WUTHERING
HEIGHTS (1970)Director: Robert Fuest
MGM
WUTHERING
HEIGHTS (1970)During the late 60s and early 70s, AIP set up production facilities in England, and continued to churn out one Vincent Price film after another. Sandwiched in between them was this real change of pace--the first color version of Emily Bronte's 19th century novel of young love, and not their usual exploitation product. In the director's chair was the very talented former art director Robert Fuest, and this no doubt lead to him getting assigned to the "Dr. Phibes" films.
Set amongst the Yorkshire moors, the main characters are Heathcliff (future 007 Timothy Dalton) and Cathy (Anna Calder-Marshall). Heathcliff was an orphan who is brought from the streets of London to live on the farm estate of the Earnshaws, but the only family member he bonds with is young Cathy. They make a pact to remain together forever.
As Cathy becomes more refined and ladylike, Heathcliff remains uncultured and simple. She begins a romance with a suave but snobbish magistrate Edgar Linton (Ian Ogilvy) and the couple is destined for marriage. Soon Heathcliff departs to find himself, but he returns three years later-- polished, wealthy and wiser, yet cruel and sensitive at the same time. On the expected discovery that Cathy married Edgar, Heathcliff throws his weight around and settles on an affair with Edgar's perplexed sister Isabella (Hilary Dwyer). But the love between Heathcliff and Cathy is stronger than ever and the doomed liaison reaches supernatural proportions during the final moments of the film.
Although not a big hit at the time of release, the AIP version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS is often cited as the best, surpassing the Laurence Olivier/Merle Oberon take from 1939. Dalton and Calder-Marshall are excellent as the disturbed young lovers, and the rest of the cast (including Ogilvy and Dwyer, reunited from WITCHFINDER GENERAL) plays like a "who's who" of British character actors (Harry Andrews, Hugh Griffith, Julian Glover, Rosalie Crutchley, Peter Sallis, James Cossins, etc.). The stunning camerawork is by none other than John Coquillon, and the music by Michael Legrand is haunting and memorable. Even if your not a fan of classic romantic literature, fans of British horror films will no doubt have enough to keep them interested here.
MGM has presented WUTHERING HEIGHTS on DVD viewable in either a letterboxed, 1:85.1 anamorphic version, or a standard full frame variant. The letterboxed version is preferable. With better image quality, it also adds significant information to the sides of the screen while not trimming much at all from the top and bottom. The film has been newly remastered, and only slight grain is evident once in a while. The photography mostly lends itself to hazy, brownish colors, but the overall crispness of the transfer shines through. The mono sound is excellent and there's also a French track available. English, French and Spanish subtitles are also included.
There is no trailer for the film included, but trailers for two other MGM DVD titles (THE PRINCESS BRIDE, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF) are included as extras. (George R. Reis)