popular bio-pic that won the best picture Oscar for 1937.

Muni’s reputation has dimmed over the years — some critics believe his film acting is too “stagey” and wish the star did not have such a love for hiding his face with elaborate make-up — but I was pleased to see how well “Emile Zola” has held up.

Zola was the French writer celebrated for his muckraking novels about the underclass — “Nana” was a tale of prostitution that launched his career with a scandalous success. When Zola was old and looking forward to resting on his laurels a bit, the writer was drawn into the notorious Dreyfus case in which a Jewish military officer was framed for spying for the Germans, convicted and sent to Devil’s Island.

Dreyfus’ wife begged Zola to become involved in the controversy. After doing enough research to see that the officer was framed – and targeted by anti-Semites – Zola wrote a tract that incensed most of his fellow Frenchmen and then had to stand trial for libeling the military.

“The Life of Emile Zola” doesn’t have much “cinematic” technique going for it, but the story is strong and it is wonderful to see Muni age from a bohemian youth (below, second from left) to an aged activist. The movie created a template that would be used with great success for the next half-century in man-against-the-system dramas such as the 1966 best picture Oscar winner, “A Man for All Seasons.”

Muni gives an exuberant, technique-driven performance that takes a little getting used-to — you have to throw considerations of “realism” aside just as you do at the opera — but the actor’s focus and power is still very impressive.