This adaptation is more Emerald Fennell than Emily Brontë.
Emerald Fennell is definitely a director with her own style. Her movies (of which this is her third) offer maximalist filmmaking and very frank sexuality. This has worked quite well for her previous films, but it hardly fits Emily Brontë's beloved romance novel. Here the source material and the director's style seemed very much at odds with each other. I am no prude (Pedro Almodóvar is one of my favorite filmmakers) but there is simply no reason for Wuthering Heights to be filled with sex scenes. The problem is not that these sex scenes are so excessive or completely frank but rather that they add nothing to this story. Sometimes these sexual scenes even go against what the movie should be about. At one point this movie seems less about two people deeply in love who can't be together and instead two people who simply can't keep their pants on when they are near each other. Cathy and Heathcliff seem more like they are simply trying to have sex behind Cathy's husband's back then being profoundly in love. Worse is what is done to the character of Isbella. This almost seems like a filmmaker's attempt to explore a very kinky fetish than something that belongs in an adaptation of a literary classic. Joseph and Zillah become just a couple of very horny young people. Again, this kind of overt sexuality may have worked in Fennell's previous films but there is simply no need for it in this type of a story.
This movie started off fairly strong during the scenes with the main characters as kids. I actually found myself fairly engaged in these more straightforward and non-sexual scenes. Even the first few scenes with them as adults worked quite well. Then Joseph and Zillah have very kinky sex in a horse stable, and it is all downhill from there. The film becomes completely about sex after that often-substituting character development and depth for smut. In an era where no amount of onscreen sexuality can truly be shocking anymore this smut felt distracting and took away from time which could have been better used developing various characters and story points.
I will admit Margot Robbie is excellent in the lead role. Despite being an unfortunate case of whitewashing (which somehow can still be happening today) Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff has great chemistry with her.
This movie could be worse, but I would recommend simply rewatching the 1939 film adaptation of this classic novel instead.
Charles Laughton is an actor who I am sure many people reading this blog are well acquainted with. He was a fine actor who was trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He began appearing on stage in 1926 and naturally it would not be too long until the movies came knocking. Though he is known for his larger than life and theatrical roles, he was also quite capable of more subtle performances including the terrifyingly cold and mostly emotionless mad scientist in the horror classic, Island of Lost Souls (1932). His filmography includes such classics as The Old Dark House (1932), The Sign of the Cross (1932), The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), The Paradine Case (1947), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Spartacus (1960).
He only directed one movie. However, that film is a masterpiece, The Night of the Hunter (1955). He would however direct multiple Broadway plays including The Fatal Alibi (Feb 08, 1932 - Mar 01, 1932), Don Juan in Hell (Nov 29, 1951 - Dec 31, 1951) (Apr 06, 1952 - May 24, 1952), John Brown's Body (Feb 14, 1953 - Apr 11, 1953), The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Jan 20, 1954 - Jan 22, 1955) and Major Barbara (Oct 30, 1956 - May 18, 1957).
Here is an article from The New Movie Magazine (dated December 1934). If you have any trouble reading it click on the pages below and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
Though being best known as a dramatic actor Laughton had a gift for comedy. This can be seen in the film, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kid (1952).
Watch a full movie with Charles Laughton below. The film is Jamica Inn (1939) and was directed by none other than Alfred Hitchcock.
Hello, my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
We start our music off with Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and their children (Linda, Dusty, Sandy, Debbie and Dodie) performing a lovely little song called Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam from Roy and Dale's 1960 album Jesus Loves Me.
This is followed by Malcom Desmond with his 1933 recording of The Last Round Up.
Afterwards The Charlie Daniels Band performs The Old Rugged Cross. The song itself dates back to 1913 and was written by evangelist, George Bennard. Actually, the first verse was written in 1912. It was written while Bennard was a part of a series of revival meetings in Albion, Michigan. He was worried about the complete disregard for the gospel around him and wrote this verse as a repose. Of writing it Bennard said, "I seemed to have a vision ... I saw the Christ and the cross inseparable." The song wouldn't be completed for several months, when he was leading meetings at a local church in Pokagan, Michigan. He played it for Rev. Leroy (the sponsoring pastor) and his wife, Ruby Bostwick, both of whom found themselves moved to tears. It was then incorporated into a service at that church on June 7, 1913. The song has the same effect today as it must have back then. This version comes from the band's 2002 album, How Sweet the Sound: 25 Favorite Hymns and Gospel Greats. Unlike the group's earlier Christian albums, which contained original songs, this album is made up of old gospel classics. In my opinion this is one of the band's best albums of the 21st century.
Next is Tompall Glaser with Lean on Jesus. This recording comes from his 2006 gospel album, Outlaw to the Cross.
Then comes Johnny Cash with Jesus Was a Carpenter. What I love about this song is that it takes about what happened back when Jesus was on Earth, but it puts it in a modern context even looking at many of today's political and social issues. This shows that the Bible is just as true today and that even after all these centuries we can still apply it to what is going on in our world today. The very idea of praising Jesus in socially conscious folk song, paints a great picture of what Johnny Cash and his music were all about. This recording comes from his 1970 album; Hello I'm Johnny Cash.
This is followed by Tammy Wynette with He. This recording comes from her 1969 gospel album, Inspiration.
Then comes The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1947 recording of The Sea Walker. This song was written by Tim Spencer, one of the group's founding members. Music was a major part of Tim's life from very early on. In fact when he was only 3 years old he was already singing at the church he grew up in. His love of things cowboy and western related also began very early as he had grown in awe of western movies and screen cowboys like Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, William S. Hart and others were his boyhood heroes. With this it is no surprise that in 1931, he went to California to see how his talents could be used in Hollywood. Yet music always remained a major passion for him. As he worked in a warehouse, he would spend his weekends and time after working going around to all the country music radio shows, getting to know all the people he could. This is how he met fellow founding members of the Sons of the Pioneers, Bob Nolan and Leonard Slye (later Roy Rogers). The Sea Walker as well as being written by Tim also features him as the lead singer.
Today's musical selection ends with Chelsea Moon and Uncle Daddy with 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus was another hymn born out of personal tragedy. Louisa M. R. Stead was happily married and one day her, her husband and their four-year-old daughter had a day at the beach, when they heard a scream. They went to see where the scream was coming from and saw a little boy drowning in the sea. Her husband tried to pull the boy out of the water, but the boy pulled the husband down with him. Louisa and her daughter Lilly watched helplessly as the two died before their eyes. It is unknown when the song was actually written, but it is known that it was inspired by this tragedy and how God helped pull her through it as she soon went back on the mission field. The song was first published in 1882 a collection of hymns entitled Songs of Triumph.
Now for a sermon from the Reverend Billy Graham.
Today's movie is The Lucky Texan (1934) starring John Wayne.
Psalm 78
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
1 My people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
3 things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God;
they said, “Can God really
spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
and water gushed out,
streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
or trust in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;
24 he rained down manna for the people to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens
and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
birds like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—
he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
even while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;
they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,
and frogs that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
their produce to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand had taken.
55 He drove out nations before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
56 But they put God to the test
and rebelled against the Most High;
they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.
58 They angered him with their high places;
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was furious;
he rejected Israel completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent he had set up among humans.
61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity,
his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;
he was furious with his inheritance.
63 Fire consumed their young men,
and their young women had no wedding songs;
64 their priests were put to the sword,
and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Hello, my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with one of my favorite cartoons from director Norm McCabe, Daffy's Southern Exposure (1942). I absolutely love the way this film treats Daffy. He is very much in his early wild and crazy mode. But at the same time there is a bit more to him than just being crazy. He is also the type of duck who is always simply looking for a good time and will ignore the warnings of others if they try to get in the way of him having fun. Still even when getting his comeuppance, he never learns any sort of lesson and remains the same duck he was the beginning of the cartoon. This is a fun characterization for Daffy, especially as he is still fun of the pure energy that makes the early Daffy so popular. This is just as much of a fully formed character as the one we would see in the later Chuck Jones classics of the 1950's. The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "DAFFY'S SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: Cartoon- Good black and white cartoon. Enjoyed by people that saw it.—Conrad H. Tapia, Chief Theatre, Casa Grande, Ariz."
Next comes the Fleischer Screen song cartoon, Bedelia (1930). The title song was first recorded in 1903 by the singer Arthur Collins and was written by William Jerome and Jean Schwartz. Born on February 7, 1864, Collins was a very popular singer in his day and would often be referred to as "king of the Ragtime Singers." Other songs he recorded include (Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey (1902), Under the Bamboo Tree (1902), Any Rags (1903), The Preacher and the Bear (1904) and Steamboat Bill (1911). Arthur Collins is little known today because of racial stereotypes that make much of his work problematic for a modern audience. This can be evidenced on the sheet music for Bedelia which refers to the song as "The Irish Coon Song Serenade." The essential website for old music, Hearing the Americas states, "It’s not clear what makes this record, sung by Arthur Collins, a 'coon' song. It has some elements of the ragtime syncopation that 'coon songs' helped introduce, and Collins was nicknamed 'the King of Ragtime.' Possibly the singer was imagined as an African American in love with an Irish immigrant, but the singer makes no effort at dialect. As the image indicates, women sang the song as well as men. It may simply be an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the genre while also appealing to Irish Americans. The song demonstrates the way American popular music mixed genres and used ethnic, gender and racial identity in slippery ways." However, there are no racial stereotypes in this cartoon based on the song. (Obvious Disclaimer: The use of the word "coon" was wrong then and it is wrong today. It appears here for historical and educational purposes. I do not endorse the use of this word.)
Next comes the New Three Stooges cartoon, Woodsman Bear That Tree (1965).
Now for a truly classic Disney short film, Pluto's Judgement Day (1935). This cartoon was released as part of the Mickey Mouse cartoon series, but the true star of the film is Pluto. Pluto would not receive his own cartoon series until 1940. The writers who brought us this cartoon were Joe Grant and Bill Cottrell. The same year this film came out this story team also brought us the Silly Symphonies shorts, Who Killed Cock Robin and Three Orphan Kittens. This cartoon made it TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on February 4, 1958. A 1938 article (in an issue of World Film News) about films that frightened young children stated, "Not exactly frightened; but the court scene in Pluto's Judgement Day was disliked intensely. I have known some of the younger ones to be rather scared by some of the more terrifying Disney characters. Only momentarily o close-ups of the villains' faces. Never really frightened. The usual gasps are heard when anything grotesque, such as an enormous spider, is shown, but this type of scene is invariably received as part of the picture. The youngest ones by the portrayal of ogres, spiders, etc. Only when the Robber Cat appears in the cartoons, and little ones afraid by Pluto's Judgement Day. Very occasionally, by closeups of weird spiders. Horrific animals. Several Disney cartoons - Donald and Pluto and Modern Inventions have Machiavellian incidents which to many children are frightening. The fear subsequently gives way to sympathy for the victim, so that Donald Duck is liked on a basis of tragedy rather than comedy."
It is now time for a commercial break.
Now comes the Pink Panther in Dietetic Pink (1978).
Now for one of Walt Disney's great silent Alice Comedies, Alice's Wild West Show (1924). This is probably my favorite film in the series. The series combined animation with live action. The early entries in the series (which this is one of) feature extensive use of fully live action scenes with a few cartoon scenes. The cartoon scenes would feature our live action Alice interacting with animated characters (including Walt's first cartoon star, Julis the Cat) in a cartoon environment. Later films would do away with the fully live action scenes and often put Alice in supporting roles. Alice was played by four young actresses over the course of the series: Virginia Davis, Dawn O'Day, Margie Gay and Lois Hardwick. In this short Alice was still played by her first actress Virginia Davis (Leon Holmes and Tommy Hicks also appear in this film). Walt directed this short as well as serving as an animator (Rollin "Ham" Hamilton also animated on this film). Working in the Ink and Paint department was Walt's future wife, Lillian Bounds. A review in Moving Picture World states, "This makes an interesting reel, with considerable pep, human interest and comedy, which should prove a pleasing novelty with the average patron and appeal especially to children."
Up next is Mighty Mouse in Love's Labor Won (1948).
Now let us close with a song.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney by J. B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt.
In this film, two young security guards (Georgina Campbell, Joe Keery) at a storage facility find themselves in over their heads as they witness a dangerous fungus that turns people (and animals) into zombie-like creatures until they throw up a lot and explode from the inside. Assistance comes in the form of an old Army scientist (Liam Neeson) who has dealt with this fungus before.
Yes, the story is pretty corny and silly, but the filmmakers are completely aware of this. This is no attempt to make this into the type of horror movie that tries to make the supernatural horror feel like it could really happen to us. Instead, the filmmakers embrace the over-the-top nature of the story. The result is a film that is simply a joy to watch. The gross-out moments and the gore are so over the top that instead of repelling us, they are a lot of fun to watch. Yet this does not mean that it is low on creepiness. There are some very effective jump scares here and some well-made moments of suspense. The film also benefits from a cast that simply seems to be having a blast making this movie, a great soundtrack and some pretty funny moments.
If I had to fault this movie, it would be on that it relies a little too much on supposedly intelligent characters making dumb choices (one of my least favorite movie clichés) and the familiarity of many of the story points.
Despite these flaws, this is really a fun and wild ride.
