Wuthering Heights is a 1939 American romantic story set in the past. It was directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. The film stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, and David Niven. It is based on the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The movie includes only 16 of the novel’s 34 chapters, skipping some characters from the second generation of the story. The film’s screenplay was written by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht, and John Huston (who is not credited). Other actors in the film include Flora Robson and Geraldine Fitzgerald.

Outdoor scenes were filmed in Thousand Oaks, California, including locations at Wildwood Regional Park and the current site of California Lutheran University.

The film won the 1939 New York Film Critics Award for Best Film. It received eight nominations at the 12th Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Gregg Toland won the 1940 Academy Award for Best Cinematography in black-and-white films for his work on the movie. Alfred Newman’s music, including the piece “Cathy’s Theme,” was nominated for Best Original Score but lost to The Wizard of Oz.

In 2007, Wuthering Heights was chosen for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress because it is culturally, historically, or artistically important.

Plot

A traveler named Lockwood is caught in a snowstorm and takes shelter at the estate of Wuthering Heights, even though his host, Heathcliff, treats him coldly. Later that night, Lockwood is shown to an upstairs room that was once a bridal chamber. He is awakened by a cold draft and sees the window shutter moving back and forth. As he tries to close it, he feels an icy hand on his and hears a woman outside shouting, "Heathcliff, let me in! I'm lost in the moors. It's Cathy!" Lockwood calls for Heathcliff and tells him what he saw. Heathcliff becomes angry and throws Lockwood out of the room. After Lockwood leaves, Heathcliff calls out to Cathy and runs into the snowstorm. Ellen, the housekeeper, tells Lockwood that he saw the ghost of Cathy Earnshaw, Heathcliff's former lover, who died many years ago. When Lockwood says he does not believe in ghosts, Ellen offers to tell him the story of Cathy. Intrigued, Lockwood asks her to do so, and the story begins as a flashback.

As a boy, Heathcliff is found on the streets of Liverpool by Mr. Earnshaw, who brings him home to live with his children, Cathy and Hindley. At first, Cathy is hesitant, but she eventually grows close to Heathcliff, while Hindley treats him poorly, especially after Mr. Earnshaw dies. Ten years later, Heathcliff and Cathy are adults and in love. They meet secretly at Penistone Crags on the moors. Hindley, now cruel and selfish, forces Heathcliff to work as a stable boy out of hatred.

One night, Cathy and Heathcliff hear music and learn that the Linton family is having a party. They sneak into the Lintons’ estate but are discovered by dogs, which attack them. A dog bites Cathy, seriously injuring her leg. Heathcliff is forced to leave her with the Lintons. He becomes angry at the Lintons for their wealth and blames them for Cathy’s injury.

Cathy recovers after staying with the Lintons for months and returns home. Edgar Linton, a neighbor, has fallen in love with Cathy and proposes to her. After Edgar takes Cathy back to Wuthering Heights, she tells Ellen about the events. Ellen reminds Cathy of Heathcliff, but Cathy dismisses the idea of marrying him. Heathcliff overhears Cathy’s remark and leaves before she can admit her true feelings for him. Cathy runs after him into a storm, and Edgar finds her ill. A doctor named Kenneth helps her recover. Soon after, Cathy and Edgar marry.

Heathcliff disappears but returns years later, now wealthy and well-dressed. He secretly buys Wuthering Heights from Hindley, who has ruined himself through gambling and drinking. Cathy stays with Edgar and refuses to acknowledge her love for Heathcliff. To hurt Cathy, Heathcliff begins courting Edgar’s sister, Isabella. Cathy strongly opposes the marriage, but Heathcliff and Isabella eventually wed. Cathy becomes very sick, and Heathcliff rushes to help her despite Isabella’s objections. Cathy finally tells Heathcliff she loves only him, and they forgive each other. At her request, Heathcliff carries her to the window so she can see the moors one last time before dying in his arms. Heathcliff asks Cathy to haunt him until his death.

As Ellen finishes the story, Dr. Kenneth arrives and tells Ellen and Lockwood that he saw Heathcliff on the moors with a woman, only to find Heathcliff’s body alone in the snow. Ellen realizes that Dr. Kenneth saw the ghosts of Heathcliff and Cathy, who now haunt Penistone Crags together.

Cast

• Merle Oberon plays Catherine Earnshaw Linton
• Laurence Olivier plays Heathcliff
• David Niven plays Edgar Linton
• Flora Robson plays Ellen Dean
• Geraldine Fitzgerald plays Isabella Linton
• Hugh Williams plays Hindley Earnshaw
• Donald Crisp plays Dr. Kenneth
• Leo G. Carroll plays Joseph
• Miles Mander plays Mr. Lockwood, the stranger
• Cecil Kellaway plays Earnshaw, Cathy's father
• Cecil Humphreys plays Judge Linton
• Sarita Wooton plays Cathy as a child (also known as Sarita Wooten)
• Rex Downing plays Heathcliff as a child
• Douglas Scott plays Hindley as a child
• Vernon Downing plays Giles
• Alice Ehlers plays "Miss Erliss," a harpsichord player

Novel sections omitted in film

The film made the story much shorter than the novel. The book was split into two parts: the first part focused on Cathy and Heathcliff, and the second part later described Heathcliff's relationships with Cathy's daughter, also named Catherine, Heathcliff's son with Isabella, Linton, and Hindley's son, Hareton. In the film, the second part of the book, along with the stories of the children, was left out.

Because the film removed so much of the story, some characters were changed or not included. For example, both the film and the book begin and end with scenes set in the present, which frame the story that happens earlier in time. However, in the film, Isabella is still shown as the main woman in the household, while in the novel, time has passed enough for the younger Catherine to be the main female character. In general, the film keeps the ending where Heathcliff seems to contact Cathy's spirit and then dies, but this event happens earlier in the story and is shown in a slightly different way.

Production

The project was originally planned as a way to feature Merle Oberon, who had a contract with Goldwyn at that time. However, when Laurence Olivier was cast as Heathcliff, Vivien Leigh wanted to play the main role with her then-lover and future husband. Studio leaders believed the role could not go to an actress who was not well-known in America, but they offered Leigh the part of Isabella Linton. She refused, and Geraldine Fitzgerald was cast instead. Leigh was cast in Gone with the Wind the same year and won an Academy Award for Best Actress; Merle Oberon did not receive a nomination for her performance.

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

The Mitchell Camera Corporation chose cinematographer Gregg Toland and the film Wuthering Heights to be the first to use their new Mitchell BNC camera. This camera model became a standard for studios for the next 50 years and inspired future camera designs used in the decades that followed.

The novel takes place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, the film sets the story in the mid-19th century, around the time the novel was published. Sarah Berry writes that Samuel Goldwyn intentionally chose this change because he believed "Civil War" fashion was more appealing than Regency fashion. Other writers suggest Goldwyn had limited funds and reused costumes from a Civil War drama.

There were disagreements on the set between the actors and the director. Both main actors were unhappy about leaving their loved ones in the United Kingdom; Olivier missed his fiancée, Vivien Leigh, and Oberon had recently fallen in love with film producer Alexander Korda. Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier reportedly disliked each other, even though they had worked together the year before in The Divorce of Lady X. Witnesses say Oberon scolded Olivier for accidentally spitting on her during a romantic balcony scene. Oberon told the director, "Tell him to stop spitting at me!" Olivier responded, "What’s a little spit for Chrissake, between actors? You bloody little idiot, how dare you speak to me?" Oberon ran from the set crying, and the director insisted Olivier apologize, which upset Olivier greatly.

Olivier also grew frustrated with William Wyler’s exhausting and unclear filmmaking style. One scene with Olivier was filmed 72 times, with Wyler repeatedly saying "again!" without giving specific directions. An exasperated Olivier reportedly said, "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 replied, "I want it better." However, in his autobiography and book On Acting, Olivier credited Wyler with teaching him how to act in films, rather than on stage, and for giving him a new respect for films. Olivier had previously acted in a more exaggerated style, but Wyler helped him learn to act more subtly.

In the final scene of Wuthering Heights, the spirits of Heathcliff and Cathy are shown walking together, clearly in love. This scene is not in the book, and literary critic John Sutherland believes it likely contradicts what Brontë intended. He argues that a modern reader would not see Cathy’s ghost’s actions as a sign of undying love for Heathcliff but as an act of protective anger. Cathy’s ghost haunted Heathcliff to stop him from harming her daughter’s inheritance. Director Wyler disliked the idea of the afterlife scene and did not want to film it, but producer Samuel Goldwyn overruled him. The scene was added after filming was complete. Since Olivier and Oberon had moved on to other projects, stand-ins were used. Goldwyn later claimed, "I made Wuthering Heights, Wyler only directed it." In fact, Goldwyn’s name and producer credit appear last in the opening credits, which is unusual because directors are typically listed last. Goldwyn claimed Wuthering Heights was his favorite production. Sutherland writes that this change to the ending has influenced how students view the novel, especially Cathy, who appears more passive and accepting of abuse than Brontë may have intended.

David Niven recalls filming Merle Oberon’s deathbed scenes (as described in his book The Moon’s a Balloon) as unromantic. After telling Wyler he did not know how to "sob," he was given a menthol mist to make it look like he was crying. Instead, "green goo" came out of his nose. Oberon immediately left the bed after seeing this.

Reception

Frank S. Nugent from The New York Times described the film as "a strong and serious movie, written in a poetic way that the novel was not always, dark and wild as it was intended to be, and more tightly written than Miss Brontë’s version. It is, without doubt, one of the best films of the year, one of the finest made by Mr. Goldwyn, and a film you should decide to see." Variety noted that the film "kept all the serious drama from the book," but thought its "slow pace" might make it "boring for most people." Film Daily reported that the film was "a brilliant version of the Brontë novel," with William Wyler directing the love story in a warm and caring way that brought out strong performances from the actors. Harrison's Reports said "the acting, direction, and production were all excellent, but the story was so serious and sad that many people would leave the theater feeling unhappy." John Mosher from The New Yorker wrote: "No film version of Wuthering Heights could ever touch the heart as deeply as reading the book, but the Goldwyn production closely matches the intense, stormy story with a strength that was unexpected. Rarely has a movie captured the mood of a great novel so accurately." Tony Thomas noted that the film’s music helped keep it "a masterpiece of romantic filmmaking."

Although Wuthering Heights won Best Film from the New York Film Critics Circle, it only won after 14 votes, possibly as a compromise after a long disagreement between supporters of Gone with the Wind and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The film ranked fourth in Film Daily’s year-end poll of 542 critics who chose the best films of the year. The American Film Institute listed the film at number 73 in its AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies and number 15 in its AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Passions.