I Accuse!

Great story for then and now about politics and false accusation. Acting was great. Movies from 30's 40's and some 50's are of great quality. Well written and filmed. You will enjoy. Reminds me of Les Misérables. But seems more real like in the story.

The issues raised by the terrible injustice inflicted upon Captain Alfred Dreyfus and Emile Zola's subsequent rallying cry 'J'accuse' in 'L'Aurore' of 1898 are timeless and have certainly struck a chord with film-makers, enabling many of them to draw parallels with their own times and experiences.

The final speech by Paul Muni as Zola in William Dieterle's excellent biopic is a veiled reference to the rise of Nazism although strangely, considering that Dreyfus was Jewish, no one utters the words 'Jew' or 'anti-Semitic'. Fast forward eighty odd years and we have a version by Roman Polanski for whom the Jewish element would have provided many painful memories. There are those who have seen in his film an allegory of the director's own perceived persecution by LA County! Yves Boisset's TV film reflects his cinematic crusade to depict institutionalised corruption whilst the Ken Russell/Richard Dreyfus version is just one too many. Mr. Dreyfus is advertising his liberal credentials here and claims to be a descendant of the unfortunate Captain. The fascination of the eleven minute series by Georges Melies stems from its being made whilst the Dreyfus affair was still raging. I have alas never seen Richard Oswald's version and would be interested to see how the Germans handled the subject.

This adaptation from 1958 is directed by and stars well-known liberal José Ferrer, is produced by Sam Zimbalist and has a screenplay by Gore Vidal. Hardly surprising therefore that there are distinct echoes here of the McCarthy witch hunts.

It is made in a very matter-of-fact manner and some of the leading characters are under-written but the emotive material and strong performances carry us through.

A contingent of dependable British thespians is on dispay here notably Leo Genn whose genteel persona suits perfectly the character of Major Picquart who campaigned tirelessly for Dreyfus' acquittal whilst the odious General Mercier of Donald Wolfit epitomises Oscar Wilde's observation that "patriotism is the virtue of the vicious." Equally obnoxious is Major du Paty played by the superlative Herbert Lom, sans peruke. The two performances that linger longest are those of Swedish born Viveca Lindfors who brings her customary intelligence and sensitivity to the role of Madame Dreyfus and the immaculate Austrian Anton Walbrook who effortlessly steals all of his scenes as the charming but despicable Major Esterhazy.

José Ferrer achieves the Herculean task of being both director and portraying Dreyfus. A previous reviewer, female naturally, has remarked upon Mr. Ferrer's lack of charisma and sex appeal. I was not aware that Dreyfus possessed either of those attributes or that Mr. Ferrer was ever called upon to play a role that required them. He is immensely sympathetic in the part and what he does possess is that golden voice.

The film proudly announces that Dreyfus' eventual acquittal and reinstatement represent a brave chapter in French history. This is of course absolute tosh for were it not for the bravery and determination of a few individuals, Dreyfus would have been left to rot on Devil's Island.

Jose Ferrer acted in more than 100 movies and TV episodes. One of his sons, Miguel Ferrer, and a nephew, George Clooney, followed successfully his steps in the movie business. All this was not an accident. Jose Ferrer's Oscar winning performance in Cyrano De Bergerac in 1950 was followed 8 years later in I Accuse! Although not winning another Oscar, his portrayal of a French Jewish artillery captain, Alfred Dreyfus, falsely accused of treason in 1894, sentenced and sent to Devil's Island, makes one feel what the relative of actor Richard Dreyfus felt while publicly being degraded, his sword broken and what he had to live in the tropical God forgotten Atlantic island, 7 miles off the coast of French Guiana, where he was sent at the beginning of 1895. Many people stood for him, like French writer Emile Zola and one can check it in Paul Muni's The Life of Emile Zola, but there is NO DVD RELEASE OF "I ACCUSE"! So I Accuse the studio MGM or whoever has the rights now days, of negligence in not releasing this movie on DVD. I can write down a thousand titles list of crap movies released by MGM, worthless garbage, in the past 20 or so years, but they had to miss this one. Shame on whoever is in charge of selecting which movies to be released on DVD and which not. Who died and made him God in that department? Wake up MGM and deal with this. I bet anything that I'm not the only one that wants that movie released on DVD.

This film is based on the true story of Captain Dreyfus of the French Army who, based on weak evidence, is wrongly accused of treason. The film takes place over a seven year period beginning in 1894 Captain Dreyfus comes from a wealthy industrial family but because of love of his country, joins the military rather than help run the family business. His family are Jewish and originally come from an area of Germany. It is discovered that a spy within the officers assigned to a leading General is selling military secrets to foreign agents. Dreyfus is a dour, by-the-book, military Beauregard who has no friends within the command and because of his Jewish and German heritage the military makes him a scapegoat to the crime. Jose Ferrer stars and directs an international cast. Based on the book by Nicholas Halasz, I Accuse is adapted by novelist Gore Vidal in the 2nd screenplay of his career. Photographing this film is veteran cinematographer Freddie Young, whose career lasted 57 years and included three Oscars for Doctor Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter and Lawrence of Arabia. Vivica Lindfors, who was my 4th cousin, plays Dreryfus' wife Lucie. Also among the cast are Anton Walbrook, Donald Wolfit and Herbert Lom. Ferrer is kind of dry and one dimensional and plays the entire film with one emotion. There is not a lot for Lindfors to do. Several of the cast turn in fine performances in this film that was made to mirror the recent McCarthy era witch hunts. There are no closeups and the entire film uses heavy shadows in every scene, indoor and out. This film was remade with Richard Dreyfus who is said to be a family descendant of Captain Dreyfus in the starring role. It's a good historical drama but as a film it falls a little short. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Jose Ferrer was indubitably intelligent and impeccably liberal, as he was sure to let you know. He made a number of rather good movies, but he was not as brilliant as he thought, and his lack of the conventional movie virtues such as charm, sex appeal, or just friendly warmth was far more damaging than he knew. This movie presents the story clearly and fairly, and there are some good performances, but on the whole it's very cold and dry.

Gore Vidal's script is also intelligent and, rarely for Hollywood historical films, does not contain a single vulgarism or anachronism. But, again, a few of these would be a small price to pay for some zest and passion. A more surprising omission is wit, which one would have expected from Vidal.

And there is another omission. The Dreyfus case was an indication of the degree of anti-semitism among the French as a whole, not only the military. The hatred of Jews that the case provided an opportunity to express was so intense, widespread, and violent that many left the country. We are told at the beginning of the film that Dreyfus is a Jew, and a bit later there are a couple of mentions of the fact that most people do not like or trust them. But that's it. There is no sense at all of the vicious and hysterical feelings that were voiced by the ignorant public and whipped up by the media. The mobs have only a pathetic two or three placards, none of which mention Jews, and when they shout insults we do not hear the word. Ironically, this is a heavily censored movie about people who do not tell the truth.

As Dreyfus, Ferrer is very correct, proper, and unimaginative. After he is cruelly mistreated we see him suffer, but his pain is not has affecting as it should be--there is something actorish about it. The acting honors go to David Farrar as Dreyfus's brother and Leo Genn as his one supporter on the general staff--indeed, the latter looks so good in his full moustache and acts so suavely that we seem at times to be watching James Mason.

You really know the movie has failed when the person in whom we are most interested, and most anxious to see again, is Esterhazy, the real spy, who throws the innocent Dreyfus to the wolves. Anton Walbrook is so steeped in seedy charm, so much the would-be languorous fatalist with one eye nervously alert that we are keen to see someone with an active mind rather than another puppet in this story that is far more complex and unsavory than the film makes out.