Johnny Belinda is a 1948 drama 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, Bay Fortune, Prince Edward Island. The title character is based on the real life of Lydia Dingwell (1852-1931), of Dingwells Mills, Prince Edward Island. This film also expresses the consequences of spreading lies and rumors.

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

It was filmed in northern California around Mendocino.

Jane Wyman won a Best Actress Oscar for her strong performance.

Dr. Robert Richardson, a dedicated young general practitioner, seeks to establish himself in an isolated fishing village on Cape Breton Island off the Nova Scotia coast. The population is poor and the struggling physician generally gets paid for his efforts in barter. When he meets Belinda McDonald, a young deaf mute callously dismissed by family and neighbors as "the dummy," he alone senses her innate intelligence. He overcomes the initial skepticism of her flinty, gruff father and indifferently cold aunt, who operate a hardscrabble grist mill and farm, and devotes himself to teaching the young girl sign language and lip-reading. Hopes are even raised that she might even eventually qualify for a medical procedure that might improve her condition. Her optimism is crushed, however, when she raped by Locky McCormick, a brutish local fisherman. Traumatized, she is unable to communicate the outrage to her family, who are baffled and angry when they learn she is pregnant. The local gossips blame the doctor, and he and the McCormicks become pariahs, unable to earn a living in the provincial village. Matters come to a head when McCormick and his new wife pressure the local council to declare Belinda an unfit mother and declare them the baby's legal guardians.

Wins:

Winner - Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role - Jane Wyman
Winner - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama - Jane Wyman
Winner - Photoplay Awards Most Popular Female Star - Jane Wyman
Co-Winner - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama (with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)

Academy Award nominations:

Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Lew Ayres
Nominated - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Charles Bickford
Nominated - Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Agnes Moorehead
Nominated - Best Writing, Screenplay - Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent
Nominated - Best Director - Jean Negulesco
Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Ted D. McCord
Nominated - Best Film Editing - David Weisbart
Nominated - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White - Robert M. Haas & William O. Wallace
Nominated - Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Max Steiner
Nominated - Best Picture - Jerry Wald
Nominated - Best Sound, Recording

Cast

Jane Wyman as Belinda McDonald

Lew Ayres as Dr. Robert Richardson

Charles Bickford as Black McDonald

Agnes Moorehead as Aggie McDonald

Stephen McNally as Locky McCormick

Jan Sterling as Stella McCormick

Rosalind Ivan as Mrs. Poggety

Dan Seymour as Pacquet - Storekeeper

Mabel Paige as Mrs. Lutz

Ida Moore as Mrs. McKee

Alan Napier as Defense Attorney

Barbara Bates as Gracie Anderson

Monte Blue as Ben

James Craven as Interpreter

Franklyn Farnum as Man on Jury

Al Ferguson as Man reciting Lord's Prayer

Frank Hagney as Man reciting Lord's Prayer

Creighton Hale as Bailiff

Jonathan Hale as Dr. Horace M. Gray

Lew Harvey as Man reciting Lord's Prayer

Holmes Herbert as Judge

Charles Horvath as Church Attendant

Douglas Kennedy as Mountie

Colin Kenny as Man reciting Lord's Prayer

Blayney Lewis as Dan'l

Alice MacKenzie as Farm Woman

Lou Marcelle as Trailer Narrator

Larry McGrath as Man reciting Lord's Prayer

Ray Montgomery as Tim Moore

'Snub' Pollard as Man on Jury

Jeff Richards as Floyd McQuiggen

Richard Walsh as Fergus McQuiggen

Joan Winfield as Mrs. Tim Moore

Ian Wolfe as Rector

Frederick Worlock as Prosecutor

Directed by
Jean Negulesco 

Writing credits
Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent (screenplay)
Elmer Harris (play)

Produced by
Jerry Wald - producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner 

Cinematography by
Ted D. McCord (director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Weisbart 

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas 

Set Decoration by
William Wallace 

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore - makeup artist
Betty Delmont - hair stylist

Production Management
Frank Mattison - production manager

Sound Department
Charles Lang - sound

Special Effects by
Edwin B. DuPar - special effects
William C. McGann - special effects director

Camera and Electrical Department
William Classen - grip
Ellsworth Fredericks - camera operator
Paul Ivano - director of photography: second unit
Jack Woods - still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Milo Anderson - wardrobe

Music Department
Murray Cutter - orchestral arranger
Leo F. Forbstein - musical director
Max Steiner - conductor

Other crew
Bruce Carruthers - technical advisor
Elizabeth Gesner - technical advisor
Harry Wagstaff Gribble - producer: stage play
Felix Jacoves - dialogue director
Fred Applegate - script supervisor