Classic Movies - Fabulous Films of 1939: Wuthering Heights

Today, let’s talk Classic Romance-Wuthering Heights! The 1939 film version of Emily Bronte’s immortal love story was brought to the screen by Samuel Goldwyn. It was his contribution to the historical “epic” craze that characterized many of the films of the late 1930s.

Wuthering Heights tells the tale of two passionate, jealous, and often neurotic lovers who live on the grim Yorkshire moors in the early 1800s. Handsome Laurence Olivier portrays the moody, headstrong Heathcliff and lovely Merle Oberon plays his willful, selfish sweetheart, Cathy. Both actors are superb as the star-crossed lovers who love, fight, sulk, and seek revenge on each other, even after her death. They not only destroy their own chance for happiness, but completely ruin the lives of Edgar Linton (David Niven) and his sister, Isabella (Geraldine Fitzgerald), whom they marry.

The beautiful musical score by Alfred Newman and memorable supporting performances of Flora Robson, Leo G. Carroll, Donald Crisp, Miles Mander, and Cecil Kellaway further enhance this classic film of ill-fated romance. Unfortunately, as with so many film adaptations of famous books, the MacArthur-Hecht screenplay covers only one generation of Bronte’s classic work, therefore much of the compelling saga is completely omitted from this screen version. For those of us who have read the novel, that omission is quite disappointing. The famous death scene with Heathcliff holding Cathy and looking out over the heather-strewn moors to “their castle” was contrived for the movie and, though very effective (we cry every time we see it), did not happen in the book. (The 1992 version of Wuthering Heights, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, is a more thorough telling of the story and we also recommend it very highly.)

Despite its shortcomings, Wuthering Heights won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Gregg Toland) and seven nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (Laurence Olivier), Best Director (William Wyler), and Best Supporting Actress (Geraldine Fitzgerald). It was also a tremendous box-office success. With Europe on the brink of war, perhaps audiences in 1939 needed a good cry over a highly romantic, fictionalized past rather than face an ominous future with a very real reason for tears. Wuthering Heights is a favorite classic film of ours’ and we hope you will enjoy it, too.

Don’t miss our next post for another Fabulous Film of 1939! Our posts appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Let’s Talk Classic Movies.

**Trivia Question for Today: What meeting place on the moors do Heathcliff and Cathy refer to as their “castle”? The answer will appear on our next post.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is comparable to Capra’s earlier film, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), with Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur.