kudos to the patience of paul muni and who spend hour and hour in the makeup room each day to look the part of zola . muni be the one of the big star in the 1930s and i wonder how many people today other than classic movie buff know anything about it . he be a giant in the business for at least a decade . he could have win the academy award for this performance and which would have give him two in a row and a he win it for play louis pasteur the year before . my own opinion be that while he tend to overact a bit and i still think he be one of the great actor of the golden age . whatever part he play while you be rivet to the screen watch him . unlike the pasteur role and i think this story smack of a little too much of what we have see in the last 60 year represent go overboard to make a liberal hero . even in 1937 and hollywood couldn not suppress it disdain for police or for the military and here make it a point to tell u how corrupt those organization be . filmmaker just love it when authority be challenge and defeat . in that regard and this film be way ahead of it day since we have see this big time since the 1960s . however and it must be note the fact support this story . it also do not in any way diminish zola accomplishment a a social reformer and get rid of certain evil . good for him . i wish they have spend more time show that and than concentrate on one trial .