Wuthering Heights poster

1939·104 min·Released

Wuthering Heights

“I am torn with Desire… tortured by hate!”

Drama
Romance

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

7.2(324 votes)

Popularity4

Videos

Wuthering Heights Official Trailer #1 - David Niven Movie (1939) HD

Cast & Crew

Merle Oberon

Merle Oberon

Catherine 'Cathy' Earnshaw Linton

Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Heathcliff

David Niven

David Niven

Edgar Linton

Flora Robson

Flora Robson

Ellen Dean

Donald Crisp

Donald Crisp

Dr. Kenneth

Geraldine Fitzgerald

Geraldine Fitzgerald

Isabella Linton

Hugh Williams

Hugh Williams

Hindley Earnshaw

Leo G. Carroll

Leo G. Carroll

Joseph

Miles Mander

Miles Mander

Lockwood

Cecil Kellaway

Cecil Kellaway

Earnshaw

Cecil Humphreys

Cecil Humphreys

Judge Linton

Sarita Wooton

Sarita Wooton

Cathy as a Child

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John Chard

Written on 5/12/2019

Cathy, Cathy, come in, Cathy come back to me. Wuthering Heights is directed by William Wyler and adapted to screenplay by Charles MacArthur & Ben Hecht from the novel of the same name written by Emily Bronte. It stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Flora Robson. Music is scored by Alfred Newman and cinematography is by Gregg Toland. OK, so it's only a part of Bronte's classic novel, and yes some liberties have been taken, but Wuthering Heights is still a wonderfully involving picture. Expertly played by the actors and directed with adroitness, it's a haunting tale of tragedy, love and passions never to be sated. Moodily photographed by Toland, who won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in the process, tale unfolds in flashback style that's aided by retrospect narration from Robson's wily house keeper Ellen Dean. Characters are perfectly formed as children, expanded upon into adulthood; with Olivier and Oberon coming into their own on the acting front, then the story reaches its denouement to leave the viewer flushed with emotion. All given dramatic impetus by Alfred Newman's sweeping score. 1939 was a stellar year for classic cinema, Wuthering Heights is deservedly a part of that upper echelon number. Brilliant. 9/10

CinemaSerf

Written on 6/22/2022

I venture to suggest that this wonderfully evocative adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic story will never be surpassed. The novel is essentially a tale of lost love and the trio of Merle Oberon ("Cathy"), Laurence Olivier ("Heathcliffe") and David Niven ("Edgar") manage to encapsulate all the emotions of sadness, of bitterness and of despair superbly. "Heathcliffe" is the abandoned boy brought to the home of the wealthy "Earnshaw" family by Cecil Kellaway where he gradually falls in love with daughter "Cathy". When the old man dies, his son "Hindley" (Hugh Williams) inherits, treating "Heathcliffe" as little better than a servant before he eventually drives him away. When he returns wealthy, many years later, he discovers "Cathy" now married to the debonair, if rather dull, Niven. What happens now is the stuff of English literature at it's most enigmatically dramatic. Whilst the screenplay does skim over much of the detailed characterisations, and some of the sub-plot from the book, it nonetheless captures the spirit of the story in both an atmospheric and charismatic fashion - with Flora Robson at her melancholic best as the recounter of our tale. Oberon and Olivier are excellent at conveying the sense of distress and longing and the cinematography of the bleak, but liberating, Yorkshire Moors all contribute to an engrossing, really rather sad story.

Media

Wuthering Heights Official Trailer #1 - David Niven Movie (1939) HD

Wuthering Heights Official Trailer #1 - David Niven Movie (1939) HD