Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Excellent but underrated film

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The performances by the principle actors-- Jane Wyman as deaf mute Belinda, Charles Bickford as her father, and Lew Ayres as the doctor-- are flawless, and the writing of their characters raises this film above the level of melodrama-- or, rather, almost does."JOHNNY BELINDA" is based on a true and tragic story that took place in on Prince Edward Island, back before the automobile. The movie (and the original stage play) radically fictionalizes one episode in the life of Lydia Dingwell-- rape and subsequent pregnancy--using it to make points about morality. The screenplay ends well before the rest of Lydia's story is told: she died in poverty, and is buried in an unmarked grave near a lot of other Dingwells in a cemetery in Bay Fortune, PEI.Those details do not matter to the film, of course, which is fiction. No such harsh reality flavors the screenplay, but an understanding of hardship does. It is expressed, unfortunately, only by those three characters. All the rest of cast -- even Agnes Moorehead as Belinda's spinster aunt-- are reduced to playing stereotypes of the shallowest order. I want to forgive it, because the movie was not an easy one to get through Hollywood's rose-colored lenses. No doubt the writers had to wrap the story of rape and murder in the most simplistic black-and- white terms possible, and the most pious. At one point, Wyman actually delivers the entire Lord's Prayer in sign language, surrounded by mourners, at her father's deathbed. Even her Oscar-winning performance could not lift that prolonged scene above the level of tedium.Such compromises, of course, inevitably compromise the overall quality of the film. What could have been a great movie-- it rises to greatness because of Wyman in particular, and elements of the screenplay-- is more like an historic artifact of Hollywood as it struggles out of the censorship of the Hayes era. But "Johnny Belinda" is only step in the right direction-- a baby step following a rape.

JOHNNY BELINDA (Warner Brothers, 1948), directed by Jean Negulesco, is not exactly the one about an individual character named Johnny Belinda, but that of Belinda MacDonald, a deaf mute girl who gives birth to a child she calls Johnny. Although quite confusing in regards to name reference, there's nothing confusing about the dramatic theme taken from a 1940 stage play by Elmer Harris that served not only as one of the finest movies from the 1940s, but a poignant and touching performance by Jane Wyman.As the story unfolds with off-screen narration about of the residential workers in Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia, Canada, the plot leads towards its introduction of Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres), a young medical doctor whose taken up residence in the area, with Stella Maguire (Jan Sterling) acting as his secretary who has a secret crush on him. One evening, Aggie (Agnes Moorehead), a poor farm woman living with her brother, Black MacDonald (Charles Bickford), comes to Richardson's home for assistance with her pregnant heifer. During the delivery, Richardson notices a quiet girl in the darkness, Belinda (Jane Wyman), McDonald's daughter, holding a lantern. Told by her father that she's a deaf mute, the doctor takes it upon himself devoting his time educating Belinda in teaching her sign language and lip reading. A quick learner, Belinda proves herself a capable student. One night as her father takes Aggie to visit with her sick sister, Belinda, home alone, is approached by the drunken Locky McCormick (Stephen McNally), one of her father's steady customers, who takes advantage of the situation by making his attack on "the dummy." Afterwards, MacDonald, who notices daughter acting strangely, advises Richardson for help. Feeling Belinda depressed in her own quiet world, he decides taking her to the city for a medical examination. Discovering from the doctor (Jonathan Hale) of Belinda's pregnancy, Richardson does everything in his power to make her life more easier. After giving birth to her boy, Johnny, matters become more complex as the gossiping villagers, believing Richardson to be the father, put him locally out of medical practice and discontinue purchasing wheat from the MacDonalds.With changing tastes in regards to types of movies audiences wanted to see during the post World War II years, tough and graphic "film noir" suspensers and/ or Technicolor musicals were the prime factors of the time. For its melodramatic theme and doses of sentiment, JOHNNY BELINDA seems like an outcast from the silent film era. Jane Wyman's Belinda, whose sensitive portrayal and fragile face could very well have been the sort of role awarded to Lillian Gish under D.W. Griffith's direction had such a product been possible in the twenties. JOHNNY BELINDA does parallel somewhat with Griffith's silent classic, WAY DOWN EAST (1920) set in a poor rural community with a tragic heroine (Gish) who falls victim of gossip after giving birth to a child fathered by a cad. JOHNNY BELINDA, goes a step further with its child-like deaf girl who falls victim of rape, a sequence handled quite discreetly.Regardless of Academy Award nominations for Lew Ayres (Best Actor); Charles Bickford and Agnes Moorehead (with Scottish accents down to the rolled Rs) in the supporting category, the most worthy award went to Wyman whose convincing character portrayal without uttering a single sound ranked one of the best accomplishes ever captured on screen. Once seen, it's hard to forget such key scenes as Belinda's rhapsodic discovery of music at the village dance; the tapping of her feet to the "felt" musical beat; her facial expression of happiness, sadness fear and courage; the reciting the Lord's prayer completely in sign language at her father's funeral; Belinda's tense trial for murder, and Max Steiner's unforgettable musical score. Ayres is a natural as the kind doctor, a role reminiscent to his "Doctor Kildare" portrayal in the medical film series for MGM (1938-1942), with mustache adding to his mature features. Stephen McNally does exceptionally well as the most unsympathetic character, along with Jan Sterling, in her motion picture debut, as his bride whose crucial scenes coming much later in the screenplay.With several TV adaptations to JOHNNY BELINDA over the years, the most recent being the 1982 remake with Richard Thomas and Roseanna Arquette, the original remains quite a moving and unforgettable experience if movie watching. Distributed to home video in the 1980s, and years later on DVD, it's commonly presented on Turner Classic Movies. As JOHNNY BELINDA paved the way for Jane Wyman with better leading roles ahead, nothing can really compare to the one as the quiet girl. (****)

Those eyes. Those eyes tell the story of love, loneliness, and a soul who wants to give and feel needed. The story of deaf-mute Jane Wyman goes beyond what most of today's movies could ever do. Agnes Moorehead (who should have won the Oscar) and Charles Bickford are simply wonderful, with Jan Sterling, good as the lady in love with the kind doctor. The scenes between Belinda and her father are very touching. I love the scenes between Belinda and the doctor, as they communicate and she learns the words for tree and day, etc. Seeing this always makes me want to know more about sign language. It's not only an entertaining movie, but the viewer learns what it's like to be in Belinda's world. This film shows how we are all connected to each other and how the most important message isn't merely conveyed in words. Those who have not been blessed to see this masterpiece need to right the wrong and buy this DVD today, and see Jane Wyman at her Oscar-winning best.

This is a great storytelling and movie-making rolled into one and I can see why it was up for so many Academy Awards in its day (when they rewarded the best movies.)Jane Wyman seems to get the most attention here but I was totally impressed not only with her but all the actors, the director and the photographer. All excelled in this film, I thought - a great effort all-around.Wyman and Lew Ayers were terrific in the leads, playing endearing characters who were easy to become involved with and root for in this story. Wyman, like Dorothy McGuire in "The Spiral Staircase" (1945) and Alan Arkin in "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" (1968), plays a deaf mute effectively with haunting, expressive facial features. I hope people don't overlook Ayers' extremely warm performance as the doctor who truly cares for this woman. Ayers plays a very decent man and does it with a lot of dignity.Charles Bickford was powerful, too, as Belinda's father and ditto for the always-entertaining Agnes Moorhead, playing Belinda's sister. I can't leave out the "villains," either: Stephen McNally, who really looks his part, and his reluctant bride Jan Sterling, an underrated classic-era actress. Jean Negulesco's direction provided numerous interesting low and high-angle camera shots and cinematographer Ted McCord made the most of it, including some great facial closeups. To be honest, I am not familiar with either of these two names but I was very impressed with their work here. Oh.....having Max Steiner doing the music didn't hurt, either!The film gets a little melodramatic at times but it's never overdone. The story flows nicely. No scene - pleasant or unpleasant - overstays its welcome. You get a cohesive blend of heartfelt sentiment, romance, drama and suspense. In addition, the DVD transfer of this film is magnificent. I would like to have seen some behind-the-scenes features with the disc, but the film was so good I am not complaining.