Wuthering Heights (1939) is another classic film on the list of movies from Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2 book that I had not seen before. I read Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights in high school and always had a fondness for it, maybe it was the gothic vibes and the element of revenge, more than likely it was my English teacher rolling in a TV and playing the Kate Bush music video on a videotape they had. Watching this version, directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn, I was struck by how unromantic this ‘romantic’ text is – it’s basically about two connected people treating each other terribly over the years and causing other people in their orbit to suffer with their wasted love. More compelling are the wild and windy moors, and the atmospheric landscape, and the idea of untamed emotions and rough behaviour cutting through the costumed airs of the upper class. Here, Laurence Olivier plays Heathcliffe and Merle Oberon as Cathy, initially step siblings due to Cathy’s father finding Heathcliff as an urchin and raising him as his own. From luminous close ups and framed figures against the landscape, there’s a classic Hollywood style here, which feels both artificial and theatrical – and I was enjoying its eerie set up and dramatic plot turns. Olivier, young and brutish, was exceedingly dashing to me, particularly when he is in full beast mode, and is unleashing his hatred and revenge on Cathy’s brother Hindley (Hugh Williams) who treated him so horribly. Or Heathcliffe in the swanky threads crashing Cathy’s marriage to the kindly Edgar (a young, dashing David Niven). I liked watching this version though the ending does simplify the novel’s narrative and makes it more romantic than the author probably intended. I don’t know – are there any other versions that people like? Available to stream on Kanopy and to rent on iTunes. Recommended.
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