Wuthering Heights

1939 1 hr 44 min

Made during Hollywood’s golden age, WUTHERING HEIGHTS is the first film adaptation of Emily Brontë's timeless novel. Set in 19th century England, a tortured love affair develops between Cathy and her impoverished childhood friend Heathcliff. Heathcliff is devastated and departs after Cathy decides to marry a wealthy man, later returning with a self-made fortune. A classic tale of passion, obsession, and revenge, WUTHERING HEIGHTS was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and is considered a masterpiece of romantic filmmaking.

The prolific composer Alfred Newman (perhaps best known for creating the fanfare that plays with the 20th Century Studios logo) received one of his staggering 45 Oscar nominations for WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Newman’s score is expansive, filling most of the film’s runtime as it spans the decades of Cathy and Heathcliff’s torrid, yet doomed love. He incorporates distinctive leitmotifs to represent the story’s main players. “Cathy’s theme,” defined by spare, lonely horns overwhelmed by soaring strings, reflects the character’s conflicted yearnings between a life of privilege and a life with Heathcliff. By contrast, the musical ideas for Heathcliff are appropriately somber and urgent, a roiling surge of resentment, regret, and unrequited emotion. And the music to evoke the lush moors of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, invoking a heady mix of brass and strings and flutes, is duly playful and romantic, hinting always at a better time long gone.

Director William Wyler

Cast Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven

Country USA

Language English

Aspect 1.37

More info on IMDB ››