Main Cast: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead, Stephen McNally, Jan Sterling
Release Year: 1948
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
After years of dumb-blonde and best-friend roles, Jane Wyman proved her skills as a dramatic actress -- and won an Academy Award in the bargain -- in Johnny Belinda. Adapted from a stage play by Elmer Harris, the story takes place in Nova Scotia, where deaf-mute Belinda (Wyman) leads a lonely existence on the hardscrabble farm of her father Black Macdonald (Charles Bickford) and her aunt Aggie (Agnes Moorehead). Newly arrived doctor Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres) takes a special interest in Belinda, vowing to ease her road in life by teaching her sign language. Despite initial resistance from her father and aunt, Belinda quickly learns how to communicate with others, opening a whole, wonderful new world for her. But things take a sorry turn when local lout Locky (Stephan McNally) corners poor Belinda after a village dance and rapes her. If the ending seems a bit ambiguous, it is because director Jean Negulesco intended it that way, allowing the viewer to draw his or her own conclusion regarding Belinda's future relationship with her mentor Dr. Richardson. Upon accepting her Oscar, Jane Wyman commented on the fact that she accomplished this feat through the simple expedient of "keeping my mouth shut." But there is nothing simple or facile in Wyman's astonishing performance as Belinda, which far outclasses the actresses who repeated the role in the two TV remakes. Also worthy of praise is the lush musical score by Max Steiner, one of his best post-Casablanca efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Johnny Belinda features a superb performance from Jane Wyman in the title role and a well-crafted story without the overtly happy ending common to this type of "personal triumph" drama. Filmed in effective black-and-white by Ted D. McCord, the studio recreation of a Nova Scotia fishing village is convincing, while director Jean Negulesco underplays many scenes, allowing the performances to resonate with the material. Ironically, Negulesco was fired late in the production of the film, when studio execs saw that he was avoiding the sort of tear-jerking sentimentality that they had expected. Because it would have been too expensive to re-shoot the entire picture, the studio reluctantly released it pretty much as Negulesco had wanted. The result was Warner Bros.' biggest hit of the year. This is another example of how films with strong, non-traditional women as the central character became more prominent in the post-WWII era. The film was nominated for a near-record twelve Academy Awards, though Wyman's Best Actress Oscar was the only category in which it won. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Robert M. Haas - Art Director, Elizabeth Gessner - Consultant/advisor, Milo Anderson - Costume Designer, Jean Negulesco - Director, David Weisbart - Editor, Max Steiner - Composer (Music Score), Mel Dellar - Musical Direction/Supervision, Perc Westmore - Makeup, Ted D. McCord - Cinematographer, Jerry Wald - Producer, William Wallace - Set Designer, Edwin DuPar - Special Effects, William McGann - Special Effects, Nathan Levinson - Sound Recordist, Elmer Harris - Screen Story, Allen Vincent - Screenwriter, Irma Von Cube - Screenwriter, Elmer Harris - Play Author
The story is based on a real life incident that happened near Harris's summer residence in Fortune Bridge, Bay Fortune, Prince Edward Island. The title character is based on the real life of Lydia Dingwell (1852-1931), of Dingwells Mills, Prince Edward Island. This film also expresses the consequences of spreading lies and rumors.
It is the story of a deaf girl, Belinda McDonald, who is befriended by the new doctor, Dr. Robert Richardson, who comes to the area of Cape Breton Island on the east coast of Canada, at the end of the nineteenth century. The doctor realizes that, although she cannot hear or speak, Belinda is very intelligent. She lives on a farm with her father, Black McDonald, and her aunt, Aggie McDonald, and rarely goes into town. The family sells farm goods to the nearby town, mainly flour. Her father and aunt resent Belinda because her mother died giving birth to her. Dr. Richardson teaches Belinda sign language and what things are. Over time, his affection for her grows.
The doctor’s secretary, Stella, tries to get the doctor to court her. But the doctor does not see Stella in that way at all. After she figures out that he is becoming attracted to Belinda, she starts to resent both the doctor and Belinda.
One of the family's customers, Locky McCormick, goes to the farm when Belinda is alone and rapes her. She becomes pregnant. When the people in town find out that she is pregnant, they suspect Dr. Richardson because he has spent a lot of time with her. As time goes by, the pressure of the rumors finally cause the doctor to look for a new practice. He decides to marry Belinda and take her and the baby with him. He goes on ahead to find both a new place to practice and a new home for them.
While he is away finding them a new home, McCormick, now married to the doctor's former secretary, Stella, decides that he wants the child that is his. He goes to visit the baby; when Black McDonald sees him, he orders McCormick to leave. McCormick confesses to Black that the baby is his and that he will come back to get the child. Black follows McCormick and threatens to expose him to the town. They fight and McCormick throws McDonald off the cliff into the sea.
Now Belinda and her aunt Aggie try to run the farm, but soon start struggling to pay the bills and keep the farm up. The town, at the urging of McCormick, has a meeting and declares Belinda "unfit" to care for the child. When McCormick and his wife come to take the baby, Belinda first makes Stella McCormick realize that she is smarter than the townspeople have given her credit for, and that she will not give up her baby without a fight. Stella confronts Locky, who confesses that the child is his. He then tries to retrieve the baby, but Belinda tries to block his path. He shoves her down and heads up the stairs. She then grabs a shotgun, and shoots and kills him. Belinda is arrested and goes on trial for murder. At the trial, Dr. Richardson testifies that McCormick raped Belinda, and that she was protecting her property and family. The court dismisses this as the doctor’s love for her, but then finally Stella, holding old deep romantic feelings for the doctor, corroborates the doctor's story, saying that her husband had confessed the truth to her on the day he was killed. Belinda is set free for protecting her baby and home.
