This is the ultimate grown up fairy tale. Abandon any cynicism you have and allow yourself to be engulfed in this gorgeous fantasy. One hand it's the ultimate sentimental love story with ghosts, a beautiful girl a dashing hero and an embittered villain but on the other hand it's a powerful tragic tale of broken people in an cruel world. Together it's the most perfect Hollywood film.
There's one little scene which is so short you might miss it which reveals the sheer genius of William Wyler. It's when the 'renewed' Heathcliff attends a party at The Grange, someone's playing some Mozart and without saying a single word Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon spot each other. They don't speak but in that minute of silence I have never heard so much spoken, never felt so much emotion, never seen so much storytelling. How can just two people looking at each other convey so much and break your heart? Not until Scorsese came along forty years later with TAXI DRIVER do we see such perfect filmmaking.
And then there's the other 100 minutes with probably the best writing Hollywood has ever produced: Charlie MacArthur and Ben Hecht's insanely emotional, sentimental yet somehow believable screenplay just gets better and better with every passing minute. If you're not crying at the end of this you are not human.
Everything is just perfect. Direction, acting, cinematography, script and of course Alfred Newman's epic score.
There's one little scene which is so short you might miss it which reveals the sheer genius of William Wyler. It's when the 'renewed' Heathcliff attends a party at The Grange, someone's playing some Mozart and without saying a single word Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon spot each other. They don't speak but in that minute of silence I have never heard so much spoken, never felt so much emotion, never seen so much storytelling. How can just two people looking at each other convey so much and break your heart? Not until Scorsese came along forty years later with TAXI DRIVER do we see such perfect filmmaking.
And then there's the other 100 minutes with probably the best writing Hollywood has ever produced: Charlie MacArthur and Ben Hecht's insanely emotional, sentimental yet somehow believable screenplay just gets better and better with every passing minute. If you're not crying at the end of this you are not human.
Everything is just perfect. Direction, acting, cinematography, script and of course Alfred Newman's epic score.