Who is superb, muscular, moody, mean and sexy?

New details about the Wuthering Heights 2009 behind-the-scenes exhibition that will take place at Oakwell Hall. The Yorkshire Post informs (and posts several pictures. On the left hand side, Charlotte Riley's portrait as painted by Marguerite Horner. Source):

BEHIND-the-scenes paraphernalia used by actors and film crews is rarely seen by the fans who enjoy the productions they create.
But enthusiasts for Wuthering Heights are to be given the chance to pore over original scripts, call sheets, scribbled notes and props used in the filming of the latest adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel, to be screened in the next few days.
Oakwell Hall, in Birstall, near Bradford, was one of several locations used for filming and is to host an exhibition celebrating both the latest production, but also the wider phenomenon of the classic story.
Museum officers have secured many original items from the set such as scripts, including one belonging to Tom Hardy, who plays Heathcliff, and a wooden panel in which he and his lover carve their names.
However, the exhibition also features other artefacts with connections to the iconic English novel.
Singer Kate Bush's 1970s single Wuthering Heights will feature, along with memorabilia from the 1990 West End Musical Heathcliff, which starred Cliff Richard.
The education and outreach officer for Kirklees Museums and Galleries, Simon Skelling, said: "We've got all sorts of things relating to Wuthering Heights.
"The main pieces are the original scripts which have been signed by the cast. We also have a pocket script belonging to Tom Hardy, which he carried round with him. You can even see where he has highlighted his lines in it.
"There are also calls sheets which are used as sort of time tables for each of the days filming.
"There will be parts of original set including a wooden panel where the lovers carved their names
There is the mock-up panels which were made after designers visited churches and the one used in the filming, which is made from MDF.
"I'd say that along with Wuthering Heights fans, it would also appeal to anyone interested in film and adaptation period drama."
The latest adaptation was filmed partly at Oakwell Hall last summer, by production company Mammoth Screen, and saw the Elizabethan manor house closed for four weeks.
Now museum staff who were on hand throughout the filming are waiting to see how prominently the hall will feature in the drama. The first part is being screened on Sunday at 9pm, the concluding episode being shown at the same time the following evening.
Kirklees museums operations manager Deborah Marsland said: "Oakwell is popular as a historic film location but this was by far the biggest production the site has been involved in. It was very exciting having the film crew here and it will be interesting to see how much of Oakwell Hall we can recognise. Many of the museum's historic items such as furniture, ornaments, paintings and wall hangings had to be removed into safe keeping to allow the crew to prepare the sets."
Staff rubbed shoulders with the stars and got a behind-the-scenes insight into the making of a major drama.
They saw tricks of the trade including a specially made kitchen floor made of latex to avoid the actors getting injured during a fight scene and the use of identical twins to play Cathy as a baby, both of which had to be squeezed into original gowns, worn by much smaller 18th century babies.
They also experienced the end-of-filming celebrations. When the director uttered the words "It's a wrap," the sound engineers flooded Oakwell's great hall with the sound of Kate Bush's single.
The drama is the hall's latest connection with the Brontës. Oakwell was used as the location for the 1920s silent film version of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel Shirley.
Mr Skelling said: "Oakwell has been used several times for filming, including Lost in Austin. (sic)
"It's been used for quite a bit of stuff that people have forgotten about. Oakwell has the look and has the feel of a film set. I can't believe its not been used for a Gothic horror yet. But there is still time."
The exhibition will open in September. (Grace Hammond)

The Mirror, with its usual finesse, reminds us of why we have to watch the show:

THE superb, muscular, moody, mean and sexy Tom Hardy is starring in ITV's Wuthering Heights next Sunday and Monday. Enjoy. But sorry, he's mine. (Sue Carroll)

If you’ve enjoyed writer Peter Bowker’s bawdy brush with history, his next trick is a two-part remake of Wuthering Heights, starting on ITV on Sunday. (Jane Simon)

Michelle Kerns in the Book Examiner takes once again that old route of gender clichés in reading. Yes, we know that a man cannot like Jane Eyre (except this half of BrontëBlog and some other stereotype runaways) and we know that a woman cannot like The Lord of the Rings (except for some active groups against the dictatorship of chromosomes). It's really tiresome and frankly a cliché in itself:

You can lead a man to Jane Eyre, but you can't make him like it. Likewise, try to get most women to read Dune or Starship Troopers or Catch-22 and you'll see more eye-rolling than in "The Exorcist".

The Stonington Times describes the hero in American novels (by Nora Roberts or in all American novels is not clear) in a way that deserves a nomination to the most reference-crowded description of the year:

It seems to me that the hero in American novels is often descended from that all-time favorite: the scamp with the heart of gold personified by Tom Jones, and then on to Rochester and Heathcliff and on across the pond to Tom Sawyer and finally to what I consider the favorite of all American women, Rhett Butler, the semi-wicked charmer with the raised eye brow, the sardonic smile, and the sensitive nature—always kind to animals and children! (Penny Parr)

People named after Jane Eyre in the Chester Chronicle, Gerald Scarfe's cartoon Dithering Heights (more information here) is mentioned again in The Skinny, 5-Squared reviews Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë and Bemoan has seen Cime Tempestose 2004 and seems to rather like it.

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Elizabeth Gaskell, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wuthering Heights