This film is part of my quest to watch movies that were released in 1939. I think it is the best year ever for movies, during a turbulent time in world history.

This film, though widely acclaimed at the time of its release, does not stand the test of time. That is only my opinion, but I found the acting, in particular, to be somewhat wanting. I know that Lawrence Olivier has a big reputation, but I had a hard time believing that he loved anything beyond what he saw in the mirror.

Merle Oberon is kind of blah, too. David Niven was surprisingly believable as the dopey husband of Cathy.

The story is about a family who takes in a poor boy named Heathcliff. Heathcliff presents a challenge to the only son because he has a nature and inclinations that make him more like the benevolent father who took him in, than the man's sadistic son. Cathy and Heathcliff form a bond as joint victims of the eldest son's mean nature.

They go into the moors and he gathers heather for her and that is something that she never forgets until the day she dies. Cathy, being a bit shallow like her brother, marries for money and leaves poor Heathcliff behind. Heathcliff goes off to America and builds his fortune, comes back and buys the family home, which is called, of course, Wuthering Heights.

But, by this time Cathy is securely married and has left him in the dust. He works at getting even with her by marrying her husband's sister, Isabel, the only truly admirable character in the whole thing (in my opinion). Cathy gets sick and dies and it ends with Heathcliff cying and meeting her on the Moors.

That is a romantic notion, but to me Olivier and Oberon don't manage to carry it off. I think it is the age of the move, combined with their limited abilities to tell the truth. There is no comparing this film to Olivier's wife's film of the same year, Gone With the Wind. Maybe that's why their marriage didn't work out in the end. He was upstaged for all eternity even though he was nominated for an Oscar and so was the film. The reasons for that, in this year of excellence, elude me.

I would only recommend this film if you are trying to see everything that was made in 1939. Otherwise, I thought it was a melodramatic wasted of time. I do not get what people rave about in Olivier. Sorry, I just don't get it.

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Created May 01, 2016 at 7:37am • Submit your own review...