Johnny Belinda (1948)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Irma von Cube (screenplay) and
Allen Vincent (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 September 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

She was alone with terror - and torment!

Plot:

In post-war Cape Breton, a doctor's efforts to tutor a deaf/mute woman are undermined when she is raped, and the resulting pregnancy causes scandal to swirl.

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Mute | Sign Language | Deaf Mute | Island

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Jane Wyman	...	Belinda McDonald
Lew Ayres	...	Dr. Robert Richardson
Charles Bickford	...	Black McDonald
Agnes Moorehead	...	Aggie McDonald
Stephen McNally	...	Locky McCormick
Jan Sterling	...	Stella McCormick
Rosalind Ivan	...	Mrs. Poggety
Dan Seymour	...	Pacquet - Storekeeper
Mabel Paige	...	Mrs. Lutz
Ida Moore	...	Mrs. McKee
Alan Napier	...	Defense Attorney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Barbara Bates	...	Gracie Anderson (uncredited)
Monte Blue	...	Ben (uncredited)
James Craven	...	Interpreter (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Man on Jury (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Man reciting Lord's Prayer (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Man reciting Lord's Prayer (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Jonathan Hale	...	Dr. Horace M. Gray (uncredited)
Lew Harvey	...	Man reciting Lord's Prayer (uncredited)
Holmes Herbert	...	Judge (uncredited)
Charles Horvath	...	Church Attendant (uncredited)
Douglas Kennedy	...	Mountie (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Man reciting Lord's Prayer (uncredited)
Blayney Lewis	...	Dan'l (uncredited)
Alice MacKenzie	...	Farm Woman (uncredited)
Larry McGrath	...	Man reciting Lord's Prayer (uncredited)
Ray Montgomery	...	Tim Moore (uncredited)
'Snub' Pollard	...	Man on Jury (uncredited)
Jeff Richards	...	Floyd McQuiggen (uncredited)
Richard Walsh	...	Fergus McQuiggen (uncredited)
Joan Winfield	...	Mrs. Tim Moore (uncredited)
Ian Wolfe	...	Rector (uncredited)
Frederick Worlock	...	Prosecutor (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Negulesco

Writing credits
Irma von Cube		(screenplay) (as Irmgard Von Cube) and
Allen Vincent		(screenplay)
Elmer Harris		(play)

Produced by
Jerry Wald	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Ted D. McCord		(director of photography) (as Ted McCord)

Film Editing by
David Weisbart

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas		(as Robert Haas)

Set Decoration by
William Wallace

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Betty Delmont	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Frank Mattison	....	production manager (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles Lang	....	sound

Special Effects by
Edwin B. DuPar	....	special effects (as Edwin DuPar)
William C. McGann	....	special effects director (as William McGann)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Classen	....	grip (uncredited)
Ellsworth Fredericks	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Paul Ivano	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Jack Woods	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Milo Anderson	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestral arrangements
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Max Steiner	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Bruce Carruthers	....	technical advisor
Elizabeth Gesner	....	technical advisor
Harry Wagstaff Gribble	....	producer: stage play
Felix Jacoves	....	dialogue director
Fred Applegate	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1975) (USA) (all media)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• M.P.E.A. (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)

Runtime:

102 min | West Germany:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #12705) | West Germany:16 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Fort Bragg, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Jane Wyman's Oscar acceptance speech is reportedly the shortest on record for Best Actress: "I won this award by keeping my mouth shut and I think I'll do it again." 'John Mills' bowed and said nothing after winning Best Supporting Actor for playing a mute in _Ryan's Daughter (1971)_.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The adoption papers from the council misspell the possessive "its" as "it's."

Quotes:

Dr. Robert Richardson: Hello, Aggie. You got back all right?
Aggie McDonald: Wouldn't be here if I hadn't, would I?
Dr. Robert Richardson: Is your sister better?
Aggie McDonald: Yes.
Dr. Robert Richardson: Did she have a good doctor?
Aggie McDonald: Don't have any. Doesn't believe in them.
Dr. Robert Richardson: Well, that's the right attitude as long as one can afford it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in El año de la garrapata (2004)

Silence Yields Oscar Gold

The movies had been talking for 20 years when Johnny Belinda came out in 1948. Those first Oscars were awarded for silent films and it took 20 years for another Oscar to be awarded for a performance without a single word of dialog.

Jane Wyman, who for the first ten years or so of her film career, played a lot of second leads, proves she could have competed with Mary Pickford or Gloria Swanson in the silent era, got an Oscar for her career role as Belinda McDonald. Belinda is a deaf mute who gets raped and impregnated by the town lout and because of what she is, she can neither name her attacker or speak out against the small minds that inhabit the town she lives in.

The story takes place in one of the Canadian isles off Nova Scotia and it begins with the arrival of a new doctor, Lew Ayres in town. One night he gets a call for a veterinary problem from farmers Charles Bickford and his sister Agnes Moorehead. While there he meets Bickford's mute daughter, Jane Wyman.

It's a rough life on that farm which doesn't yield much for creature comforts. Rough of course for Wyman, but also rough for Bickford who brought his sister in to help raise the child after his wife died in childbirth with Wyman. They're hard people, but they have a tender side also which is brought out as the film develops.

Johnny Belinda brought home a flock of Oscar nominations, for Ayres as Best Actor, for Bickford as Best Supporting Actor, for Agnes Moorehead as Best Supporting Actress, for the film itself, for Director Jean Negulesco. But only Wyman got the prize on Oscar night.

The closest performance I can think of to Wyman's in more modern times is that of Hilary Swank as trans-gender Brandon Teena. Swank hasn't the education to articulate her feelings either just as Wyman doesn't until Ayres teaches her to sign, still an audience made of statues will understand and be moved.

In addition to those already mentioned, look for fine performances from Stephen McNally as the lout and Jan Sterling as his wife.

But most of all look to be terribly moved by Jane Wyman.