You’ve probably seen the poster. A wind-swept cliff, two lovers looking miserable, and that high-contrast black-and-white grain that screams "Old Hollywood."
When people talk about the 1939 version of Wuthering Heights, they usually focus on Laurence Olivier. He’s the legendary "Actor with a capital A." But honestly? The movie doesn't work without Merle Oberon. She played Catherine Earnshaw with this weird, brittle intensity that actually makes you believe a woman would marry for money while her soul was basically screaming for a stable boy on the moors.
It’s a bizarre movie if you think about it. It only adapts about half of Emily Brontë’s book. It was filmed in California—Thousand Oaks, to be exact—not Yorkshire. And the two lead actors? They absolutely hated each other.
The Set Was Basically a War Zone
If you watch the scenes between Cathy and Heathcliff, the chemistry feels like it’s vibrating. That wasn't love. It was mostly pure, unadulterated annoyance.
Laurence Olivier didn't even want to be there at first. He wanted to stay in England with Vivien Leigh. He actually tried to get the producers to fire Merle Oberon and hire Vivien instead. Imagine being Merle, knowing your co-star is actively trying to take your job. Awkward doesn't even cover it.
There’s this famous story—it’s in David Niven’s autobiography—where Merle got fed up with Olivier spitting on her during their big romantic scenes. He was a "stage actor," see. He projected. He was loud. And apparently, he was a bit moist. During a balcony scene, Merle allegedly yelled at him to stop spitting on her. He called her an "amateur little b****."
William Wyler, the director, didn't help. He was a notorious perfectionist. He’d make them do 70 takes of a single shot just to "see what happened."
Why Merle Oberon Wuthering Heights Performance Is Underestimated
Most critics at the time were obsessed with Olivier’s brooding. But Merle’s Cathy is the one doing the heavy lifting.
Cathy is a mess. She’s selfish. She’s social-climbing. She’s also deeply, tragically tied to a version of herself she can’t be anymore. Merle captures that "wild girl" energy while looking like a perfect porcelain doll. It’s a contrast that works because it feels unnatural.
- The Look: They used a new camera (the Mitchell BNC) and Gregg Toland’s cinematography to make her glow.
- The Conflict: She makes the choice to marry Edgar Linton feel like a slow-motion suicide.
- The Ending: Even though she dies halfway through the film (since they cut the second generation), her presence hangs over the rest of the movie like a literal ghost.
Actually, the ghost ending wasn't even Wyler's idea. Producer Samuel Goldwyn thought the movie was too depressing, so he forced a scene where the ghosts of Cathy and Heathcliff walk off into the sunset. Wyler refused to film it. He hated it. Goldwyn had to hire a different director and use body doubles for Merle and Olivier's backs.
The Secret She Was Hiding
There’s another layer to Merle Oberon’s performance that people in 1939 didn't know.
Merle wasn't the "Tasmanian-born" English rose the studio claimed she was. She was actually Anglo-Indian, born in Mumbai (then Bombay). Her mother was part Sinhalese. In 1930s Hollywood, if that secret got out, her career was over.
When you watch her play Cathy—a character obsessed with class, status, and "belonging" in a society that judges her—it hits a lot harder. She was living that reality every single day on set. She used heavy makeup to lighten her skin and spent her whole life maintaining a fake backstory about her birth records being burned in a fire in Tasmania.
It makes the "I am Heathcliff" speech feel a lot more personal. She knew what it was like to be an outsider trying to pass in a world of Lintons.
What Most People Get Wrong About the 1939 Version
People say this is the "definitive" Wuthering Heights.
Is it?
If you love the book, you might hate it. It’s way too romantic. The real book is dark, ugly, and full of people who are genuinely mean to each other. The 1939 movie turns it into a gothic romance. They even changed the time period from the 1700s to the 1840s just because the costumes looked better.
But as a piece of film? It’s basically perfect. The way the wind howls (they used salt for the "snow" on the moors), the way the shadows fall across the crags... it’s pure atmosphere.
How to Appreciate the Film Today
If you’re going to watch it, don’t look for a faithful book adaptation. Look at the faces.
Watch for these specific moments:
- The Window Scene: When the ghost of Cathy first appears to Lockwood. The lighting is genuinely creepy for a movie that old.
- The Party at the Lintons: Watch Merle’s face as she looks through the window. You can see her choosing the "bright" world over the "dark" one.
- The Deathbed: It’s long. It’s dramatic. It’s peak 1930s melodrama.
Actionable Insights for Classic Film Fans
If you want to dive deeper into the world of Merle Oberon Wuthering Heights, here is how to actually get the full experience:
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- Compare the Accents: Listen to how Merle speaks. She worked with an accent coach to hide her original Indian/British-Indian inflection. It’s a very specific, clipped "Transatlantic" sound.
- Check out the Cinematography: This film won the Oscar for Best Cinematography. Look for "deep focus"—where things in the front and the back of the shot are both sharp. Gregg Toland used this movie to practice the techniques he’d later use on Citizen Kane.
- Read "Love, Queenie": If the history of Merle’s identity interests you, Mayukh Sen’s biography is the best source. It puts her performance in a completely different light.
- Watch the 1992 Version: If you want to see how different it can be, watch the Ralph Fiennes/Juliette Binoche version. It includes the second half of the book that the 1939 version ignored.
The 1939 movie remains the benchmark because it captured a mood that hasn't really been replicated. It’s messy, the actors were miserable, and the ending was fake, but somehow, Merle Oberon made it immortal.