For the Golden Age of Television, this was an exceptional production--starring Richard Burton--late of the Old Vic in London and a 20th Century Fox contract, Rosemary Harris, Denholm Elliott, Cathleen Nesbitt, Barry Jones, John Colicos, and a young Patty Duke; Adapted from the Emily Bronte novel by James Costigan, who two months earlier had written Little Moon of Alban and years later would pen the miniseries Eleanor and Franklin and Love Among the Ruins starring Laurence Olivier and Kathrine Hepburn, it was well mounted for a live television production. This kinescope record was thought lost and only rediscovered this year (2019). Burton sometimes overacts, but so did most stage actors on live television. Acting live without breaks except for commercials was much like acting for the stage and unlike acting for films which was done in short scenes sometimes lasting seconds with the results projected on a large screen that could show an actor's pores in closeups and so required under-acting. Television performers were not projected live but rather shrunk to a 12-inch screen, which made under-acting unwise. So it was a dilemma. Even in his quiet moments, such as when he tells Cathy's husband, recalling their childhood fantasies, that he had become rich by recalling that he was the son of the emperor China, his powerful voice booms so much that the fragile sets appear to shutter and the sound engineer probably winced. Burton had been dubbed "the next Olivier." Olivier played Burton's role of Heathcliff in the 1939 movie, and he too overacted. This brutish, wild young man is just that kind of part. But it's fascinating to see Burton at age 34, fresh from Broadway and London stage triumphs, fit and younger than we are used to. This is one of the few extant examples of his television work. Others--The Fifth Column and the Subject of Scandal and Concern, for examples--are either lost or their re-broadcast has not yet been authorized. This is a fascinating film to finally see, for Burton's fans but also to those who enjoy superior actors tackling strong roles in adaptations of a classic literary works.
Review of Wuthering Heights
