Watched the best picture of 1937-"The Life of Emile Zola" last night. He was a French author and friend of painter Paul Cezzanne I never remember hearing about. This was Hollywood's story roughly based on his life. He wrote searing critiques of French life and institutions over the years.

The movie was written in aftermath of WWI and in the scary shadow of WWII. However, the concerns then had a lot of parallels to today. You had an establishment not caring who it destroyed trying to protect itself. You had state institutions trying to limit people to acceptable speech. You had groups stirring up mobs to put pressure on people and institutions. You had a press influencing people both ways with its coverage, particularly of the Dreyfus affair.

This was a black and white film in more ways than one as was typical of Hollywood at the time. But the power of Zola and the press in the movie would not necessarily be for truth and light.