Wuthering Heights (1939 film)

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For the novel, see Wuthering Heights.


Wuthering Heights
Directed by William Wyler
Produced by Samuel Goldwyn
Written by Emily Brontë (novel)
Charles MacArthur
Ben Hecht
Starring Merle Oberon
Laurence Olivier
David Niven
Flora Robson
Donald Crisp
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Hugh Williams
Music by Alfred Newman
Cinematography Gregg Toland
Distributed by United Artists
Release date(s) 13 April 1939
Running time 103 min.
Country US
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

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 sixteen of the novel's thirty-four chapters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston. It is considered to be the best film version of Bronte's novel ever made, 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.

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

Contents

[edit] Main cast

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Won

[edit] Nominated

[edit] Trivia

  • 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.
  • Wyler hated the idea of the after-life scene, and didn't want to do it but Samuel Goldwyn vetoed him. Goldwyn subsequently claimed, "I made Wuthering Heights, Wyler only directed it." [citation needed]
  • 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.
  • 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. Leigh's next project, Gone with the Wind, that same year, 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!" Olivier retorted by shouting, "What's spit, for God's sake, between actors, you bloody little idiot?" [citation needed]
  • Samuel Goldwyn claimed that this film is his favorite of all his productions. [1]
  • 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." [citation needed]
  • 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. [3]
  • 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.
  • Laurence Olivier credits William Wyler with teaching him how to act in films, as opposed to acting onstage, 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. [citation needed]

[edit] External links

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