Wuthering Heights (1939 film)

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This article is about the film. For the novel, see Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights is a 1939 film, directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It is based on the celebrated novel by Emily Brontë, although the film only depicts half of the novel (sixteen of its thirty-four chapters). The film was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston. It's probably the best-known adaptation of Brontë's novel in the whole world. The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, and Actor.

Tagline: I am torn by Desire... tortured by hate!

Contents

1 Main cast
2 Awards & nominations

2.1 Won
2.2 Nominated

3 Trivia

Main cast

Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff
Merle Oberon as Catherine 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 Earnshaw.

Awards & nominations

Won

1939: NYFCC Award for Best Picture of the Year
1939: Academy Award for Best 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

Trivia

In the final sequence, the spirits of Heathcliff and Cathy are seen walking together. This was added after filming was complete, and because Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon had already moved on to other projects, doubles had to be used.

Wyler hated that after-life scene and didn't want to do it but Samuel Goldwyn vetoed him on that score. Goldwyn subsequently claimed, "I made "Wuthering Heights", Wyler only directed it."

The Mitchell Camera Corporation selected Gregg Toland and this picture to be the first to use their then new Mitchell BNC camera. This camera model would become the studio standard.

Vivien Leigh wanted to play the lead role, alongside her then lover and future husband Laurence Olivier, but studio executives decided the role should go to Merle Oberon. They later offered Leigh the part of Isabelle Litton, but she declined and Geraldine Fitzgerald was cast. Ironically, Leigh's next project on that same year (Gone with the Wind) won her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier apparently detested each other. Legend has it that when William Wyler yelled "Cut!" after a particularly romantic scene, Oberon shouted back to her director about Laurence: "Tell him to stop spitting at me!"

This movie was Samuel Goldwyn's first great success as an independent producer. He also claimed that this movie is his favorite production.

Laurence Olivier found himself becoming increasingly annoyed with William Wyler's exhausting style of film-making. 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."

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

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.

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.

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