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Johnny Belinda (1948)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 7
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 1

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Release Date: Sep 14, 1948 Wide

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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 1,294

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Movie Info

After years of dumb-blonde and best-friend roles, Jane Wyman proved her skills as a dramatic actress -- and won an Academy Award in the bargain -- in Johnny Belinda. Adapted from a stage play by Elmer Harris, the story takes place in Nova Scotia, where deaf-mute Belinda (Wyman) leads a lonely existence on the hardscrabble farm of her father Black Macdonald (Charles Bickford) and her aunt Aggie (Agnes Moorehead). Newly arrived doctor Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres) takes a special interest in

Unrated, 1 hr. 45 min.

Drama, Classics

Directed By: Jean Negulesco

In Theaters: Sep 14, 1948 Wide

On DVD: Jan 31, 2006

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
Mabel Paige
Mrs. Lutz
Ida Moore
Mrs. McKee
Alan Napier
Defense Attorney
Monte Blue
Ben
Douglas Kennedy
Mountie
James Craven
Interpreter
Richard Taylor
Floyd McQuiggen
Richard Walsh
Fergus McQuiggen
Joan Winfield
Mrs. Tim Moore
Ian Wolfe
Rector
Holmes Herbert
Judge
Jonathan Hale
Dr. Gray
Ray Montgomery
Tim Moore
Barbara Bates
Gracie Anderson
Franklin Farnum
Juryman
Creighton Hale
Bailiff
Charles Horvath
Churchgoer
Harry "Snub" Pollard
Frederic Worlock
Prosecutor
Blayney Lewis
Dan'l

Critic Reviews for Johnny Belinda

All Critics (10) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (1) | DVD (5)

Jean Negulseco's melodrama is a moody, well-crafted if outdated saga with a star-making performance from Jane Wyman as a deaf-mute girl, who's raped and bears an illegitimate child.

February 8, 2008 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Try all you want to make yourself jaded over this, but in the end poor little Belinda wins us all over in the end.

February 23, 2006 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

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Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Powerful Jane Wyman performance and Oscar caliber production overall.

December 28, 2004 Comment

Steve Crum

Kansas City Kansan Source: Kansas City Kansan

A touching, moving film that takes its time and doesn't rely on strident melodramatics to tell its story.

December 12, 2004 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies

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Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

Goatdog's Movies Source: Goatdog's Movies

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Audience Reviews for Johnny Belinda

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As a child this film, so bold and brass for its time, scared me with its depiction of the rape of a deaf girl. Still tragically complicated and ultimately a cultural masterpiece, Johnny Belinda not only possesses the qualities that made the exceptional Miral Worker a phenomena, but also the ruthless libel that has

April 4, 2010

Spencer S.

Super Reviewer

While the ending to "Johnny, Belinda" is surprisingly understanding and Jane Wyman's star making and Oscar winning performance is lovely, it's still a pretty dumb movie. The way deafness is handled in the picture is quite silly, and the events (rape and murder and misunderstanding in Canada) comes out a wash. See this

July 29, 2010