89 Days of Oscar Nominees – #64 – Johnny Belinda (1948)

In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 89 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 1 Dec 2016 and The 89th Annual Oscars on 26 Feb 2017.

Here is my 64th review of the 89 chosen Films…

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“There’s only one shame – failing a human being that needs you.” – Dr. Robert Richardson

Number of Times Seen – 1 (1 Feb 2017)

Brief Synopsis – A small town doctor tries to help a deaf mute girl be a part of society until a scandal breaks that could undermine everything he has achieved.

My Take on it – I knew absolutely nothing about this film before seeing it and was enthralled throughout.

Loved the way that they present a story like this despite the fact that there were so many censorship laws in effect at the time.

They are able to let us understand everything that is happening despite this and it is done in a tasteful and simple way.

Jane Wyman and Lew Ayres are both superb here and Wyman truly deserved her Best Actress Oscar for this role.  She was actually able to win the award without having to say anything in the whole movie.

The story unfolds very well and they expertly give us information about the characters, their way of life and perfectly show us how things are run in a small town in rural Canada where scandals can ruin a person’s life and livelihood.

Bottom Line – Wyman and Ayres are both superb here.  Loved the way the story unfolds because they manage to give us so much information about the characters, their way of life and how things are run in such a small community.  The fact that their are numerous issues discussed only in passing due to many of the censorship laws at the time would normally have caused problems with a film like this, but they do a great job of presenting things in a way that we can fully understand what is going on despite the obvious omissions.  Wyman truly deserved her Best Actress Oscar for this role.  Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Jane Wyman’s Oscar acceptance speech is reportedly the shortest on record for Best Actress: “I won this award by keeping my mouth shut and I think I’ll do it again.” (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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