Wuthering Heights (1939)

A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Charles MacArthur (screen play), Ben Hecht (screen play)

Stars:

Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Merle Oberon	...	Cathy
Laurence Olivier	...	Heathcliff
David Niven	...	Edgar
Flora Robson	...	Ellen Dean
Donald Crisp	...	Dr. Kenneth
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Isabella
Hugh Williams	...	Hindley
Leo G. Carroll	...	Joseph
Miles Mander	...	Lockwood
Cecil Kellaway	...	Earnshaw
Cecil Humphreys	...	Judge Linton
Sarita Wooton	...	Cathy (as a child) (as Sarita Wooten)
Rex Downing	...	Heathcliff (as a child)
Douglas Scott	...	Hindley (as a child)

Storyline

The story of unfortunate lovers Heathcliff and Cathy who, despite a deep affection for one another, are forced by circumstance and prejudice to live their lives apart. Heathcliff and Cathy first meet as children when her father brings the abandoned boy to live with them. When the old man dies several years later Cathy's brother, now the master of the estate, turns Heathcliff out forcing him to live with the servants and working as a stable boy. The barrier of class comes between them and she eventually marries a rich neighbor, Mr. Edgar Linton, at which point Heathcliff disappears. He returns several years later, now a rich man but little can be done.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | national film registry | afi | servant | children | 

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Taglines:

I am Heathcliff! I love a woman who belongs to another man!... My love was fierce... my hate is burning! I will have vengeance!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cumbres borrascosas

Filming Locations:

Janss Conejo Ranch, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$593,914, 31 December 1989

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All the actors, particularly Laurence Olivier and David Niven, were incensed by William Wyler's propensity for numerous takes. Niven quickly found that despite Wyler's earlier assurances to the contrary, the director had not changed at all. He demanded at least 40 takes for Niven's first scene in the film.

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Goofs

In the scene during the opening 6 minutes of the movie, where the new tenant of The Grange, Mr Lockwood,(Miles Mander) is woken up by a banging shutter in the bedroom, he walks over to the window and puts his hand through the broken glass, then withdraws it, and after he hears the ghost of Cathy calling out in the distance,he turns and shouts for Heathcliff and you can briefly notice that the broken pane is intact before Heathcliff enters the room, orders Lockwood out then walks to the window and the glass is shown broken again,

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Quotes

Heathcliff: Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest so long as I live on! I killed you. Haunt me, then! Haunt your murderer! I know that ghosts have wandered on the Earth. Be with me always. Take any form, drive me mad, only do not leave me in this dark alone where I cannot find you. I cannot live without my life! I cannot die without my soul.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: On the barren Yorkshire moors in England, a hundred years ago, stood a house as bleak and desolate as the wastes around it. Only a stranger lost in a storm would have dared to knock at the door of Wuthering Heights.

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Connections

Referenced in Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? (2006)

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Soundtracks

The Wedding March
(1843) (uncredited)
from "A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61"
Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
In the score after the wedding

User Reviews

Very moving film

I have not read the Emily Bronte novel on which this film is based so obviously I cannot comment on the effectiveness of it as an adaptation (I understand that almost the entire second half of the book was excised). However, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Oberon and especially Olivier, one of my favorites, are very convincing and moving as the doomed lovers Cathy and Heathcliff (according to my friend, Heathcliff is written as being much more likeable in the film than in the book). The supporting cast was also very good. Wuthering Heights just deals very poignantly with the effect that birth and status have on people's lives. Yet another winner from Wyler. My score 9/10.