Wuthering Heights

"I am torn with Desire… tortured by hate!"

1939 1h 44m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 337

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

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

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William Wyler
Writers: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

87 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William Wyler, shot by Gregg Toland. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Daniel Mandell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier and David Niven carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "I am torn with Desire… tortured by hate!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0032145 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William Wyler directs. Gregg Toland behind the camera. Alfred Newman scores. Daniel Mandell cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

187 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by William Wyler, shot by Gregg Toland. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Daniel Mandell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier and David Niven carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "I am torn with Desire… tortured by hate!".
7IMDB entry: tt0032145 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 10 themes, including "jealousy", "sibling relationship", "based on novel or book", "love of one's life".

The technical file

Cinematography: Gregg Toland
Original score: Alfred Newman
Editing: Daniel Mandell
Costume design: Omar Kiam
Makeup / hair: Robert Stephanoff
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Wuthering Heights (1939)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

William Wyler

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-05-12
★ 9/10
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
CinemaSerf2022-06-22
★ 8/10
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.