WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) 🤩

Timing is everything when dealing with the affairs of the heart. It is a ‘must’ to fall in love. Both partners have to feel that tingle at the same moment; otherwise, it can become a push-pull emotional roller coaster and lead to unrequited love. Face it.  Love can be complicated, or it can be as easy as being splashed from head to toe by a puddle of rainwater. Oftentimes, we don’t even have a clue as to what is happening now or next when serendipitous seconds find their way to our doorstep.

Throughout my life, I have fallen in and out of love several times. I know the tsunami reactions to passion, rejection, and lust. These waves can take us to the mountain tops or down into a pit, filled with anxiety, darkness, and tears. I have experienced both pathways to seeking love and to being loved. Through it all, I have learned that it matters how we recover from those peaks and valleys. It usually is all about the choices before we fall, during the fall, and after. Some never recover their footing or foundation. Some flounder for the rest of their lives, vacillating between love and hate, never realizing their true feelings. These relationships are heartbreaking, cursed, and painful both mentally and physically. 

In 1847, Emily Brontë created a tale worthy of these overcharged, overpowering feelings: WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Ninety years later, this popular romance novel became a black-and-white film that would be remade every decade or two for the screen. I have given up counting how many WUTHERING HEIGHTS have been replicated. It is astounding. A new one (with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi) has just hit theaters. Yet, every one of these pictures stands on the shoulders of the first, written in 1939.  It set the bar for all time to match or surpass. Brontë’s powerful words endure thanks to this spectacular adaptation, phenomenal acting, and exquisite set designs. 

The original WUTHERING HEIGHTS was nominated for eight Oscars and won only one, for Best Black-and-White Cinematography. (Gregg Toland) It was an amazing year for movies. WH was up against GONE WITH THE WIND, STAGECOACH, AND MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON for the Best Picture category. It was a no-brainer which film won, but it was astounding that WH received so many positive accolades, given it was a dysfunctional, unhappy movie set while being made. The production finished two weeks over schedule and $100,000 over budget, which was considered a great deal of money in those days.

Samuel Goldwyn was the producer, and William Wyler (THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, ROMAN HOLIDAY) directed. They did not get along or agree on anything throughout production. Goldwyn once said, “I made WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Wyler merely directed it.” Their on-set fighting grew so bad that they even disagreed on how to end the film. Goldwyn said it was too dark. It needed a happier ending. Wyler did not agree, so Goldwyn went behind Wyler’s back and reshot the final seconds of the film, inserting two stand-ins walking hand in hand towards the light. This is the definitive definition of chutzpah. 

Wyler was no angel either. He was known for redoing a scene until he got it right. It was not unusual to record 40 takes. Laurence Olivier, who played Heathcliff, would often complain. After seventeen takes, he screamed at Wyler, “What do you want?” Wyler calmly replied, “I want it better.” Merle Oberon as Cathy complained as well. While filming the huge rainstorm scene, Wyler had Oberon repeat it so many times that she eventually became ill and had to go to the hospital. When she recovered, she still had to redo that scene. David Niven, who played Edgar, was told he had to break down during a scene. Niven said he didn’t cry in movies, and it was in his contract that he didn’t have to shed tears on camera. It was in his contract and known as the crying clause. Wyler was furious. 

It really was a wonder that the emotional arcs ever reached such superb heights. Oberon could not stand Olivier. It was said they despised each other. Oberon complained that Olivier kept spitting on her face while reciting his love-scene lines. She would often storm off the set, screaming for him to stop. Olivier was angry when he began working on this film. His colleagues often called him pompous. He was documented making bold statements to his coworkers, claiming he was the best actor. I truly can’t imagine working on this film without taking Xanax every day. 

Yet, Wyler managed to record Olivier’s, Oberon’s, and Niven’s best work on celluloid. There was passion, angst, and yearning. It was easy to be swept away either at the imaginary castle, elaborate, stunning balls, or in the desolate, despairing, dark WUTHERING HEIGHTS mansion. The story brilliantly crushed every character’s heart. Their unforgettable performances, along with Geraldine Fitzgerald as Isabella and Flora Robson as Ellen, made an undeniable, lasting impression. 

Goldwyn went to great pains to recreate the English moors. Hundreds of tumbleweeds were planted, each with purple buds hand-painted on its stem.  Goldwyn traveled to England for research and brought back thousands of plans to transform hundreds of acres in the Thousand Oaks area into beautiful fields of heather. Thousands of plants flourished under the warm California sun. Crew members often had to cut down and trim the thick foliage. It was a masterpiece set design that could only become a reality in Hollywood. When audiences watch WUTHERING HEIGHTS, they would swear it was filmed deep in the Yorkshire moors.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS is a romantic, gothic classic. It personifies the Golden Age of cinema history. It is a haunting tale that shares the best interpretation of Brontë’s turbulent, doomed love story. May Heathcliff and Cathy’s devastating journey be a lesson for us all. 

WUTHERING HEIGHTS is available on TCM.