MAJESTIC THEATRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 68, 22 March 1938, Page 9

MAJESTIC THEATRE

“LIFE Cl EMILE ZOLA. A spy, and the innocent man who is to carry the awful load of that spy’s guilt, pass each other at the entrance to the officers of the French General Staff, Paris, in 1894. They are both officers of the General Staff, and the one, Captain Dreyfus, is passing in to meet an undeserved imprisonment that will last for five years, while the other, Major Esterhazy, is passing out lo a freedom to which he is not entitled. Not till 1898 does Emile Zola, French realist novelist, enter the fight for justice and launch his famous letter of accusation (J’accuse) in the Paris paper "I’Aurore.” And now the great story of Zola and the Dreyfus case is picturised by Warner Brothers under the title of "The Life of Emile Zola,” with Paul Muni in the title role, with Joseph Schildkraut playing Dreyfus and Robert Barrat playing the real spy Esterhazy, Henry, the suiciding forger who tried to incriminate Dreyfus, and Colonel Picquart, the only hero on the military side, are played by Robert Warwick and Henry O’Neill. The wives (Dreyfus’ and Zola’s) are played by Gale Sondergaard and Gloria Holden; the prostitute Nana by Eriu O’Brien Moore. "The Life of Emile Zola,” now screening at the Majestic Theatre, is full of drama, full of interest for the Historical student of Zoia and the Dreyfus case, and full of human values for everyone. It is ‘fictionised history,” but fiction does not outrage truth — merely rearranges it in moving picture focus. Zola figures in a great trial scene dominated by the ringing voice of his lawyer Labori (played by Donald Crisp) and later by his own well-modulated speech. Paul Muni shows himself a character actor of great ability, and the Zola he presents is just the Zola that, in his own day, the novelist was understood to be. When Zola dies, funeral honours are uttered by Anatole France (Morris Carnorsy). “The Life of Zola” is one of the outstanding features of the year. Patrons of the Majestic Theatre will be interested to learn that a special film of the arrival of Flying-O.tlicer Clouston at Blenheim is being screened. This enterprising feat is all the more remarkable as Clouston’s record-breaking flight from England to New Zealand was concluded only on Sunday.