Wuthering Heights - 1939

I am a little ashamed that I am watching this movie for the first time- it is a top 100 movie according to most polls and has been remade 17 TIMES since 1920- according to IMDB! The movie is based off a very popular book novel written by Emily Bronte. Not sure what took me so long to get to it. The movie was nominated for 8 Academy Awards. I grew up with a girl in my ward (let’s call her Naomi) and we have been friends our entire lives. The past 15 years of her life have been difficult. She has never given her marriage what it needs, because she feels her heart was given to somebody else before her marriage. That somebody else is also a good friend of mine (let’s call him Eric). Eric has been married to someone else for 15 years, as has Naomi. He has no interest in Naomi, but he understands that she still fantasizes about him all the time. She drives by his house, calls his phone, talks to others about how she should have married him, etc. You may think I am making this up but I am not. It is a very sad situation and we have all told her to move on with her life and appreciate the husband and four children she has. She has chosen to live a life of misery and the grass is greener on the other side mentality approach to marriage. Some people believe that there is only one person for you to marry in this world; others believe that you can love more than once. I have always been a believer in the latter. Naomi feels that once your heart is saved for someone the rest of your life is misery unless you are with them. She had her chance to marry Eric and she turned him down. It was her choice. Eric did love her at one time, but like the rest of us he moved on and now loves the person he is married to. I could laugh Wuthering Heights off as a stupid chick flick - three tissue - tear jerker. But to me it wasn't silly, it was sad. It made me realize that the movie represents real people and their problems. Merle Oberon delivers an Oscar winning performance in my opinion (she did not win) as Cathy Earnshaw. Cathy grows up as a rich socialite on the shores of England. She loves the fanfare of being a part of the upper crust but her heart belongs to a stable boy named Heathcliff. Heathcliff is played by Laurence Olivier (who also should have won an Oscar). Heathcliff was taken in by Cathy's father and given a place to live- but when the father dies Cathy's older brother places Heathcliff where he belongs- in the stable. A beggar and peasant should never live with royalty. Healthcliff and Cathy grew up best friends and romantic interests, even thought they kind of are adopted brother and sister. It is Cathy's brother that stops her from being able to love Heathcliff because he doesn't deserve to have a normal life. Cathy then makes the decision that haunts her forever- she decides to move on and marry a rich person instead of the person she loves. I don't want to tell you everything about the movie in case you want to watch it. Just be advised this is A BIG TIME CHICK FLICK! Very sappy, very sad, very over the top dramatic. The close up shots of the actor’s faces are fantastic. It is a great lesson in how black and white cinematography should be done. 3.5 stars for me but I won't be putting this tear jerker in my top 100 list, but at least I can undestand why it made some people's top 100 list- there are some good things about this movie. The overal moral is that hate, jealousy and revenge only lead to sadness.