Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
age 10+
The best version of the gothic-romantic revenge story.
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What is the story?
In the English countryside of the 1800s, a traveler caught in a raging snowstorm is forced to seek refuge in Wuthering Heights, a mansion full of unfortunate souls presided over by the hostile Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier). When a visitor sees a phantom woman outside her window in a blizzard, the old maid tells the story of passion and unforgivable loss that made Obsessive Love haunt Wuthering Heights, literally. Heathcliff was a homeless “gypsy” boy who was adopted by the kind lord of Wuthering Heights to be raised with his children, Cathy (Merle Oberon) and Hindley (Hugh Williams). Cathy takes a liking to Heathcliff, but Hindley, jealous and snotty, hates the adoptive father. When Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley inherits the estate and treats Heathcliff as a peasant-servant. Promising Heathcliff that she will always be his, Cathy leaves for school, only to return to Wuthering Heights with her high-class fiancé, the snobbish Edgar Linton (David Niven). When she declares Heathcliff unworthy, he flees to America, amasses a fortune, transforms into a dashing gentleman, and returns with a vengeance to take over Wuthering Heights and enact a cruel strategy to win Cathy back for his broken heart.
Is it good?
Emily Brontë’s often-assigned novel about romance gone bad and not-so-sweet revenge on the Yorkshire moors inspired this extraordinary classic from Hollywood’s Golden Age. WUTHERING HEIGHTS came out the same year as Mr. Smith is going to Washington, Gone with the wind, The Wizard of Oz, The Women, Goodbye Mr. Chipsand Stagecoachamong other things. It’s no wonder that film buffs consider 1939 one of the best years for American film studios ever, and some partisans give Wuthering Heights a vote for the best of that celluloid vintage, though some elements of it (especially the many wailing violin solos) haven’t aged too well. Wuthering Heights offers young viewers today a much-needed reminder of the great beauty of black-and-white films. It won an Oscar for cinematography, and it’s really impossible to imagine that the dark melodrama of the bar is very effective in color.
Younger viewers may only know Laurence Olivier from his unimpressive late-career character roles in fantasy like Clash of the Titans and the odd cameo after death The sky captain and the world of tomorrow. Watch this for Olivier in his prime and you’ll understand why his name has been synonymous with the best acting on screen for generations. It’s really hard to imagine anyone else portraying one of the greatest bad boys in literature. Although the screenplay simplifies a lot of the book, the core idea of love tortured and twisted into hate (which is, in itself, a strange form of loyalty) comes through loud and clear.
Talk to your kids about…
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Families can discuss the dysfunctional relationship Heathcliff has with Cathy. How much of their problems are family and social pressures trying to keep them apart — she’s aristocratic and he’s a virtual peasant — and how much of the problem is of their own making? How could they find happiness together or apart? You can compare the film’s narrative to an Emily Bronte novel, which covers a longer period of time and has many more twists and turns. Do you see battle-scarred love affairs like this in movies made today?
Did we miss something about diversity?
Research shows a connection between children’s healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in the media. That’s why we’ve added a new “Different Representations” section to our reviews, which will be published continuously. You can help us help children