Wuthering Heights (1939 film)

Infobox Film
name = Wuthering Heights


image_size =
caption =
director = William Wyler
producer = Samuel Goldwyn
writer = Emily Brontë (novel)
Charles MacArthur
Ben Hecht
narrator =
starring = Merle Oberon
Laurence Olivier
David Niven
music = Alfred Newman
cinematography = Gregg Toland
editing = Daniel Mandell
distributor = United Artists
released = 13 April, 1939 (USA)
runtime = 103 mins.
country = United States
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:55636
imdb_id = 0032145

"Wuthering Heights" is a 1939 film, directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It is based on the celebrated novel, "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë, although the film only depicts sixteen of the novel's thirty-four chapters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston. Some consider it to be the best film version of Brontë's novel ever made (although it omits almost the entire second half of the book), and was the film responsible for making Laurence Olivier a Hollywood star. The film earned nominations for eight Academy Awards, including the awards for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best cinematography, which Gregg Toland won for his work on the film.

In 2007, "Wuthering Heights" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Main cast

*Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff
*Merle Oberon as Catherine Earnshaw Linton
*David Niven as Edgar Linton
*Flora Robson as Ellen Dean
*Donald Crisp as Dr. Kenneth
*Geraldine Fitzgerald as Isabella Linton
*Leo G. Carroll as Joseph
*Hugh Williams as Hindley Earnshaw

Awards and nominations

Won

*1939: NYFCC Award for Best Picture of the Year
*1939: Academy Award for Best Cinematography (in a black-and-white film; "Gone With the Wind" won in the same year for its color cinematography)

Nominated

*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

Omissions from the novel

The film omitted any mention of Cathy's daughter and Heathcliff's son, both of whom play a major role in the last portion of the book. In the film, neither Heathcliff nor Cathy have any children.

Filming

The project was initially intended as a vehicle for Merle Oberon, who was under contract with Goldwyn at the time. However, when Laurence Olivier was cast as Heathcliff, Vivien Leigh wanted to play the lead role alongside her then lover and future husband. [cite web
last = Purse
first = Marcia
title = Vivien Leigh - Actress
publisher = About.com
date = 2006-06-18
url = http://bipolar.about.com/cs/celebs/a/vivienleigh.htm
accessdate =2008-01-11 ] Studio executives felt the role could not go to an actress who was largely unknown in America, but they did offer Leigh the part of Isabella Linton. She declined, and Geraldine Fitzgerald was cast. Leigh was cast in "Gone with the Wind" that same year, which won her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

There were clashes on the set between actors and the director. Both of the leading players began work on the film miserable at having to leave their loved ones back in the United Kingdom. Olivier was missing his fiancée Vivien Leigh and Oberon had recently fallen in love with film producer Alexander Korda.cite web
last = Dirks
first = Tim
title = Wuthering Heights (1939)
publisher = Filmsite.org
url = http://www.filmsite.org/wuth.html
accessdate =2008-01-11 ]

Further, Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier apparently detested each other. Witnesses recall Oberon scolding Olivier for accidentally spitting on her during a particularly romantic balcony scene. Oberon shouted back to Wyler, "Tell him to stop spitting at me!" Olivier retorted by shouting, "What's a little spit for Chrissake, between actors? You bloody little idiot, how dare you speak to me...?" Oberon ran crying from the set after the outburst, and Wyler insisted Olivier apologize to her, which upset Olivier greatly.cite book
last = Herman
first = Jan
title = A Talent For Trouble: The Life of Hollywood's Most Acclaimed Director, William Wyler
publisher = Da Capo Press
date = 1997
isbn =030680798X ]

Laurence Olivier found himself becoming increasingly annoyed with William Wyler's exhausting style of film-making. After countless takes of one scene, 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."

Olivier in later years was more kind in his opinion about Wyler. In both his autobiography and his book "On Acting", Olivier credits William Wyler with teaching him how to act in films, as opposed to on the stage, and for giving him a new respect for films. Olivier had tended to "ham it up", as if he were playing to the second balcony, but Wyler showed him how to act more subtly.

In the final sequence of "Wuthering Heights", the spirits of Heathcliff and Cathy are seen walking together. This was added after filming was complete. As Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon had already moved on to other projects, doubles had to be used. Director Wyler hated the idea of the after-life scene and didn't want to do it, but producer Samuel Goldwyn vetoed him. Goldwyn subsequently claimed, "I made "Wuthering Heights", Wyler only directed it." [cite web
last = Nuggehalli
first = Nigam
title = Wuthering Heights (1939)
publisher = CultureVulture.net
url = http://www.culturevulture.net/movies/WutheringHeights.htm
accessdate = 2008-01-11] He also claimed that this film is his favorite of all his productions.

David Niven remembers the filming of Merle Oberon's deathbed scenes (recorded in his bestselling book "The Moon's a Balloon") as less than romantic. He had been given a substance to help it appear as if he were crying, which instead had the effect of making "green goo" come out of his nose.

Trivia

* The Mitchell Camera Corporation selected cinematographer Gregg Toland and "Wuthering Heights" to be the first to use their new Mitchell BNC camera. This camera model would become the studio standard.

* Ronald Colman, Douglas Fairbanks and Robert Newton were considered for the role of Heathcliff.

References

External links

* [http://www.epinions.com/content_388466511492 Movie Review by George Chabot]
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*amg movie|id=1:55636|title=Wuthering Heights
*rotten-tomatoes|id=1024192-wuthering_heights|title=Wuthering Heights
*filmsite|id=wuth|title=Wuthering Heights