Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59932 in DVD

Customer Reviews

Who cares about the book?
Who cares about the book? This is a film masterpiece we are discussing, and this is surely one of the greatest. Across over half a century it still resonates in the hearts of men and women as it will continue IF it can be kept available. And THAT is MY peeve: you can't obtain a copy of the original at any reasonable price on DVD. Shame. The same is beginning to apply to other great films from the 30's. Hollywood would rather remake a film a dozen times than keep the original available. Of course if the original is not available, the new versions don't have to compete with it - which they seldom can. Again I say shame on the industry.

Timeless...
This is a classic masterpiece of (b/w) film-making that sadly isn't done anymore. Yes, it doesn't correspond word for word with the book, get over it, re-read the book. Still, the mood of the book is ever present and Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon and David Niven are all wonderful in their roles. Regretably, Wyler and studio didn't tackle the entire book. This was released the year of Gone With the Wind and won only one academy award (for best B/W cinematography). It was nominated for 8 including Best Picture, and for flics released in 1939, that says a lot.

A widely romantic film with a first-rate cast!
With his distinctive visual style and a taste for solemn material, William Wyler gained a reputation as a meticulous, serious artist...

Earning eight Academy Award Nominations, 'Wuthering Heights' won its sole Academy Award for Gregg Toland's expressionistic, moody black-and-white cinematography... Also, the film's powerful musical score by Alfred Newman is unforgettable... But what about those star-crossed lovers, one of whom always dies, leaving the other with a few words and a lifetime of mourning? What more ill-fated love than that between Cathy (Merle Oberon) and Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier).

Heathcliff, a half-gypsy orphan, is adopted by Cathy's father, and the two grow up together, roaming across the moors... A deep and everlasting love grows between them, but Cathy obstinately and foolishly marries someone else (David Niven).

Heathcliff disappears - a penniless vagabond - but many years later returns with a fortune to torment her again... Their subsequent meetings are loaded with obsession and denial... She will not leave the gentle security of her husband for the fiery passion of Heathcliff...

Despite American script and settings, this widely romantic film makes a pretty fair stab at capturing the power of at least the first half of a classic Victorian novel, and in all respects it's superb Hollywood production of its day and a typical one, complete with ghostly finale and a first-rate cast...