Tagline: Sinister shadows and burning love.
Wuthering Heights (1939) is director William Wyler’s somber tale of doomed and tragic love, conflicting passions, and revenge. It is considered one of Hollywood’s all-time most romantic/drama classics. Filmed with haunting beauty, it is the first film dramatization of Emily Bronte’s wildly passionate 1847 best-selling literary masterpiece, from a screenplay written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (concentrating on the first two-thirds or 17 chapters of the 34 chapter book).
Producer Samuel Goldwyn felt the black-and-white film was the favorite of all his productions. It is still considered the definitive version – and one of the greatest romantic films ever made. Bronte’s novel tells about the eternal, smoldering love between two soul-mates: adopted gypsy boy Heathcliff and manor-born Cathy, who loves both the stable-boy and her worldly neighbor Edgar.
There were numerous other versions of the film, including: a silent version in 1920, director Luis Bunuel’s Spanish-language version Abismos de Pasion (Depths of Passion) (1953), Robert Fuest’s American International and UK version Wuthering Heights (1970) with Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall in the lead roles, French director Jacques Rivette’s Hurlevent (1985), Peter Kosminsky’s faithfully-told Wuthering Heights (1992) with Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes, and a made-for-TV feature Wuthering Heights (1998) as part of the Masterpiece Theatre series.
Wuthering Heights is a 1939 American drama romance film directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It is based on the novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The film depicts only sixteen of the novel’s thirty-four chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston.
The film won the 1939 New York Film Critics Award for Best Film. It earned nominations for eight Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Best Actor in what many consider Hollywood’s greatest single year. The 1940 Academy Award for Best Cinematography, black-and-white category, was awarded to Gregg Toland for his work. Nominated for original score (but losing to The Wizard of Oz) was the prolific film composer, Alfred Newman, whose poignant “Cathy’s Theme” does so much “to maintain its life as a masterpiece of romantic filmmaking.”
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Flora Robson, Donald Crisp, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Hugh Williams, Leo G. Carroll, Miles Mander, Sarita Wooton, Douglas Scott, Rex Downing
Screenplay by: Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht
Cinematography by: Gregg Toland
Film Editing by: Daniel Mandell
Costume Design by: Omar Kiam
Set Decoration by: Julia Heron
Art Direction by: James Basevi, Alexander Toluboff
Music by: Alfred Newman
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: April 13, 1939
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