and cheerless, that most persons will leave the theatre depressed." John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote: "No screen version of 'Wuthering Heights' could ever touch the heart so closely, I am sure, as does a reading of the printed page; yet the Goldwyn production approximates the quality of the fierce, tempestuous story with a force one might never have expected ... Seldom has the tone of a great novel been so faithfully reproduced by the movie people." Wuthering Heights placed fourth on Film Dailys year-end nationwide poll of 542 critics naming the best films of 1939. American Film Institute included the film as #73 in its AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies and #15 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions. Accolades Miscellaneous The Mitchell Camera Corporation selected cinematographer Gregg Toland and Wuthering Heights to be the first to use their new Mitchell BNC camera. This camera model would become a studio standard for the next half century, and the prototype of Panavision studio cameras of the following decades. Ronald Colman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Robert Newton were considered for the role of Heathcliff. The novel takes place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, the film places the action in the mid-19th century, around the time of the novel's publication. Sarah Berry writes that Samuel Goldwyn deliberately chose to do this because he thought "Civil War" fashions were more attractive than Regency fashions. Other writers have claimed that Goldwyn was short on funds and had to recycle costumes from a Civil War drama. The film is rated G in New Zealand. References External links Streaming audio''' Wuthering Heights on Lux Radio Theater: September 18, 1939 Wuthering Heights on Lux Radio Theater: November 4, 1940 Wuthering Heights on Ford Theater: April 1, 1949 Wuthering Heights on Screen Directors Playhouse'': August 9, 1951 1939 films 1939 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films Films based on Wuthering Heights Romantic period films Films set in Yorkshire Films set in the 19th century Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Samuel Goldwyn Productions films United Artists films Films directed by William Wyler Films with screenplays by Ben Hecht Films with screenplays by Charles MacArthur Films scored by Alfred Newman United States National Film Registry films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films