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.
8 Reviews
Classic TV should never be look at like classic movies.
mark.waltz27 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm just grateful that kinescopes of these classic shows are appearing bit by bit, and hope that in the coming years more are discovered to show discriminating viewers and those who are curious what the Golden Age of TV could do and how much better it is than most of the stuff today. Like those who founded the movies, like the technicians who assisted in the creation of sound and the photographers who added color, television had the same type of growth. Some of the great actors scorned TV at first, but on occasion, they had no choice but to take a job there when stage and big screen work was slim.
Unfortunately, there has only been one film version of "Wuthering Heights" that is worthy of the Emily Bronte novel, but there have been several television versions and this one is a delightful discovery. It stars Richard Burton as Heathcliff before his superstardom days even though he was popular and a multi-nominated Oscar actor and rising stage ingenue Rosemary Harris as Cathy, looking quite lovely yet not at all playing the type of great ladies that she has become known for. The young Cathy is Patty Duke who would soon go on to win an Oscar and play another Cathy on TV.
There are good performances by Denholm Elliott as Edgar Linton, John Colicos as the nasty Hindley and Cathleen Nesbitt as the loyal Ellen. Even for a kinescope, this is a good print and the sets are very realistic. I could never compare this to the high budget Sam Goldwyn film, but Harris is surprisingly volatile and Burton an even more ill-tempered Heathcliff, erupting against Hindley when he has finally had enough. When Harris begins to show her illness, she is far less glamorous than Merle Oberon was allowed to look, and that is a more realistic view. I would call this one of the greatest discoveries from the classic age of TV that we've had in the past couple years, almost like an episode of "Dark Shadows" in its brooding atmospheric theme.
Unfortunately, there has only been one film version of "Wuthering Heights" that is worthy of the Emily Bronte novel, but there have been several television versions and this one is a delightful discovery. It stars Richard Burton as Heathcliff before his superstardom days even though he was popular and a multi-nominated Oscar actor and rising stage ingenue Rosemary Harris as Cathy, looking quite lovely yet not at all playing the type of great ladies that she has become known for. The young Cathy is Patty Duke who would soon go on to win an Oscar and play another Cathy on TV.
There are good performances by Denholm Elliott as Edgar Linton, John Colicos as the nasty Hindley and Cathleen Nesbitt as the loyal Ellen. Even for a kinescope, this is a good print and the sets are very realistic. I could never compare this to the high budget Sam Goldwyn film, but Harris is surprisingly volatile and Burton an even more ill-tempered Heathcliff, erupting against Hindley when he has finally had enough. When Harris begins to show her illness, she is far less glamorous than Merle Oberon was allowed to look, and that is a more realistic view. I would call this one of the greatest discoveries from the classic age of TV that we've had in the past couple years, almost like an episode of "Dark Shadows" in its brooding atmospheric theme.
OVERLY DRAMATIC
kirbylee70-599-5261796 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The fans of the story WUTHERING HEIGHTS are legion. The book, written by Emily Bronte, remains in print to this day and numerous versions have been filmed, most notable in 1939 starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon as the star crossed lovers Heathcliff and Cathy. What many may not realize is that the story was turned into a TV drama in 1958 for THE DUPONT SHOW OF THE MONTH. Early television was rampant with single dramas and anthology shows as well as series TV. This is one of those.
If you are completely unaware of the story it tells the tale of the Earnshaw family living at Wuthering Heights. The father of the group brings home an orphan he found in the streets and names him Heathcliff. Adored by daughter Cathy and hated by jealous son Hindley, Heathcliff takes care of the stables in return for living with the family. When his father passes away Hindley allows Heathcliff to stay but only as a servant. What he doesn't know is that Heathcliff and Cathy have fallen in love as time has passed.
One day Heathcliff and Cathy sneak over to the home of the Linton family to spy on them. Injured as she falls from the wall where they were watching, the Lintons take her in and insist she remains until she is well again, sending Heathcliff home. When Cathy does finally return she seems to have lost interest in Heathcliff and now has eyes for Edgar Linton. When a fight breaks out between Heathcliff and Hindley, he leaves Wuthering Heights swearing revenge.
Cathy and Edgar marry and eventually Heathcliff does return, now educated and wealthier than when he left. The stable boy is now a man of means. Unfortunately the same can't be said of Hindley who has let Wuthering Heights fall into disarray. It isn't long before he gambles the property away to Heathcliff.
Calling upon the Lintons Heathcliff catches the eye of Edgar's sister Isabella. Against her brother's wishes she marries Heathcliff who makes her life hell at Wuthering Heights. Cathy still pines for Heathcliff, eventually wearing herself away to nothing. Before she dies he returns to her and forgives her proclaiming his love.
The story is familiar but bits and pieces were changed to bring it into the format of live television drama. What makes it stand out is the stars of this version, Richard Burton and Rosemary Harris. This was just as Burton's star was rising making him an actor that TV would not be able to afford later on. Even with these two notable actors the TV play shows the limitations placed on actors more familiar with the stage.
With broadly sweeping displays of emotion that would be needed to reach an audience from the stage they seem a bit over the top here. The same holds true for the loudness of proclamations of love and endearment that bellow rather than whisper. While watching you can imagine how well it would have appeared from an audience point of view rather than as a viewer of TV. But then again at the time it was new, it was fresh and this might have been a high mark at the time.
The DVD offers the show in its entirety including commercials from the time. Sponsored by Dupont (you did catch the title of the series didn't you?) they are front and center, starting with a rather lengthy commercial about themselves and how there is "better living through chemistry". I'm not sure how environmentalists today would take that. Other commercials are briefer helping to pay the costs of the series.
The quality of the show is like many from the time period with the blurry look so many of these classics have. But that's to be expected given the source material. In the end it makes for an interesting look at the story and an interesting look at TV from that time period. If you enjoy both then make sure to pick this one up.
If you are completely unaware of the story it tells the tale of the Earnshaw family living at Wuthering Heights. The father of the group brings home an orphan he found in the streets and names him Heathcliff. Adored by daughter Cathy and hated by jealous son Hindley, Heathcliff takes care of the stables in return for living with the family. When his father passes away Hindley allows Heathcliff to stay but only as a servant. What he doesn't know is that Heathcliff and Cathy have fallen in love as time has passed.
One day Heathcliff and Cathy sneak over to the home of the Linton family to spy on them. Injured as she falls from the wall where they were watching, the Lintons take her in and insist she remains until she is well again, sending Heathcliff home. When Cathy does finally return she seems to have lost interest in Heathcliff and now has eyes for Edgar Linton. When a fight breaks out between Heathcliff and Hindley, he leaves Wuthering Heights swearing revenge.
Cathy and Edgar marry and eventually Heathcliff does return, now educated and wealthier than when he left. The stable boy is now a man of means. Unfortunately the same can't be said of Hindley who has let Wuthering Heights fall into disarray. It isn't long before he gambles the property away to Heathcliff.
Calling upon the Lintons Heathcliff catches the eye of Edgar's sister Isabella. Against her brother's wishes she marries Heathcliff who makes her life hell at Wuthering Heights. Cathy still pines for Heathcliff, eventually wearing herself away to nothing. Before she dies he returns to her and forgives her proclaiming his love.
The story is familiar but bits and pieces were changed to bring it into the format of live television drama. What makes it stand out is the stars of this version, Richard Burton and Rosemary Harris. This was just as Burton's star was rising making him an actor that TV would not be able to afford later on. Even with these two notable actors the TV play shows the limitations placed on actors more familiar with the stage.
With broadly sweeping displays of emotion that would be needed to reach an audience from the stage they seem a bit over the top here. The same holds true for the loudness of proclamations of love and endearment that bellow rather than whisper. While watching you can imagine how well it would have appeared from an audience point of view rather than as a viewer of TV. But then again at the time it was new, it was fresh and this might have been a high mark at the time.
The DVD offers the show in its entirety including commercials from the time. Sponsored by Dupont (you did catch the title of the series didn't you?) they are front and center, starting with a rather lengthy commercial about themselves and how there is "better living through chemistry". I'm not sure how environmentalists today would take that. Other commercials are briefer helping to pay the costs of the series.
The quality of the show is like many from the time period with the blurry look so many of these classics have. But that's to be expected given the source material. In the end it makes for an interesting look at the story and an interesting look at TV from that time period. If you enjoy both then make sure to pick this one up.
At long last! A long lost Richard Burton production.
Marta15 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I've been a Richard Burton fan ever since seeing him in "The Taming of the Shrew," Franco Zeffirelli's glowing and exuberant take on the Shakespeare play. It was 1967 and I was 11; I have wonderful memories of seeing that film with my mother at the Astro theatre in Omaha, Nebraska.
However, I am not a fan of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," in any form. It was my grandmother's favorite book, and though I've tried to read it through many times it's not my kind of story. Emily's sister, Charlotte, wrote a book that is my kind, "Jane Eyre." I've loved that book since I first read it at age 12. I'm too optimistic in nature; doomed romances don't hold my interest, and I like a happy ending. After watching this teleplay I am still not a fan of WH, but it's importance lies in seeing an early Burton performance.
I would have been two when this live TV production of "Wuthering Heights" aired, and would have been oblivious to it at that time; I have no idea if my late mother watched it. She was a Burton fan as well, but this was too early for her to have known anything about him; I don't think she knew of him until the fan magazines began their endless stories of the Burton/Taylor years. That's too bad, since this Burton is satisfyingly savage, barbaric, and quintessentially Heathcliffian, in the role that every male actor yearns to interpret. As an adult today, I can savor his acting style and enjoy it without really enjoying the story.
Live television from the early days of the medium, seen in our 4k and UltraHD era, looks like a shadow play. The way those early live productions were filmed gives them a cardboard cutout appearance. The sets look like they're carved out of foam rubber, and then painted with hard black outlines. The actors/actresses appear smudgy, and the black and white looks like gray and beige. The farmhouse of Wuthering Heights looks spectacularly dirty and decrepit, the one good thing age gives to this production.
All that being said, somehow, Burton shines through the murk. He is larger than life and a force of nature; Rosemary Harris matches him in his power. The only adult still alive from the show as of the 2019 airing on TCM, Harris gives a bravura performance as Catherine; as her sanity slips away she's appropriately bizarre. Denholm Elliott is good as the shallow Linton, and seeing John Colicos as loathsome Hindley Earnshaw was amazing; did he ever get to play a nice character? Certainly everything I've seen him in has been as a bad guy. Cathleen Nesbit expertly holds the cast together as the one person who thinks kindly of all the people in her orbit, as the servant Nelly. Without her I fee; the show would have been much less successful.
Live TV in those days required a bit of over-acting because of the 12-inch screens but when seen on our widescreen TVs now, it looks as if the actors are shouting right in our faces; this has to be taken into account when watching "Wuthering Heights." Patty Duke mentioned that working with Burton, who had a true magnetic personality, made you want to continue working with him; he was fascinating in person. That magnetism comes through in this show, even with the shouting; Burton IS right in your face, and Heathcliff was that kind of character. He's the only one truly alive...confronting anyone that stood in his way, hating everyone, and not necessarily loving Catherine; obsessed with her, yes, but love doesn't seen to be in him as an adult. The young Heathcliff seemed to love her, but the cruelty inflicted on him negates any love he might have had for her.
The point of "Wuthering Heights" was that harsh environments create harsh people, that isolation can cause men and women to give free rein to their emotions, and those emotions can spiral out of control and spill over into the world outside of their isolation; the author is telling us that is what life should be like, not hidden away from all eyes. When Emily Bronte published the novel, many reviewers were repelled by the violent emotions it contained; polite society dictated that emotions be kept in check. Emily Bronte kept her emotions to herself her entire short life; she was the daughter of a minister and expected to be meek and subservient. Underneath that tightly bound demeanor a volcano of passion must have seethed. The only place she gave voice to her true self was in her one novel, and her poetry. If she had lived longer what might she have written?
"Wuthering Heights" was a production from first season of the "Dupont Show of the Month," sponsored by the DuPont Corporation; at the time, they were a research and development company, "making our lives easier." More on what they actually did, is below.
The finding of this long lost gem was miraculous; a TV historian who had spent decades collecting early TV productions died and left the collection to the Library of Congress. A research manager for the Paley Center for Media had been looking for it for 20 years, after Rosemary Harris asked her if she'd ever seen a print of it. That chance remark led to the discovery.
The decision of TCM to leave in the DuPont commercials is a unique confluence with this precise moment in history. The new Todd Haynes film, "Dark Water," about the legal fight that went on for almost 20 years against the same DuPont Corp. that sponsored this show, for poisoning the world's water supplies with PFOA from their Teflon product, premiered just two weeks before TCM aired the show. Watching those commercials, with the horror of what DuPont has done in your mind, and with the knowledge that they had been lying for decades about PFOA, gives the production up-to-the-minute relevance. This is how corporations have gotten by with committing crimes...by lying as long as they could possibly get by with an litigating until the victims are broke or dead.
Amazing that television can give us that context, and also give us a rare second look at an explosive Burton performance. He won't be soon forgotten.
However, I am not a fan of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," in any form. It was my grandmother's favorite book, and though I've tried to read it through many times it's not my kind of story. Emily's sister, Charlotte, wrote a book that is my kind, "Jane Eyre." I've loved that book since I first read it at age 12. I'm too optimistic in nature; doomed romances don't hold my interest, and I like a happy ending. After watching this teleplay I am still not a fan of WH, but it's importance lies in seeing an early Burton performance.
I would have been two when this live TV production of "Wuthering Heights" aired, and would have been oblivious to it at that time; I have no idea if my late mother watched it. She was a Burton fan as well, but this was too early for her to have known anything about him; I don't think she knew of him until the fan magazines began their endless stories of the Burton/Taylor years. That's too bad, since this Burton is satisfyingly savage, barbaric, and quintessentially Heathcliffian, in the role that every male actor yearns to interpret. As an adult today, I can savor his acting style and enjoy it without really enjoying the story.
Live television from the early days of the medium, seen in our 4k and UltraHD era, looks like a shadow play. The way those early live productions were filmed gives them a cardboard cutout appearance. The sets look like they're carved out of foam rubber, and then painted with hard black outlines. The actors/actresses appear smudgy, and the black and white looks like gray and beige. The farmhouse of Wuthering Heights looks spectacularly dirty and decrepit, the one good thing age gives to this production.
All that being said, somehow, Burton shines through the murk. He is larger than life and a force of nature; Rosemary Harris matches him in his power. The only adult still alive from the show as of the 2019 airing on TCM, Harris gives a bravura performance as Catherine; as her sanity slips away she's appropriately bizarre. Denholm Elliott is good as the shallow Linton, and seeing John Colicos as loathsome Hindley Earnshaw was amazing; did he ever get to play a nice character? Certainly everything I've seen him in has been as a bad guy. Cathleen Nesbit expertly holds the cast together as the one person who thinks kindly of all the people in her orbit, as the servant Nelly. Without her I fee; the show would have been much less successful.
Live TV in those days required a bit of over-acting because of the 12-inch screens but when seen on our widescreen TVs now, it looks as if the actors are shouting right in our faces; this has to be taken into account when watching "Wuthering Heights." Patty Duke mentioned that working with Burton, who had a true magnetic personality, made you want to continue working with him; he was fascinating in person. That magnetism comes through in this show, even with the shouting; Burton IS right in your face, and Heathcliff was that kind of character. He's the only one truly alive...confronting anyone that stood in his way, hating everyone, and not necessarily loving Catherine; obsessed with her, yes, but love doesn't seen to be in him as an adult. The young Heathcliff seemed to love her, but the cruelty inflicted on him negates any love he might have had for her.
The point of "Wuthering Heights" was that harsh environments create harsh people, that isolation can cause men and women to give free rein to their emotions, and those emotions can spiral out of control and spill over into the world outside of their isolation; the author is telling us that is what life should be like, not hidden away from all eyes. When Emily Bronte published the novel, many reviewers were repelled by the violent emotions it contained; polite society dictated that emotions be kept in check. Emily Bronte kept her emotions to herself her entire short life; she was the daughter of a minister and expected to be meek and subservient. Underneath that tightly bound demeanor a volcano of passion must have seethed. The only place she gave voice to her true self was in her one novel, and her poetry. If she had lived longer what might she have written?
"Wuthering Heights" was a production from first season of the "Dupont Show of the Month," sponsored by the DuPont Corporation; at the time, they were a research and development company, "making our lives easier." More on what they actually did, is below.
The finding of this long lost gem was miraculous; a TV historian who had spent decades collecting early TV productions died and left the collection to the Library of Congress. A research manager for the Paley Center for Media had been looking for it for 20 years, after Rosemary Harris asked her if she'd ever seen a print of it. That chance remark led to the discovery.
The decision of TCM to leave in the DuPont commercials is a unique confluence with this precise moment in history. The new Todd Haynes film, "Dark Water," about the legal fight that went on for almost 20 years against the same DuPont Corp. that sponsored this show, for poisoning the world's water supplies with PFOA from their Teflon product, premiered just two weeks before TCM aired the show. Watching those commercials, with the horror of what DuPont has done in your mind, and with the knowledge that they had been lying for decades about PFOA, gives the production up-to-the-minute relevance. This is how corporations have gotten by with committing crimes...by lying as long as they could possibly get by with an litigating until the victims are broke or dead.
Amazing that television can give us that context, and also give us a rare second look at an explosive Burton performance. He won't be soon forgotten.
What a Treasure!
silvervixennc5 February 2021
Not even Burton can save this
tflynn-460747 December 2019
Great to see Burton in an early TV production of Wuthering Heights. TV production values are about what you would expect. Burton emotes like he is playing to the last row. His director let him down in this more intimate production. Still as history it is great to see a very good actor at work, even though he is ill supported by some lesser talents. Olivier still in the lead.
Neoprene, Nylon And Heathcliff
boblipton7 December 2019
This version of the Emily Brontë story was originally broadcast on CBS in 1958. It was shown yesterday evening on TCM as part of their Richard Burton retrospective. In between commercials for Dupont, the audience was treated to a cast and crew that, in retrospect, is quite distinguished: not only Burton, but Rosemary Harris, Denholm Elliott, Patty Duke, Bernard Miles and Cathleen Nesbitt appeared; the screenplay was by James Costigan and direction by Daniel Petrie.
There are issues in looking at this copy. The print was wonky, due in part to the original recording method, and in part because it was designed for showing at the then-standard 480-line television standard, but shown this time in HDTV, resulting in showing the gimcrack set design in a fuzzy print. Well, I've seen worse.
I found the show interesting but not particularly good. The book is an early tearjerker, a precursor of the 'suffering in mink' style of soap opera. Of course, the genre was not as antique and ridiculous as it was when Miss Brontë had written it. The conclusion that the frustrated sexual urges of Heathcliff and Cathy are never consummated lead inevitably to misery and madness are the point of the novel, and the TV version makes this point strongly: too strongly, as Burton glowers and rants, chews the scenery, and spits out the splinters throughout in a style that would have deafened the audience in the back of the balcony in a large live theater, and must have reduced the speakers on a 1958 TV to inarticulate screeches.
This show was originally shown live, a genre of entertainment that has effectively vanished. Modern shows are recorded and edited and tweaked in post-production We are not accustomed to dealing with this sort of show, which requires a different aesthetic than modern TV. It is as absurd to compare this to a modern show as it would be to compare, say, a production of a Shakespeare play at the original Globe Theater to a modern production. Therefore, it needs to be considered sui generis. I did not think highly of it.
There are issues in looking at this copy. The print was wonky, due in part to the original recording method, and in part because it was designed for showing at the then-standard 480-line television standard, but shown this time in HDTV, resulting in showing the gimcrack set design in a fuzzy print. Well, I've seen worse.
I found the show interesting but not particularly good. The book is an early tearjerker, a precursor of the 'suffering in mink' style of soap opera. Of course, the genre was not as antique and ridiculous as it was when Miss Brontë had written it. The conclusion that the frustrated sexual urges of Heathcliff and Cathy are never consummated lead inevitably to misery and madness are the point of the novel, and the TV version makes this point strongly: too strongly, as Burton glowers and rants, chews the scenery, and spits out the splinters throughout in a style that would have deafened the audience in the back of the balcony in a large live theater, and must have reduced the speakers on a 1958 TV to inarticulate screeches.
This show was originally shown live, a genre of entertainment that has effectively vanished. Modern shows are recorded and edited and tweaked in post-production We are not accustomed to dealing with this sort of show, which requires a different aesthetic than modern TV. It is as absurd to compare this to a modern show as it would be to compare, say, a production of a Shakespeare play at the original Globe Theater to a modern production. Therefore, it needs to be considered sui generis. I did not think highly of it.
Wuthering Heights with a perfect cast
clanciai13 July 2022
This must have been Rosemary Harris' life's performance, and she is the one to make the chief impression in this ideal dramatisation of Emily Brontë's very debatable and almost hysterically romantic novel, which ever since it was written has been as much hated and loathed as it has been loved and adored. This is a different version than the various film versions, and the question is if not a truncated television comprehensive version like this in poor settings in black and white isn't truer to the novel than all the lavish productions of Hollywood and other film studios. Richard Burton is not as good as Laurence Olivier and Timothy Dalton, but he certainly makes a great stage performance. This version is actually like staged in a theatre, the transformation into a play from the novel is impressively well performed, and perhaps the only flaw of the production is the very truncation of the book in a compression of a great novel into a 80 minutes play. All actors are cut short, except Rosemary Harris, and perhaps Bernard Miles, as incomparable as ever, while still everyone is given the chance of advancing their characters well enough. But Rosemary Harris makes Catherine Earnshaw appear truer than anyone else, and still there are many who have made unforgettable Cathys.
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