Wuthering Heights | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

96% Tomatometer 25 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings

In this adaptation of the classic Emily Bronte novel set in 19th-century England, wealthy young Cathy Earnshaw (Merle Oberon) shares a loving bond with Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier), a poor childhood friend who now works in her stables. Unfortunately, things become complicated when the affluent Edgar Linton (David Niven) decides to pursue Cathy, and Heathcliff leaves out of resentment. Though Heathcliff returns with a self-made fortune, he realizes he may have lost Cathy in his absence.

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Wuthering Heights

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Critics Consensus

Sumptuous design and perfect casting makes Wuthering Heights an exemplar of old Hollywood studio filmmaking, even if to a fault.

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Critics Reviews

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Wuthering Heights | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: 4/5 Jun 19, 2003 Full Review Wuthering Heights | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Variety Staff Variety Emily Bronte's novel tells a haunting tale of love and tragedy. Samuel Goldwyn's film version retains all of the grim drama of the book. It's heavy fare throughout. Feb 13, 2001 Full Review Wuthering Heights | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Zita Short InSession Film Gregg Toland’s extraordinary black and white cinematography creates a haunting, poignant effect. Feb 1, 2023 Full Review Wuthering Heights | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Yasser Medina Cinefilia As a period melodrama I find it quite moving because of the way Wyler makes notes on prejudice, social class and impossible love, with great performances and a very luminous visual style from Toland. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 7/10 Jun 9, 2021 Full Review Wuthering Heights | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Destined for immediate success due to a stellar cast and a powerful story based on the lauded novel. Rated: 10/10 Aug 1, 2020 Full Review Wuthering Heights | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Rachel Wagner Rachel's Reviews (YouTube) This tells this story about as well as you can with great chemistry and beautiful music Feb 26, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ebony C As a lover of the book this movie wasn't great. Entirely deleting 3 main characters, taking many liberties with the story and creating brand new plot devices instead of those from the books is maddening. Heathcliff slapping Cathy (oh my god) and Cathy not being elated at his return grieved me the most. Having said all of that, the film making was impeccable and the for the most part the casting was good. If you look at the movie to stand alone from the book then it worth the watch. Knowing the story as well as I do though, it is really quite distracting. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/23 Full Review MissMK - One of my all-time favorite movies since I was a little girl. My Grandmother was a big movie buff and introduced me to so many classics that are forever embedded into how I gauge and interpret films. It also made me want to act at a young age. Everyone's performance in this was so believable and full of every emotion needed to be perceived in each scene. The father's love but detachment, her brother's depression, her confusion and war of emotions within herself. Societal issues and more.... If you haven't watched this original yet, get to it. It's a story you will not forget. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/16/23 Full Review acsdoug D Bronte's story is not one of my favorites, but this is an excellent production, although because they cut out the second half of the book the ending feels rather rushed. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/03/23 Full Review IBA A My favourite Actor of all time. LAWERENCE OLIVIER 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Kyle M A romantic classic that intrigues unconventionally, and subtly mysteriously in post-thought realization within the connective theming that was narratively forewarned, as director William Wyler sympathizes with the source material than just adapting a timeless tale of wealth soulful corruption imprinting cursedly and haunted love resisting the truest notion by mutual guilt. Unique, unexpected resonance from this picture that defies expectations thanks to the cast's exceptional performances bringing the brilliantly written script to something inspirationally Shakespearean by tonal deliverance. (B+) Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/13/22 Full Review isla s First off, there's an awful lot of very shaky camerawork in this film, so if that annoys you then I'd recommend you stay clear of this film. Not just that but also a lot is filmed in darkness or otherwise low light - I imagine it was written that scenes occur in the dark and some may say that makes it atmospheric but it also adds to a sort of disorientating feel.Its a sad story, of course and the film doesn't shy away from the harshness, so there is violence, scenes of torture (although I wouldn't say there's excessive graphic depictions, its mostly implied but all the same, it doesn't leave too much to the imagination) etc. Its a somewhat moody film, as it should be given the story I guess but suffice to say it didn't overly appeal to me. I felt a bit confused about some plot aspects. I know its more famous as a classic novel/classic literature and suffice to say I haven't read the novel but I didn't find myself entirely intrigued or moved by this film really. I did think it was perhaps surprising how much of a rebel the Heathcliff character was, given the time its set in but then maybe thats unfair of me to think that?. This isn't an especially bad film but you'd have to be in the right mood for it and even then, you may not fully grasp the intricacies of the plot, which would be a shame, so I don't entirely rate this. I'd only recommend this if your familiar with the full story and you feel particularly keen to watch it, then it may be worth seeing, otherwise not so much. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

William Wyler Director Merle Oberon Cathy Earnshaw Laurence Olivier Heathcliff David Niven Edgar Linton Flora Robson Ellen Donald Crisp Dr. Kenneth
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Wuthering Heights

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Synopsis In this adaptation of the classic Emily Bronte novel set in 19th-century England, wealthy young Cathy Earnshaw (Merle Oberon) shares a loving bond with Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier), a poor childhood friend who now works in her stables. Unfortunately, things become complicated when the affluent Edgar Linton (David Niven) decides to pursue Cathy, and Heathcliff leaves out of resentment. Though Heathcliff returns with a self-made fortune, he realizes he may have lost Cathy in his absence.

Director
William Wyler

Producer
Samuel Goldwyn

Screenwriter
Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht

Distributor
United Artists

Production Co
Samuel Goldwyn Production, United Artists

Genre
Romance

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 13, 1939, Original

Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 1, 2016

Box Office (Gross USA)
$593.9K

Runtime
1h 43m

Sound Mix
Surround
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