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Wuthering Heights

  • 1939
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
19K
YOUR RATING
Wuthering Heights (1939)
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 apart...
Play trailer1:53
1 Video
40 Photos
DramaRomance

A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.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
    • Ben Hecht
    • Emily Brontë
  • Stars
    • Merle Oberon
    • Laurence Olivier
    • David Niven
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    19K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • William Wyler
    • Writers
      • Charles MacArthur
      • Ben Hecht
      • Emily Brontë
    • Stars
      • Merle Oberon
      • Laurence Olivier
      • David Niven
    • 162User reviews
    • 37Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 8 wins & 8 nominations total

    Videos1

    Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Trailer 1:53
    Watch Wuthering Heights (1939)

    Photos40

    Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    David Niven, Laurence Olivier, and Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    David Niven, Merle Oberon, and Flora Robson in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Geraldine Fitzgerald in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    David Niven, Laurence Olivier, and Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Laurence Olivier and Geraldine Fitzgerald in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Hugh Williams in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Laurence Olivier and Geraldine Fitzgerald in Wuthering Heights (1939)
    Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights (1939)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Merle Oberon
    Merle Oberon
    • Cathy
    Laurence Olivier
    Laurence Olivier
    • Heathcliff
    David Niven
    David Niven
    • Edgar
    Flora Robson
    Flora Robson
    • Ellen
    Donald Crisp
    Donald Crisp
    • Dr. Kenneth
    Geraldine Fitzgerald
    Geraldine Fitzgerald
    • Isabella
    Hugh Williams
    Hugh Williams
    • Hindley
    Leo G. Carroll
    Leo G. Carroll
    • Joseph
    Miles Mander
    Miles Mander
    • Lockwood
    Cecil Kellaway
    Cecil Kellaway
    • Earnshaw
    Cecil Humphreys
    • Judge Linton
    Sarita Wooton
    • Cathy (as a child)
    • (as Sarita Wooten)
    Rex Downing
    Rex Downing
    • Heathcliff (as a child)
    Douglas Scott
    Douglas Scott
    • Hindley (as a child)
    Frank Benson
    • Heathcliff Servant
    • (uncredited)
    Romaine Callender
    Romaine Callender
    • Robert
    • (uncredited)
    Richard Clucas
    • Little Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Vernon Downing
    • Giles
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • William Wyler
    • Writers
      • Charles MacArthur
      • Ben Hecht
      • Emily Brontë
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Laurence Olivier found himself becoming increasingly annoyed with director William Wyler's exhausting style of filmmaking. After yet another take, he is said to have exclaimed, "For God's sake, I did it sitting down. I did it with a smile. I did it with a smirk. I did it scratching my ear. I did it with my back to the camera. How do you want me to do it?" Wyler's retort was, "I want it better." However, Olivier later said these multiple takes helped him learn to succeed as a movie actor.
    • Goofs
      Though the social situations, and even the soundtrack, are consistent with the novel's timeframe of 1770-1801, the Colonial/Napoleonic era, the costumes are an odd mix of mid-Victorian and American Civil War.
    • 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.

    • 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.
    • Connections
      Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to William Wyler (1976)
    • Soundtracks
      Piano Sonata in A major, K.331: Rondo alla Turca
      (1778) (uncredited)

      Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Played by Alice Ehlers on harpsichord

    User reviews162

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Shoot that poison arrow in my heart
    I saw this film many years before I read the book, I know which I prefer - OK, maybe with rose-tinted spectacles on. The book by Emily Bronte is an undeniable classic as is this film version but imho this is a much better use of one hundred and five minutes of life. And though they keep trying, this will remain the best condensation of the story, Wuthering Lites c/o the original Fantasy Factory.

    Waif brought into well off Yorkshire home, grows up to fall in violent love with the masters daughter and violent hate with the son, and eventually owns the estate but not the woman. Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon are perfect as the manic birds of a feather Heathcliff and Cathy with David Niven as the elegant sidelined husband. Everyone is portrayed as faulty or unlikeable in some way, romance is seen as hopeless childishness leading at best to passionate petulance, at worst to death; love is as strange as people. It's relentlessly beautiful stuff, gloriously photographed by Gregg Toland with a glowing atmosphere and a most assured production than has not been possible to achieve again. The spirit of nonsensical romance has been lost in this more cynical age. Favourite bits: Miles Mander's melodramatics at the beginning resulting in Flora Robson's picture-long flashback; the windswept pair on the rocks; the pair gatecrashing the dance; Oberon's unravelling to Niven and the tear-jerking finale. Director William Wyler had a long and illustrious career, but to my mind he never bettered this effort.

    Watch it and weep; not only at the film's content but for a cinematic era long dead and never coming back.
    helpful•9
    1
    • Spondonman
    • May 17, 2014

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    FAQ7

    • What is 'Wuthering Heights' about?
    • Is 'Wuthering Heights' based on a book?
    • What does 'wuthering' mean?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 7, 1939 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Stürmische Höhen
    • Filming locations
      • Janss Conejo Ranch, Thousand Oaks, California, USA
    • Production company
      • The Samuel Goldwyn Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $624,643
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $15,493
      • Apr 9, 1989
    • Gross worldwide
      • $624,643
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 44 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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