While not the first time I saw a film address the subject of gossip, the film Doubt brought up something that has stuck with me in the more than fifteen years since I first saw it. Father Brendan Flynn speaks from the pulpit about how once you spread gossip it becomes as impossible to remove it as it is to gather up all the feathers of a pillow that have been scattered into the wind. Idle gossip can destroy a person’s reputation, their livelihood, even their lives and all for something that may or may not have happened. And there are always people out there ready to latch onto the faintest traces of gossip and parrot it on to the next person, ensuring that it never dies.
As powerful a subject as gossip is, it is not the primary one that the movie Johnny Belinda is known for. Johnny Belinda is remembered as the film that pushed through the Hays Code and tackled a subject that had hitherto been completely taboo: rape. The main character of Belinda MacDonald is raped and impregnated by her assailant. Up until now, the Hays Code prohibited even the suggestion of sex, preferring to pretend that children just happened in a family without any action on the parents’ part. Of course, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. The subject of sex just didn’t exist amongst the code.
This film is considered the movie that broke through that code and allowed a story to be told that deals with the horrors of rape as well as the dangers and consequences of spreading lies and rumors. Because of that, this film was considered controversial upon release, although watching it now, it is relatively tame in the way things are depicted. For instance, when Belinda is being assaulted, we see the man approach her, and then it cuts to black. We know what it means but don’t see so much as a second of what is happening. This doesn’t in any way diminish the horror of it all, though, and would have been even more so to audiences of the 40s who were used to their entertainment being even more sanitized than this.
This film covers some unique ground for Hollywood at the time. The main character, Belinda (Jane Wyman), is deaf-mute. When we are first introduced to her, she is working on the farm with her father, Black, and aunt, Aggie (Charles Bickford and Agnes Moorhead). Neither of them realizes that she is smart and they just assume she is incapable of understanding more than basic commands. All of this changes when Dr. Richardson (Lew Ayres) arrives and realizes she has so much more potential. He teaches her basic sign language and how to read lips. Later, while attending a party, Laughlin “Locky” McCormick (Stephen McNally) sees her and takes notice. Later that evening, he follows her to the farm and rapes her, impregnating her.
When word gets out that she is pregnant, the immediate assumption is that Dr. Richardson is the father. It’s no secret that he is attracted to her and is willing to marry her, so word gets around, and the people in town begin shunning him on moral grounds. Black and Aggie know he is not the father, but that doesn’t sway the townsfolk, and eventually, the doctor is forced to pack up and leave for lack of work. This local shunning extends to the MacDonald farm, too, threatening to bankrupt the family. When the baby is born, Belinda names him Johnny and is doing a good job caring for him, but Locke, now married to Stella (Jan Sterling), challenges her ability to care for the child and tries to forcibly take him away from her. He admits to his wife that he is the father and, when trying to force his way into the baby’s room and take him, Belinda shoots him dead with her father’s shotgun. The rest of the film is a trial where Belinda is being accused of his murder and faces execution. In some ways, this closing act echoes that of the one several years later in the film Peyton Place; the themes are very similar between the two films including that of rape and town gossip.
It is no surprise that Jane Wyman won the Academy Award for this movie. She is being required to act without the benefit of speech. Everything has to be conveyed in her face and gestures. This performance requires the audience to see her intelligence before the supporting characters do, too. It’s a challenging character to play, unlike anything Wyman had done before. Sadly, while this film was nominated for twelve Oscars, Wyman’s was the only win. 1948 was the year Hamlet and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre were battling it out, and this little film just couldn’t compete against that.
Agnes Moorhead is also very good in a role that at first is unsympathetic. Her character of Aggie is hard on Belinda, treating her like she is feeble. She weighs Belinda’s worth more on how much work she can get done than on anything else. To be fair, she treats her brother harshly as well, griping about the work and the money and never being grateful even when Dr. Richardson offers services gratis. All of this changes, though, when she finds out that Belinda is pregnant. Suddenly she softens and becomes motherly towards the girl. It’s a strange change in her character but shows that she is not truly heartless.
Perhaps the weakest part of this film is the courtroom finale. The drama leading up to the trial is so much more compelling that resolving everything through an added-on scene in court just isn’t a compelling enough ending. That, coupled with the overly dramatic admission by Stella, ends everything on a lesser note. The scene at the farm when Locky tries to forcibly take the baby was so powerful and ended in such a shocking way that everything after that just couldn’t stand up compared to it.
This is an emotionally moving drama that is actually based on real events, later dramatized in a 1940s stage play. The story is compelling and well acted, so much so that many of the secondary characters come across as despicable because of how poorly they treat Belinda. This film struck a chord with audiences at the time, in part because of the taboo subject, propelling it to earn more than four times its budget back at the box office and garner twelve Oscar nominations. In another year, it probably would have won more than just the one for Jane Wyman’s stirring performance. Belinda is such a wonderful character, and Jane brings her to life as a caring, if callow, young girl who is smarter and more capable than nearly anyone gave her credit.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Jerry Wald
Best Director: Jean Negulesco
Best Actor: Lew Ayres
Best Actress: Jane Wyman (won)
Best Supporting Actor: Charles Bickford
Best Supporting Actress: Agnes Moorehead
Best Screenplay: Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent
Best Art Direction - Set Decoration - Black-and-White: Robert M. Haas and William O. Wallace
Best Cinematography - Black-and-White: Ted D. McCord
Best Film Editing: David Weisbart
Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: Max Steiner
Best Sound Recording: Nathan Levinson
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Release Date: September 14, 1948
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, and Agnes Moorehead
Directed By: Jean Negulesco
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