Belinda

Outstanding and forgotten masterpiece from the late-1940s that led the way in 1948 with a dozen Oscar nominations, but somehow lost most of its steam as the Academy Awards were handed out. The titled character (Jane Wyman in a well-deserved Oscar-winning part) is a beautiful young lady who sadly happens to be deaf and mute. She is treated as an outcast by those within her Nova Scotia village's landscape. Her father (Oscar-nominee Charles Bickford) and aunt (Oscar-nominee Agnes Moorehead) love her very much, but become easily frustrated when they have trouble communicating with the youth on their small farm. When kind doctor Lew Ayres (yet another Oscar-nominee) comes to town he begins to teach Wyman how to read, teach her sign language and teaches her about life and love. Naturally those within the community despise the new outsider (they have never cared for Wyman and her family either). Jan Sterling comes to hate the doctor as she is turned down by Ayers and town bully Stephen McNally commits a horrific act by raping Wyman one night in her father's barn. A pregnancy occurs and the townspeople believe that Ayers is the culprit. Now those unfriendly people in the community wish to take Wyman's new-born child for their own, believing that Wyman is not fit to be a mother. Jean Negulesco (Oscar-nominated for direction) was a film-maker that never got too cute. He let his performers dominate the action and "Johnny Belinda" is no exception here. His subtle direction just adds to everyone else in the film. "Johnny Belinda" sometimes plays more like a stage play than an actual motion picture (this is a compliment by the way) and that just adds to the emotions and realism that are displayed throughout this fine movie. 5 stars out of 5.

This was an unusually atmospheric melodrama with four powerful performances from Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Agnes Moorehead and Charles Bickford--not to mention two supporting players, Stephen McNally and Jan Sterling who shine in their roles. McNally is the town bully who rapes Belinda, a mute girl being coached to understand sign language by resident doctor, Lew Ayres. The plot thickens when Belinda's father (Charles Bickford) finds out and the story spins toward a taut, melodramatic climax. All of it is raised to a higher level by the quality of the writing, acting and direction. Other top female performances that year (1948)included Olivia de Havilland (for 'The Snake Pit') and Barbara Stanwyck ('Sorry, Wrong Number'). That Wyman won over such competition is a testimony to her brilliant performance. A moving melodrama, absorbing and extremely well acted by the entire cast. A TV version was done more recently but, like most remakes, it paled in comparison.

That Jane Wyman, then in private life Mrs. Ronald Reagan, was able to find the strength to film this masterpiece of her career so soon after the birth and death of her baby daughter in 1947 is a glimpse to us of her utter sheer determination and complete professionalism. Miss Wyman uses milestones of her own life in her acting; she becomes the character and thus we catch emeralds and wheats, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. It makes for a performance the audience never forgets and the film remains fresh after having had seen it several times. The supporting cast is pure gold. I understand that Jack Warner buried the film for nearly a year after completion and only got on the band wagon after Wyman made him take out an apology in the trades which lead to the big Oscar buildup which snagged Jane Wyman her best actress oscar for 1948. Sadly her greatest professional triumph marked also the death of her marriage to husband Ronald Reagan.

On the surface, this highly regarded movie, (12 Oscar nominations, though only one win for Wyman), might seem to be little more than a lurid melodrama, but scratch beneath and you'll actually find a scathing scrutiny of life in a small, cloistered community and early markers for societal issues such as single-parenthood, bullying, discrimination against the disabled, victim shaming and rape. Markers mind you, not out and out campaigns for social improvement, at least not overtly, but one would like to think that this serious content opened the eyes and ears of at least some of its widespread audience back in 1948, when it was a big commercial success.

Set in a small community in turn of the 20th century Nova Scotia, whose connection to my homeland might explain some of the very approximate attempts at a Scottish accent by the likes of Charles Bickford and Agnes Moorehead, the plot revolves around Jane Wyman's deaf-mute young woman, Belinda who is demeaningly christened "Dummy" by everyone, including her doughty widowed father and crusty old spinster aunt Bickford and Moorehead with whom she shares farm accommodation. Not that they give her preferential treatment, quite the reverse as, being younger than they, she's given the lion's share of the heavy lifting jobs going.

Things change when a smooth but conscientious doctor, Lew Ayres comes to town and reaches out to Belinda, learning her sign language and lip-reading to encourage her to reach out from behind her invisible walls and connect with society. Unfortunately, society at large connects with her in the loathsome person of the local big-shot, Locky, played by Stephen McNallly, who ruthlessly rapes the defenceless girl and in so doing, impregnates her. So traumatised is she by her experience that she mentally blocks out recollection of the incident, no one is brought to justice for the crime and indeed she's the one who's shamed by the self-styled "principled" citizens of the town, including a sanctimonious shop-keeper and a terrible trio of old, gossiping women who more belong around a witches cauldron. Rumours even circulate that Ayres might be the father, but while he does out of pity offer to marry the girl after she has her child to reduce her local infamy and she clearly loves him, it's in a way he can't reciprocate.

The rapist however can't let alone and decides he wants the child for himself, figuring he can trick his newly-wed wife into getting Belinda to sign adoption papers over young Johnny in their favour. When Belinda's dad gets wind of what he did to his daughter, he confronts Locky, who he's never liked, resulting in a cliff-top fight from which only one walks away. Still Locky persists in his aim, climaxing in a second confrontation with Belinda and her child at the farmhouse which ends with a gunshot.

Well directed by Jean Negalescu in the appropriate noir fashion, (filtered light, dark closeups, darker secrets abounding) and well acted by Wyman, Ayres, Bickford and even, och aye, Moorehead, this is satisfying period noir which probably broke down some barriers both in Hollywood and beyond back in its day.

Every great actress has one signature role, the film for which she's forever identified because of the amazing impression she leaves on the screen. Rosalind Russell has Hildy Johnson in "His Girl Friday," Judy Garland has Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz," and Jane Wyman has Belinda MacDonald in "Johnny Belinda." Without saying a word, Wyman speaks volumes as the lonely deaf mute who learns about love and tenderness from doctor Lew Ayres as well as fear from bully Stephen McNally. She shines in every scene and creates one of the most touching characterizations ever put on screen. Moments such as her discovery of music and her sign-reading of the Lord's Prayer are beautifully done with a skill exceeding those of the best silent screen stars. Her Oscar was richly deserved.

Wyman, though, is not alone in creating this great film. Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead and Jan Sterling all give complex, layered performances that make each character believable and memorable. And "Johnny Belinda" would probably not be as powerful or moving without the exceptional black-and-white photography and Max Steiner's lovely score, one of his finest, which underscores every moment. Warner Bros. deserves extra credit for taking on a delicate subject (the rape of a deaf character was hardly typical screen fare in the 1940s) and handling it in a tasteful manner.

Ultimately, the movie is a showcase for Jane Wyman who rightly became Warner Bros.' top female star upon its release. She and the film are unforgettable.