Johnny Belinda (1948)

Warner Bros.

Director: Jean Negulesco

Starring: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres

Honors:

Academy Award for Best Actress

Golden Globe for Best Actress

It appears Hollywood is beginning to slowly loosen its restrictions on what was once considered prohibited issues in motion pictures with this dramatic tale which tackles a very serious and sensitive subject matter. Adapted from the Broadway hit of the same name, Johnny Belinda was a feature whose focus dealt with consequences of rape and in a delicate and earnest manner, enveloped in a tale of tragedy, love, and compassion. The picture’s impact is demonstrated in its critical praise for nearly all aspects of its filmmaking giving it notice for how well it confronts its subject matter.

Johnny Belinda is a drama about how lies and rumors overtake a community to mask the injustice of a rape victim that cannot socially defend herself. Belinda (Jane Wyman), the deaf-mute young adult daughter of a farmer (Charles Bickford) in a remote town coastal town, gains the interest of a new local doctor, Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres), who teaches her how to read and speak sign language, breaking the molds of her being simply a “dummy.” Her advancement is shattered when Belinda is raped by a gruff local fisherman named Locky (Stephan McNally) resulting her having a child, Johnny, and a scandal amongst the townsfolk.

With rumor that Johnny is the illegitimate son of Robert, the town begins to quietly shun Belinda, her family and Robert, crippling their livelihoods. Matter get worse for Belinda as her father dies at the hands of Locky when he confronts her daughter’s rapist, and later Belinda shooting Locky to protect her son from being abducted by the unruly man. A helpless Belinda stands trial for murder with townsfolk believing her to also be unfit as a mother, with only the shunned Robert as her lone friend. However, Locky’s wife, Stella (Jan Sterling), out of guilt confesses her late husband’s rape of subsequent threats to Belinda that led to the events of his death to the court, exonerating Belinda of the crimes and extinguishing the believed falsehoods.

For a movie that begins innocently, mimicking a tale similar to “The Miracle Worker,” the story takes a dramatic turn with the horrendous story rape of a young woman that is left seemingly defenseless, judged by the gossiping folds of the small town she lives in. For such a serious subject director Jean Negulesco initially constructs Johnny Belinda as a typical, run-of-the-mill movie before the plot takes its sharp turn, giving its main character a dramatically quiet tension to parallel her handicaps. Jane Wyman delivers an award winning performance in a completely non-speaking role, allowing her body language and most of all her eyes to manifest the tension and emotion of a young woman torn from innocence and wrongfully judged by a community who could never understand her life experiences. This beautifully shot black and white feature showcases a new and powerful direction that Hollywood has yet to embrace, tackling subject matter previously taboo by the industry to battle injustices in society that continue to this day.

While director Jean Negulesco brings to the productions numerous subtle styles to the filmmaking, thanks in part to his background of being slightly experimental. With the performance of Lew Ayres, a Hollywood star dating back to the award winning All Quiet on the Western Front, the picture is supplied with a dignity with the actor as the co-star of the picture. However, it is the performance of Jane Wyman that seals the extraordinary power of this film. Wyman without speaking one word through the entirety of the feature delivers an acting clinic with her performance. As a deaf/mute she begins as a shy, childlike young lady and we watch her mature, growing in aptitude and confidence as she acquires new found skills to communicate with help of Ayres’ character, Robert Richardson, before facing the horrors of being manhandled by a drunk local that appears to halt all of the advancement she was beginning to shape for herself and her family. Her portrayal of Belinda would win her great acclaim topped with the Academy Award in her third such nomination for the prize, launching her from being just a another leading lady into the realm of being a bona fide star.

The powerful nature of the story would not have had such a lasting impact if not for a wonderful ensemble cast that contributed to drama. Ayres, once one of Hollywood’s young up and comers in the early 1930s before falling into B-level status here re-introduced himself as a leading man of classic Hollywood. Charles Bickford as the harsh, yet lovable father of Belinda was one of the greatest dramatic supporting actors of the day and no stranger to critical praise. Agnes Moorehead whose beginnings came from Olson Welles’ Mercury Theater delivers a powerful performance as Belinda’s lone female figure as her Aunt Aggie who after years of treating the deaf/mute as a ignoramus burden comes to discover how bright Belinda really is once they communicate, taking her as a surrogate daughter.

Wyman, Ayres, Bickford, and Moorehead all were nominated for Academy Awards to go along with the total 12 Oscar nominations the picture received that year. Wyman’s victory would be the only claim at that year’s ceremony, marking the first time since the silent era an acting award went to a silent performer. Despite the subject matter being of an issue once considered unspeakable in Hollywood films, Johnny Belinda was a great success, both at the box office and clearly with critics, as displayed with the numerous  Academy Award nominations

In the years since Johnny Belinda Hollywood would slowly open up its doors to all kinds of once taboo subject matter thanks in part to the change in society following WWII. Today Johnny Belinda may not seem too devastating a film, but for its time when sex, rape, pregnancy, and children out of wedlock were all unspoken subjects on screen.  The film never properly address the issues by the proper terms, but skirts around the issues with creative language, and addressing the issues as its main character is the victim, and comes out in the end as the saint of the story. The film expertly performed with many critics of the day believing the film better executed demonstrating the story than the play that it was adapted from. Since 1948 several remakes of Johnny Belinda have been produced, many merely made for television remakes attempting to bring the story up to date, but none would deliver the timelessness of this picture.

Johnny Belinda remains a well made and powerful picture dealing with sensitive subject matter. Anyone would be in for a treat today with the picture’s simple, yet expertly execute production. For 1948 it was powerful, today it is considered much tamer, but that should not dissuade anyone from checking out Jane Wyman in her award winning performance.