Wots wrong with Merle???
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ClassicMovieholic — 12 years ago(November 24, 2013 07:00 PM)
Sacrilege that it is, I do actually sometimes wonder how other actresses who were considered might have done in the role. I don't think that anybody else would have brought quite the same iconic quality to Scarlett. But I think some of the others might have been good in some respectsnot
as
good, mind you, but adequate. -
Nflorin19 — 19 years ago(October 14, 2006 02:38 PM)
I am hopeless. Every time I watch the movie I want Heathcliff to wait a minute to hear the end of Cathy's famous rant about finding him common and then professing her love. Damn - couldn't the housekeeper give Heathcliff the heads up? Couldn't he take the time to find an umbrella? That scene is so incredible - so heart wrenching. And - when he goes to her death bed - there is nothing likie it ever in movie history!
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isyfiles — 20 years ago(June 11, 2005 06:18 PM)
I loved Merle in this film.I loved the scene were she is talking about her looking brilliant and I love it when she's at the dance and she pretends she doesn't notice Heathcliff and the part were she went to Heathcliff's house to ask him if it's true that he's going to marry Isabella.I love the entire movie.Merle is brilliant!!!
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ndmur25 — 20 years ago(August 10, 2005 03:59 PM)
Oberon responded to Oliviereveryone did. He was a master craftsman; the greatest actor of his timeperhaps of all time. Merle Oberon looked the part, had enough ability to follow the leader and was a perfect Catherine. Wuthering Heights, the film, while not all of the Bronte novel, captures the essence and is complete in itself. Why argue with perfection? Revel is the ability to partake.
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peterquince — 20 years ago(December 02, 2005 06:18 AM)
I don't see what the fuss was with Oberon. She's funny-looking and her acting is very forced. Vivien Leigh would have been a beauty in the role. Such a better actress, and since she was married to Olivier, I'm sure the two would have had better chemistry. What bothers me most about this film is how we're expected to believe the two are in love. There are hardly any sparks between them, and the love story is lacking (due to the omission of many chapters of the novel). This might have been a monument in filmmaking back in 1939, but it just doesn't hold up well today, in my opinion. I think this film deserves (yet another) remake.
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slywy — 20 years ago(January 07, 2006 11:58 AM)
I don't think Oberon was bad, but the lack of chemistry did affect the movie. Also, her acting is a bit forced in parts. In the scene mentioned, you can count the beats with her eyes sliding; it lacks a certain subtlety that's pretty hard to capture. In the death scene, she tries just a little too hard. Still, it's a great movie for a long, cold evening.
http://www.slywy.com/ -
basford — 20 years ago(January 09, 2006 04:26 AM)
It is true, she was very good in it. She was exactly the picture i had of her in the book. However, Olivier did hate her because he wanted his girlfriend Vivien Leigh to play Cathy. she did have a slight attitude about her but she never had anything against Laurence Olivier. But she did when he was snotty to on the set of Wuthering Heights. He was like this with evryone though
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stupat — 20 years ago(January 20, 2006 08:36 PM)
The death scene with Merle Oberon in Olivier's arms, looking out over the yorkshire moors, is one of the saddest
of any picture I've seen, but even so, Merle Oberon seemed a bit stilted
in her acting. I still loved the film tho. -
ezkaban — 19 years ago(May 23, 2006 11:36 PM)
If you liked Merle in this film, you'll love her in The Scarlett Pimpernel with Leslie Howard. She's simply marvelous. People can hate on her and wish Vivien Leigh portrayed Cathy but I think the biggest slight of all classic films was Olivia de Havilland portraying cousin Miriam in Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte. Joan Crawford was due that role if only to slap Bette Davis for her mean ass kicking in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
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coolbluegreen — 19 years ago(June 29, 2006 07:27 PM)
Uh, I had no idea people mourned a Vivien Leighless Cathy, as you put it. Olivier did; he wanted his girlfriend with him. I had no idea anyone else regretted the decision to cast Merle Oberon, though. Leigh would have done a good job; she was a very gifted actress. She was a better actress than Merle Oberon, but I don't think Vivien Leigh was right for the part of Cathy. Merle was. Cathy is dark and beautiful and passionate and, well, that's Merle in a nutshell. Her acting was good enough, too. I cry at the death scene, but my husband always says she looks well enough to get up and go play tennis. It's true she looks great, not a hair out of place, etc., but that was and is Hollywood. My favorite Merle Oberon role by far is as Lady Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernal. She is so gorgeous in that, and so good.