I think there are three big kinds of pre-‘60’s Hollywood classic:
- Stuff that’s three and a half hours and has “epic” scrawled all over it (Ben Hur, Around The World in 80 Days)
- Stuff that was great for its time but mostly a foundation for later films (Top Hat, Safety Last)
- And ... stuff that STILL knocks it out of the park because the screenwriting is SO good! (Casablanca, this film, Sunset Boulevard, It’s A Wonderful Life)
This film dramatizes real events —
In not-so-short summary — In the 1890’s, a Jewish French military officer was scapegoated as a foreign spy and was wrongfully imprisoned for ten years, rousing the interest of the French public. Eventually he was pardoned, in large part due to the actions of Emile Zola, a French writer who propounded that the military was willing to ruin this innocent’s life simply to avoid the embarrassment of admitting they messed up and convicting the now-discovered RIGHT man. This was referred to as the Dreyfuss Affair and is akin to the United States torture debate of the early 2000’s (I’m just gonna hope that doesn’t tick off anyone). It was widely publicized, divided the country, and had people asking, “if we’re supposed to be The Good Guys, how do I react when I hear something so shifty-sounding?”
The film was two hours, fast-paced, and NOT a total eyesore despite being a courtroom drama filmed in ‘30’s era black-and-white. It reminded me of Lincoln, so if you liked that, you’ll probably like this.
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