Re: Prince, Red Shoes and Technicolor

[paullu@netcom.com (Paul Lu)]

In article <9306152122.aa24679@eddie.mit.edu> BBN.COM!ccj.bbn.com!lcliffor@eddie.mit.edu writes:
>
>I'm sure Chris has, but Kate saw the British version from the 70's
>starring Timothy 'James Bond' Dalton as Heathcliff, who I've always
>preferred in the role myself...I never bought Olivier as a gypsy.

This is not a flame :-), but the registering of a difference in opinion.

I think the Olivier (1939) version is absolutely wonderful!  And while
not perfect, it is a classic.  It made me a big Olivier fan.  I get
chills at the scene where Heathcliff throws open the window to beg
Cathy's ghost to come in and when he cuts his hands on the window and
then overhears Cathy. Oooohh.  Olivier is great but so is Geraldine
Fitzgerald (?) as Isabella.  Oberon is OK, but I agree with Olivier that
Vivian Leigh (Larry's secret lover at the time) would have been better.

Only problem is, whatever happended to second generation of Lintons and
Earnshaws in this version ? :-)

On the other hand, I really don't like Dalton's version.  I like Dalton
OK in other things, but he is so scrawny in this film that I can't buy
him as Heathcliff.  Olivier has such a physical presence that his
transformation from stable boy to psycho "nobleman" is quite convincing.
Kind of a Victorian Fatal Attraction in some ways, except not as 1-D.

What has this got to do with Kate?  I was hooked on Kate after hearing
the Whole Story new vocal of Wuthering Heights.  Then, I happened upon
the Olivier film on video.  And then become a big Olivier fan.  These
things are always connected...

	...Paul