I'm forever a William Wyler fan. Yet must agree that he had a peculiar take on this Bronte classic. For one thing Cathy is far from a typecast Hollywood heroine. The love affair of Heathcliffe and Catherine demanded better than Merle Oberon, IMHO. This Mexican production directed by the legendary Luis Bunuel has a far lovelier girl in Cathy's role. Irasema Dilian underplays Cathy with listless gravity that ideally serves her sexual attraction.
It's plainly what this brilliant director took from Emily Bronte's own Gothic palette.
Spoilers near:
Just look at this creature so hysterical about Heathcliffe *here Alejandro* as to die for love of him. Irasema was likely directed to taunt her weak husband openly, displaying her passion for Alejandro. Dilian is poker-faced throughout, yet ravishing to look at. Just as the great novel paints her. Bunuel features the unlucky spouse as just a poor cuckold and nothing more.
As for Jorge Mistral; he was a top-notch matinée idol in Mexico, with nothing to ask of anybody in Wyler's film, not even Olivier. Of medium stature with virile good looks, he recalls Jeff Chandler to me. Not a bad Alejandro (Heathcliffe.) Mistral's brooding portrayal of Bronte's anti-hero is very persuasive. It's quite clear Luis Bunuel knew what he wanted for this important part. The other actors take some warming up to; but no more than those in Wyler's Wuthering Heights.
Willy Wyler wasn't crazy about Laurence Olivier as Heathcliffe, bawling him out mercilessly on set. So also David Niven as Cathy's brother; --Wyler laughed to his face saying: "Look at him! An actor who can't ACT!" Of course that role was tripe, just as in this Spanish-spoken script.
In Bunuel's version, the settings are bright, hardly dismal. Yet photographer Agustin Jimenez caught them as sober and forbidding enough. Playing an orchestral Love/Death sequence of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde at intervals of unpleasant stress for the lovers didn't seem very Gothic at all, unfortunately. It came together smartly, however. As a romance too obsessive not to end in tragedy. Excellent contrast to the Hollywood rendition in which Heathcliffe and Cathy ended up embracing amidst towering clouds, like angelic beings. Luis Bunuel's version is superior. I suspect Emily Bronte would have preferred it.
It's plainly what this brilliant director took from Emily Bronte's own Gothic palette.
Spoilers near:
Just look at this creature so hysterical about Heathcliffe *here Alejandro* as to die for love of him. Irasema was likely directed to taunt her weak husband openly, displaying her passion for Alejandro. Dilian is poker-faced throughout, yet ravishing to look at. Just as the great novel paints her. Bunuel features the unlucky spouse as just a poor cuckold and nothing more.
As for Jorge Mistral; he was a top-notch matinée idol in Mexico, with nothing to ask of anybody in Wyler's film, not even Olivier. Of medium stature with virile good looks, he recalls Jeff Chandler to me. Not a bad Alejandro (Heathcliffe.) Mistral's brooding portrayal of Bronte's anti-hero is very persuasive. It's quite clear Luis Bunuel knew what he wanted for this important part. The other actors take some warming up to; but no more than those in Wyler's Wuthering Heights.
Willy Wyler wasn't crazy about Laurence Olivier as Heathcliffe, bawling him out mercilessly on set. So also David Niven as Cathy's brother; --Wyler laughed to his face saying: "Look at him! An actor who can't ACT!" Of course that role was tripe, just as in this Spanish-spoken script.
In Bunuel's version, the settings are bright, hardly dismal. Yet photographer Agustin Jimenez caught them as sober and forbidding enough. Playing an orchestral Love/Death sequence of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde at intervals of unpleasant stress for the lovers didn't seem very Gothic at all, unfortunately. It came together smartly, however. As a romance too obsessive not to end in tragedy. Excellent contrast to the Hollywood rendition in which Heathcliffe and Cathy ended up embracing amidst towering clouds, like angelic beings. Luis Bunuel's version is superior. I suspect Emily Bronte would have preferred it.