Johnny Belinda

Composite Score: 83.43

Starring: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead, Stephen McNally, Jan Sterling, and Dan Seymour

Director: Jean Negulesco

Writers: Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent

Genres: Romance, Drama

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Box Office: $4.10 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Johnny Belinda is the film adaptation of Elmer Harris’s play of the same name, chronicling the story of a small-town doctor in coastal Canada who works to help a deaf-mute girl learn to communicate and the scandal that threatens to undo all of their work together. The film was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, including Best Actress in a Leading Role for Jane Wyman who won the award for her portrayal of Belinda MacDonald, the deaf-mute girl that the film focuses on. The performances of Lew Ayres as Dr. Richardson, Charles Bickford as Black MacDonald, and Agnes Moorehead as Aggie MacDonald also received nominations but not wins. The film’s handling of its delicate topics, quality writing, strong acting, and surprisingly well-aged story have helped it retain a spot among the all-time greats.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Johnny Belinda tells a story that can be difficult for some audiences to handle. The film focuses on the story of a doctor who teaches a deaf-mute to speak with sign language and to read and write and then of that girl’s and the doctor’s ostracism from their deeply religious community after the girl becomes pregnant (the result of a rape and no wrong on the part of either of the main characters). Because of the Belinda’s difficulty communicating, the community is left to form their own conclusions about the nature of her pregnancy, blaming it on the secular doctor rather than the true culprit – a womanizing abuser who everyone in the town seems to love because he’s so charismatic and flirty. Even though the “good guys” do win out in the end, they are forced to go through some very real and potentially triggering hardships along the way, making this one of those films that shouldn’t just be put on when you want a feel good classic. It’s gotta be the right time for this one to truly be appreciated.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                For one thing, the film didn’t get all those Oscar nominations for nothing, it just happened to be up against legitimately better contenders in most of the categories for which it was nominated. Johnny Belinda is well-written, well-shot, well-edited, excellently scored, and has some great set design in all of its scenes. It is one of those films that immerses you in its story from the opening voiceover shots of the Canadian coast all the way until the closing shot of the carriage riding up to the farmhouse. It tells you a story that is fairly unique in its content, adapting the stage play fairly well as far as I can tell. Behind it all plays a score that moves with the film and consistently matches the emotion and feel of every scene. It’s well-made; I’m not sure quite how else to put it.

                It’s not just the technical pieces, though; I mentioned above the actors nominated for Oscars, and each of them was solidly deserving of their recognition. Even the supporting performances from Stephen McNally as the villain Locky McCormick and Jan Sterling as the lovelorn Stella bear mentioning. McNally does his darnedest to make sure the audience remembers who the real bad guy is in every scene he’s in, maybe going a bit too over the top, but it works. Similarly, the doe-eyed Sterling plays Stella as the jealous admirer with so much subtlety for most of the film that her outburst in the film’s final scenes feels slightly out of left field but still not too out of place. Moorehead’s Aunt Aggie is quietly one of the film’s most dynamic characters, and her performance as the hardened country woman with a soft underside helps make the character one of the best in the film. Bickford’s steady performance as Belinda’s father “Mack” comes through most powerfully in a little scene where Belinda is first learning sign language and she calls him father, leaving him incredibly touched, and his joy at receiving this monicker officially from his daughter moves the whole audience. Ayres gives one of the best performances I’ve ever seen as the optimistic, fast-talking Dr. Richardson and probably could have won the Oscar if he wasn’t up against Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet. Wyman’s Oscar-winning performance showcases all of her acting talent – playing a character that can’t hear or speak audibly while holding the audience’s attention and empathy for the whole film – it’s an admirable performance that beat out some of the classic greats (Ingrid Bergman, Olivia de Havilland, Irene Dunne, and Barbara Stanwyck).

                Powerfully moving performances from its actors and technical excellence from start to finish mark Johnny Belinda as a film worthy of its spot among the Greatest Films of All Time. Even though it might not be one you want to watch all the time, or maybe even more than once, it remains an optimistic and emotionally impactful film that also happens to be well-made for its day. It is currently available to rent on most streaming services if you’re looking for a place to watch it.