- Format: NTSC, Import
- Language: English
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Warner
- Release Date: Oct 29 1997
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 6304696620
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Product Description
Amazon.com Essential Video
One of the most compelling tragic romances ever captured on film, Wuthering Heights is an exquisite tale of doomed love and miscalculated intentions. Though only half of Emily Bronte's classic tale of Heathcliff and Catherine was filmed by director William Wyler, it lacks for nothing.
The story begins when a Yorkshire gentleman farmer brings home a raggedy gypsy boy, Heathcliff, and raises him as his son. The boy grows to love his stepsister Catherine, with catastrophic results. Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon were perfectly cast as the mismatched lovers, with Olivier brooding and despairing, Oberon ethereal and enchanting. This won cinematographer Gregg Toland a much-deserved Oscar for his haunting and evocative depiction of mid-19th century English moors. (Quite a trick, as this was shot in California!) Though nominated for seven other Oscars, it won none of them, as it was released in 1939, one of the best years in Hollywood history and the same year as Gone with the Wind. Interestingly, the script was written by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht, best known for their witty 1931 flick, The Front Page. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Wuthering Heights is being re-released on DVD this year!!!
Jan 10 2004
Format:DVD
At last! Collectors can now stop buying those foreign imports from China. I recently purchased another newly released DVD (not "Wuthering Heights") on the MGM label, and as a part of the Special Features was a list of new and upcoming releases, which included the Olivier-Oberon version. I immediately checked the MGM site for further details, but it's still not showing up yet. Still, if MGM is starting to advertise, then hopefully it will be soon. I just wanted to share this information with others, like myself, who are still in disbelief that this classic was ever out of release in the first place.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
GAWTHICK!
Feb 26 2002
Format:VHS Tape
Written by the most sensual of the rather frustrated Bronte daughters, EMILY [who also supposedly had an affair with her French tutor, and maybe one of old man Bronte's curates] : 'tis quite a steamy tale - with not too subtle hints of necrophelia here and there. It is indeed a passionate tale of frustated love across caste and possibly color/cultural barriers.
[Considering the cast - it's quite a point too. Was the enigmatic Merle Oberon Tazmanian or East Indian? Errol Flynn knew, but didn't or wouldn't tell].
Well, it you're totally foreign to WUTHERING HEIGHTS it's briefly about the struggles of a young gypsy [read possible changeling] boy 'somewhat' raised/abused on a country farm and his eternal stuggle/revenge to be accepted by the folk. Soap Opera material today - quite rivals "Dallas" but this was quite a hit back then - also considering that the three Bronte sisters had to use male pseudonyms [the brothers Bell I believe] to get their novels published.
This version is an interesting period piece complete with the acceptable 'blood and thunder' Oliver acting and the rather subtle David Niven bring up the rear so to speak. Geraldine Fitzgerald as part of the love quartet fares the best I think - she does not quite consume the decor. There have been other versions - the most recent with Fiennes and Binoche [straight to video I recall]. Timothy Dalton also gave it a turn - when will they ever get this right?
Best to read Emily's novel and use the old imagination - but if desperate - Mr. Wyler's partial version is still the best.
The movie also has the odd distinction of giving Olivier a touch of athlete's foot - seems that the boots he wore in one of the scenes were not too healthy......
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Hard to rate this one . . .
Aug 9 2001
Format:VHS Tape
It's hard to rate because the title is "Wuthering Heights" and yet, to me, bears very little resemblance to the book. The movie does not address what happened to Cathy's brother, apparently Cathy's daughter and the sons of Heathcliff and Cathy's brother never existed. The movie does not show Cathy for the selfish, tantrum-throwing, almost evil person that she is in the book.
I think if the names had been changed, as well as the name of the film and a few other minor items, it could have been sent out as a completely unrelated movie.
Even so, taken on its own merits and not comparing it to the book, it is an excellent movie in its own right.
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Most recent customer reviews
Not my cup of tea
It's difficult for me to get past everything that is clearly wrong with this movie. There is a tendency to laud every old movie as a triumph of this or that, but it doesn't change... Read more
Published on Nov 20 2008 by Poetkitty
Pure movie magic
Does it really matter that this was released in 1939? What about the cheap production values, weak set construction, dated acting, primitive cinematography and low-budget sound... Read more
Published on Jun 15 2004 by Luis M. Luque
I am torn apart by my desire for you
"Not even you, Cathy, could keep us apart," says Heathcliff. And thus is the ill-fated romance of two childhood friends who end up with different paths in life yet are... Read more
Published on Jun 11 2004
Olivier at his BEST.
Perhaps I'm biased...I'm absolutely in love with Laurence Olivier's performance in any given role--defintely my favourite actour. Read more
Published on April 2 2004 by "fille_millesime"
"Wuthering Heights" Hits High "Heights"
When I was in high school we were required to read Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights". It was around this time I was starting to read more actively. Read more
Published on Feb 15 2004 by Alex Udvary
too melodramatic
i've never read the novel by bronte, but based on this film it's hard to see why it'd be considered a classic. Read more
Published on Jun 24 2003
The best romantic film!
This version of, "Wuthering Heights," will always be my favorite. I have to admit that I liked it better then the book. Laurence Olivier shows such love and feeling. Read more
Published on Jan 17 2003 by Rosella Ann Myles
I didn't enjoy it
It was a tragedy, romantic, well acted, and well made. But I didn't get anything out of it. My idea of an intertaining movie of this type is Casablanca. Read more
Published on Jan 10 2003 by "superconducter"
The Best Version
A large part of the novel by Emily Bronte is left out of the movie and the plot is simplified. It is still considered a classic film mostly because of the high quality of the... Read more
Published on Nov 19 2002 by Peter Kenney
I cannot live without this film!
Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite films of all time. Sir Laurence Olivier gives a passionately unforgetable preformance as Heathcliff. Read more
Published on July 26 2002 by Anastasia Smith
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