The Earnshaws are Yorkshire farmers during the early 19th Century. One day, Mr. Earnshaw returns from a trip to the city, bringing with him a ragged little boy called Heathcliff. Earnshaw's son, Hindley, resents the child, but Heathcliff becomes companion and soulmate to Hindley's sister, Catherine. After her parents die, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up wild and free on the moors and despite the continued enmity between Hindley and Heathcliff they're happy -- until Cathy meets Edgar Linton, the son of a wealthy neighbor.
Merle Oberon
Catherine 'Cathy' Earnshaw Linton
Laurence Olivier
Heathcliff
David Niven
Edgar Linton
Flora Robson
Ellen Dean
Donald Crisp
Dr. Kenneth
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Isabella Linton
Hugh Williams
Hindley Earnshaw
Leo G. Carroll
Joseph
Miles Mander
Lockwood
Cecil Kellaway
Earnshaw
Cecil Humphreys
Judge Linton
Sarita Wooton
Cathy as a Child
Rex Downing
Heathcliff as a Child
Douglas Scott
Hindley as a Child
Frank Benson
Heathcliff Servant (uncredited)
Romaine Callender
Robert (uncredited)
Richard Clucas
Little Boy (uncredited)
Vernon Downing
Giles (uncredited)
Alice Ehlers
Madame Ehlers (uncredited)
Harold Entwistle
Beadle (uncredited)
Peter Gowland
Dancer (uncredited)
Helena Grant
Miss Hudkins (uncredited)
Sam Harris
Party Guest / Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Susanne Leach
Guest (uncredited)
Tommy Martin
Little Boy (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer
Party Guest (uncredited)
Schuyler Standish
Little Boy (uncredited)
William Stelling
Dancer (uncredited)
Diane Williams
Little Girl (uncredited)
Eric Wilton
Linton Servant (uncredited)
Philip Winter
Cathy's Partner (uncredited)
Director
William Wyler
Novel
Emily Brontë
Screenplay
Ben Hecht
Screenplay
Charles MacArthur
May 12, 2019
9
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