I have never seen WHeights until last night as my wife is a mega Olivier fan and always loved the film. So we sat down for a total glorious piece of soap opera trash acting. Like all the Bronte tales (I think of Jane Eyre), the mood is dark and longing. The sets, here, were mostly good for the time but some process shots were so obvious as to be painful.
Cathy and Heathcliff - how could he possibly LOVE a woman who changes her mind LIKE THAT on who she likes and wants to marry? I found zero sympathy for Merle Oberon in this role - she is a woman to stay far away from. (Hey, if the only place you can kiss a girlfriend is standing on one cliff, something is wrong). And every time old Olivier gets offended as a character, BAM off he goes on his horse.
Everybody else is perfectly fine having little to do but stand and comment on this train wreck of a relationship. Niven, as fine as he is, is just THERE to be the nice chap who gets taken for a fool by Kathy who really loves Heathcliff when she is not saying nasty things about him and BAM off he goes again.
If there are spoilers here, the book and film have been around for ages so who cares. It is also a plot one can see coming for miles.
But it is glorious fun trash and the ACTING? OMG - Kathy's deathbed scene makes Love Story look like Hamlet. Wide eyes, smiles, pain, wide eyes, clawed hands, wide eye..... oh, painful. I could just see her coming down the stairs with Heathcliff at the bottom 'These are the stairs of the heights.....' like Max in SBoulevard. Olivier was almost as bad here.
This is a wonderful piece of high trash, enjoy it, laugh a lot and remember that films often do not make much sense at all either in watching or by those who make them.
In the end, Kathy should have told Heathcliff "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn".
Cathy and Heathcliff - how could he possibly LOVE a woman who changes her mind LIKE THAT on who she likes and wants to marry? I found zero sympathy for Merle Oberon in this role - she is a woman to stay far away from. (Hey, if the only place you can kiss a girlfriend is standing on one cliff, something is wrong). And every time old Olivier gets offended as a character, BAM off he goes on his horse.
Everybody else is perfectly fine having little to do but stand and comment on this train wreck of a relationship. Niven, as fine as he is, is just THERE to be the nice chap who gets taken for a fool by Kathy who really loves Heathcliff when she is not saying nasty things about him and BAM off he goes again.
If there are spoilers here, the book and film have been around for ages so who cares. It is also a plot one can see coming for miles.
But it is glorious fun trash and the ACTING? OMG - Kathy's deathbed scene makes Love Story look like Hamlet. Wide eyes, smiles, pain, wide eyes, clawed hands, wide eye..... oh, painful. I could just see her coming down the stairs with Heathcliff at the bottom 'These are the stairs of the heights.....' like Max in SBoulevard. Olivier was almost as bad here.
This is a wonderful piece of high trash, enjoy it, laugh a lot and remember that films often do not make much sense at all either in watching or by those who make them.
In the end, Kathy should have told Heathcliff "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn".