I Accuse

Publish date: 2024-02-29

This version of the drama of the Dreyfus case, one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in history, makes strong, if plodding, entertainment.

This version of the drama of the Dreyfus case, one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in history, makes strong, if plodding, entertainment.

The story concerns the plight of a Jewish staff officer of the French army who is unjustly accused of treason, found guilty through being framed to save the army’s face, and condemned to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island. Friends fighting to restore his tarnished honor force a re-trial.

Jose Ferrer takes on the heavy task of playing Dreyfus and of directing. His performance is a wily, impeccable one, but it comes from the intellect rather than the heart and rarely causes pity. He makes Dreyfus a staid, almost fanatical patriot. The action is throughout rather static, but the court scenes are pregnant with drama, thanks to a literate screenplay by Gore Vidal [from a book by Nicholas Halasz].

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Anton Walbrook, the real culprit, gives a splendid performance – suave, debonair and fascinating. And equally impressive is Donald Wolfit as the army’s top guy who claims that the honor of the French army is more important than the fate of one man.

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I Accuse

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