The first known screen adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights was a British silent film released in 1920. It is considered lost, so there is no confirmed basis for saying you can watch that original film now. The adaptation most viewers mean is William Wyler’s 1939 film, starring Merle Oberon as Cathy and Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff. Oberon had built a public story that she was born in Tasmania, concealing her birth in Mumbai and her Anglo-Indian background.
What was the first Wuthering Heights movie?
The first known film adaptation was Wuthering Heights (1920), a British silent film directed by A. V. Bramble and written by Eliot Stannard. The British Film Institute’s catalog identifies its featured performers, while a BFI Sight and Sound history describes the movie as now considered lost. BFI: Wuthering Heights (1920); BFI Sight and Sound: “Heights of fashion”.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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| 1 |
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Wuthering Heights (1939) | $17.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Wuthering Heights (1939) | $19.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Wuthering Heights (DVD) | $28.11 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Wuthering Heights DVD (Import,region Free,sealed,new) | $10.10 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Wuthering Heights | $16.79 | Buy on Amazon |
That distinction matters: “first” refers to the 1920 adaptation, not the better-known film that remains in circulation and in popular memory. The two films are separate adaptations made nearly two decades apart.
Can you watch the original 1920 film now?
Its present-day availability is not established. The BFI catalog page includes a “Watch film” heading and a BFI Player listing, but that listing alone does not confirm that the lost 1920 moving image can be viewed in full. It could refer to a related item, a listing, or a screening context; the available information does not resolve which. Do not treat the catalog entry as proof that the film is streamable.
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The familiar alternative is the 1939 adaptation, but current streaming access and licensed disc availability were not confirmed here. Availability may vary by territory and change over time, so check a local authorized service or library catalog rather than assuming a particular platform has it.
How the 1939 film differs
William Wyler’s Wuthering Heights (1939) is a distinct adaptation, with Merle Oberon as Cathy and Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff. The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery records that the film received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture; those were nominations, not eight wins. Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery: Wuthering Heights. Miramax also maintains an official page for the 1939 film: Miramax: Wuthering Heights (1939).
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The 1939 film is the relevant one when discussing Oberon’s role and her concealed biography. It should not be described as the first screen adaptation simply because it is the best-known of the two.
Who was Merle Oberon, and what did she conceal?
Oberon was a film star born in Mumbai in 1911. The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery identifies her as Anglo-Indian and says she claimed instead that she had been born in Tasmania to an upper-class English couple. The National Portrait Gallery in London records her birth in Bombay to an Anglo-Indian mother and an Australian father. The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) likewise recounts her Mumbai birth and describes how a London publicist helped obscure her mixed-race and lower-class background.
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These institutional accounts place the false origin story in the context of racism in the film industry. The Smithsonian explains that presenting herself as white helped Oberon pursue an acting career in an industry shaped by racial prejudice. This provides historical context for the concealment; it does not establish every private motive behind her choices. See the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery account, the NFSA’s “Merle Oberon: The Lost Tasmanian” (2018), and the National Portrait Gallery, London biography.
What Oberon said about Tasmania in 1934
In a 1934 interview with The West Australian, reproduced by the NFSA, Oberon publicly maintained the Tasmanian account. She said: “I was born in Tasmania but left there when I was a child … Since my films have been circulated, several people in odd parts of Australia have bobbed up to claim me as a relation … I don’t know very much about them because my family quarrelled with them some time ago.”
The statement documents the public story she gave at the time. It is not, by itself, an explanation of her private motives. The NFSA also notes that rumors and stories circulated during her career, so the concealment should not be reduced to a claim that nobody ever questioned her background.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Keeping the film history straight
- First known adaptation: the 1920 A. V. Bramble silent film, considered lost.
- Best-known Oberon adaptation: Wyler’s 1939 film, with Oberon as Cathy and Olivier as Heathcliff.
- Watchability: the BFI catalog listing does not establish that the 1920 film can be watched; no current, region-specific authorized availability for the 1939 film is confirmed here.
- Oberon’s background: she was born in Mumbai and publicly claimed a Tasmanian birth story; institutional accounts connect that concealment to racist industry conditions.
Readers wanting to compare the story across formats can start with Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, the novel behind both adaptations. The film records cited here do not support a broader ranking of which version is most faithful to the book.
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