Wuthering Heights (1939 film)

Wuthering Heights
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Wyler
Screenplay byCharles MacArthur
Ben Hecht
John Huston (uncredited)
Based onWuthering Heights
1847 novel
by Emily Brontë
(credited as Emily Bronté)
Produced bySamuel Goldwyn
StarringMerle Oberon
Laurence Olivier
David Niven
Flora Robson
Donald Crisp
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Hugh Williams
CinematographyGregg Toland
Edited byDaniel Mandell
Music byAlfred Newman
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release dates
  • March 24, 1939 (1939-03-24)
(Hollywood)[1]
  • April 13, 1939 (1939-04-13) (US)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$624,643[2] (1989 re-issue)

Wuthering Heights is a 1939 American romantic period drama film directed by William Wyler, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven, and based on the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The film depicts only 16 of the novel's 34 chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston (uncredited). The supporting cast features Flora Robson and Geraldine Fitzgerald.

The outdoor scenes were filmed in Thousand Oaks, California, with scenes shot in Wildwood Regional Park and at the current site of California Lutheran University.[3][4][5]

The film won the 1939 New York Film Critics Award for Best Film. It earned nominations for eight Academy Awards,[6] including for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The 1940 Academy Award for Best Cinematography, black-and-white category, was awarded to Gregg Toland for his work. Nominated for original score (but losing to The Wizard of Oz) was the prolific film composer Alfred Newman, whose poignant "Cathy's Theme" does so much "to maintain its life as a masterpiece of romantic filmmaking."[7]

In 2007, Wuthering Heights was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

  1. ^ Hanson, Patricia King, ed. (1993). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1931-1940. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 2476. ISBN 0-520-07908-6.
  2. ^ Box Office Information for Wuthering Heights. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  3. ^ McKinney, John (2013). HIKE Ventura County. The Trailmaster, Inc. Page 85. ISBN 9780934161534.
  4. ^ O’Brien, Tricia (2017). Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. Arcadia Publishing. Page 24. ISBN 9781439661956.
  5. ^ Fleming, E.J. (2010). The Movieland Directory: Nearly 30,000 Addresses of Celebrity Homes, Film Locations and Historical Sites in the Los Angeles Area, 1900–Present. McFarland. Page 48. ISBN 9781476604329.
  6. ^ "NY Times: Wuthering Heights". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2009. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  7. ^ "Music for the Movies," (1973) by Tony Thomas, P. 55