Johnny Belinda (1948 film)

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Johnny Belinda
Johnny Belinda film poster
Directed by	Jean Negulesco
Produced by	Jerry Wald
Written by	Allen Vincent Irma von Cube
Starring	Jane Wyman Lew Ayres Charles Bickford Agnes Moorehead
Music by	Max Steiner
Cinematography	Ted McCord
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	1948
Running time	102 min.
Country	US
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

For the 1967 version, see Johnny Belinda (1967 film).

Johnny Belinda is a 1948 film based on the play of the same name by Elmer Blaney Harris. The movie was adapted to the screen by Allen Vincent and Irma von Cube, and directed by Jean Negulesco.

The story is based on a real life incident that happened near Harris's summer residence in Fortune Bridge, Fortune Bay, Prince Edward Island. The title character is based on the real life of Lydia Dingwell (1852-1931), of Dingwells Mills, Prince Edward Island.

The film stars Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead, Stephen McNally, and Jan Sterling.

It was filmed in northern California around Mendocino.

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It is the story of a deaf girl, Belinda McDonald, who is befriended by the new doctor, Dr. Robert Richardson, who comes to the area of Cape Breton Island in far eastern Canada, at the end of the nineteenth century. The doctor realizes that, although she cannot hear or speak, Belinda is very intelligent. She lives on a farm with her father, Black McDonald, and her aunt, Aggie McDonald, and rarely goes into to town. The family sells farm goods to the near by town, mainly flour. Her father and aunt resent Belinda because her mother died giving birth to her. Dr. Richardson teaches Belinda sign language, and what things are. Over time his affection for her grows.

The doctor’s secretary, Stella McCormick, tries to get the doctor to court her. But, the doctor does not see her that way at all. After she figures out that he is becoming attracted to Belinda, she starts to resent both the doctor and Belinda.

One of the family's customers, Locky McCormick, goes to the farm when Belinda is alone and rapes her. She becomes pregnant. When the town finds out that she is pregnant they suspect Dr. Richardson, because he has spent the most time with her. As time goes by, the pressure of the rumors finally cause the doctor to look for a new practice. He decides to marry Belinda and take her, and the baby, with him. He goes on ahead to find both a new place to practice and a new home for them.

While he is away finding them a new home, McCormick, now married (to the Doctors former secretary, Stella), makes up his mind that he wants the child that is his. He goes to visit the baby and when Black McDonald sees him, he orders him to leave. After McCormick confesses to Black that the baby is his, and will come back and get the child, Black then proceeds to follow him, attempting to make him break and threatening to expose himself to the town. They fight, and McCormick throws McDonald off the cliff into the sea.

Now Belinda and her aunt Aggie try to run the farm, but soon start struggling to pay the bills and keep the farm up. The town, at the urging of McCormick, has a meeting and declares Belinda "unfit" to care for the child. When McCormick and his wife come to take the baby, Belinda first makes Stella McCormick realize that she is smarter than the townspeople have given her credit for, and that she will not give up her baby without a fight. Then after Stella confronts Locky, and he confesses to her that the child is his, he goes in to retrieve the baby. Belinda tries to block his path; he shoves her down and heads up the stairs. She then grabs a shotgun, and shoots and kills him. Belinda is arrested and goes on trial for murder. At the trial Dr. Richardson tells how McCormick was the one that raped Belinda, and that she was protecting her property and family. The court dismisses this as the doctor’s love for her, but then finally Stella, holding old deep romantic feelings for the doctor, says that it is true, that her husband had confessed the truth to her on that day. Belinda is set free for protecting her baby and home.