Wuthering Heights (DVD)

...knock at the door of Wuthering Heights."


== WUTHERING HEIGHTS==
=== FILM 1939 ...DVD 2004 ===

Anyone who has been reading my recent reviews may have noticed that I have been indulging in a lot of nostalgia by watching DVD's of all my old favourite classics. My latest purchase from Amazon for the grand price of £3.24 was the 1939 'Wuthering Heights' adapted from Emily Bronte's classic novel.
.../> No surprise then that Wuthering Heights only received one Oscar for best cinematography. In Laurence Olivier's illustrious 60-year career, the Oscar nomination for his role as Heathcliff was the first of ten Oscar nominations he received (He won one, Hamlet, 1948)

== THE FILM ==

Emily Brontë's classic Gothic novel is one of my favorite books, so I could find some faults with the film if I wanted to be picky but ... more

"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."

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

FILM 1939 ...DVD 2004

Anyone who has been reading my recent reviews may have noticed that I have been indulging in a lot of nostalgia by watching DVD's of all my old favourite classics. My latest purchase from Amazon for the grand price of £3.24 was the 1939 'Wuthering Heights' adapted from Emily Bronte's classic novel.
This was the first film dramatization of Emily Bronte's 1847 masterpiece, with a screenplay written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (concentrating on the first two-thirds or 17 chapters of the 34 chapter book).
With Laurence Olivier as the leading actor the film is what many people feel among the very best romantic dramas of all-times.

There must have been something in the water in 1939 because it is amazing how many classic films were released in that year, just over ten years after the first "talkie" was made- Gone with the Wind,
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach and The Wizard of Oz were just some of those films.

No surprise then that Wuthering Heights only received one Oscar for best cinematography. In Laurence Olivier's illustrious 60-year career, the Oscar nomination for his role as Heathcliff was the first of ten Oscar nominations he received (He won one, Hamlet, 1948)

THE FILM

Emily Brontë's classic Gothic novel is one of my favorite books, so I could find some faults with the film if I wanted to be picky but the positive aspects of Wuthering Heights far outweigh the negative ones.

If the whole book had been included in the film and not condensed as it was the film would have been over four hours long.
Instead Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht's screenplay focuses mainly on the passionate but fated romance between Heathcliff and Cathy.
There is still a lot of the original dialogue in the film which cleverly manages to recreate the dark, mysterious and brooding atmosphere of the novel, which is perfectly suited to the theme of the couple's doomed love.
This is an incredible film, the tragic romance between Cathy and Heathcliff is wonderfully portrayed, Laurence Olivier's performance was wonderful and the heart wrenching ending ( although different to the novel) was tear jerkingly moving. All in all, despite its age, one of the greatest films I've ever seen!

CAST & CREW

"CAST"

Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff

Olivier so deserved the Oscar he received as Best Actor.
Olivier IS Heathcliff, he seems to manage to capture just what the character of Heathcliff is all about -- dark, handsome, brooding, and resentful.

Merle Oberon as Catherine Earnshaw Linton

Her portrayal of Cathy is her best-remembered role and her most commended performance of all her 40-year career.
I know that a lot of people did not like Merle Oberon's acting in the film, personally I thought that she was outstanding as Cathy -- a darker beauty than that of the pure and wholesome Isabella; to me she captured the two personalities of Catherine Earnshaw - one wanting to love a wild stable boy... the other yearning to be part of a higher society

David Niven as Edgar Linton

The young David Niven gave a stunning performance as Edgar Linton and seemed to radiate warmth. He played society fop perfectly.

Flora Robson as Ellen Dean
Flora Robson gave a flawless performance as the narrator and housekeeper - she seemed to breathe the part of the devoted housekeeper Ellen Dean

Donald Crisp as Dr. Kenneth

Geraldine Fitzgerald as Isabella Linton
She played the part of Isabella exquisitely. She brings an impertinence to Isabella that is very poignant. Wuthering Heights was her first film, and earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Leo G. Carroll as Joseph
Carroll played the character of Joseph wonderfully.

"CREW"
Director - William Wyler,
Wyler is considered among the best directors of all time. Hee has a record 12 Oscar nominations, and 3 Oscars won (including Ben Hur).
Cinematographer- Greg Toland. Toland had six Oscar nominations and was notable for his experimental work .
Producer - Samuel Goldwyn.
Of all his films, Wuthering Heights was his "favourite production"
Score Writer- Alfred Newman:
Winner of eight Oscars

THE STORY

The film starts when a stranger visits Wuthering Heights - a dark and lonely estate on the Yorkshire Moors as he is lost in a blinding snowstorm.
During the night Heathcliff is awakened by the visitor's shouts. The visitor told Heathcliff that he had seen a woman at the window and she touched his hand. Her hand was ice cold. With that Heathcliff bursts from the house and runs out onto the moor, and the housekeeper begins her tale in a long flashback.

The story is told through the eyes of the faithful housekeeper Ellen, played by Flora Robson, who lived out the drama over many years.
She tells how the squire Wuthering Heights, Mr. Earnshaw, brought back a gypsy boy from his travels, to be raised as one of his own. Earnshaw's children; a boy and girl named Hindley and Cathy had mixed reactions to this development. The boy is jealous of Heathcliff and abuses him. The girl likes Heathcliff and begins a fantasy life with him at a crag on the moor.
When Earnshaw dies, Heathcliff has a new master in Hindley. Hindley allows Heathcliff to stay on at the estate but only as a stable boy.
When Cathy meets wealthy their neighbour Edgar Linton , Heathcliff gets jealous and leaves. Cathy marries Edgar, and Heathcliff returns with his own wealth and sophistication of sorts.
He buys Wuthering Heights from Hindley and marries Edgar's sister, Isabella Linton. Cathy and Heathcliff are still compulsively in love with each other, Cathy gets deathly ill while Heathcliff grows into a bitter old man..

The final scene with its famous closing shot was actually filmed after the original cast had finished filming. Producer Samuel Goldwyn insisted on a different ending than the tragic one Wyler had made, .So he hired an assistant director to reshoot a new ending with stand-in doubles for the two main stars.

While characters from the original novel are omitted (Frances, Hareton, Linton and the baby Catherine), it still keeps much of the nature of the original novel.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The cinematography is wonderful (very much worth the Oscar it won.)
It is dark and brooding, perfectly encapsulating the very spirit of the bleak, chilling, Yorkshire Moors that Bronte described in her book.
The settings are as important as the characters - Wuthering Heights is gloomy and deteriorating, Thrushcross Grange, home of the Linton family is the pleasant but lifeless. The main star is the wild, mysterious Yorkshire moors, the only place where Heathcliff and Cathy are ever really happy. These settings are all well fashioned and photographed, and provide an apt backdrop to the events that unwind.

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

"Won"

• 1939: NYFCC Award for Best Picture of the Year
• 1939: Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black & White)

"Nominate"

• 1939: Academy Award for Best Actor (Laurence Olivier)
• 1939: Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Geraldine Fitzgerald)
• 1939: Academy Award for Best Art Direction
• 1939: Academy Award for Best Director
• 1939: Academy Award for Best Original Score
• 1939: Academy Award for Best Picture
• 1939: Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay

THE DVD

The DVD is the 1939 Samuel Goldwyn Production, not a remake. It is well maintained and the sound only has a few wavers in it for such an old film. It is in B&W and in 1.33:1 format. The running time is 104 minutes. There is a short interview with Geraldine Fitzgerald who played the Isabella.

Format: Black & White, PAL
Language English
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: U
Studio: MGM Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 5 Jul 2004
Run Time: 100 minutes
ASIN: B00028HCEW

CONCLUSION

If you enjoy any classical romantic drama.
If you are a fan of the novel, Wuthering Heights.
If you have any soul.
If you like to see a love story without the typical Hollywood happy ending,
You will enjoy this well-acted tale of love gone very wrong.

I may be biased as an English woman but I still think that Wuthering Heights should have won that Oscar over Gone With The Wind!!!

"If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a whole lifetime, he couldn't love you as much as I do in a single day."

"Summary: "Goodbye Heathcliff. Goodbye my wild sweet Cathy.""

 

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