Review of Johnny Belinda (1948) by Lady B — 22 Feb 2005

I just caught this one on Turner Classics. It's an old movie, but it's a good one. Most of the characters seem overwrought and parodied, but that's the period. Jane Wyman deserved the Oscar. She's believeable and likeable as the deaf-mute girl who comes to life after a doctor comes to a small town and begins teaching her sign language.

Naturally, drama follows when she is raped. She blocks out the rape. The modern me wants to kick the guy's ass for raping the girl, but that's not how it is done in a small town, of course. Of course, she also becomes pregnant and keeps the kid.

No one ever accused Hollywood of realism, that's for sure. In real small towns, she would have disappeared for a few months and returned without the child. Or she would have found a way to rid herself of the kid - Like a coat hanger or herbs that force cycles. None of the stuff in the movie would fly today.

The courtroom scenes are a joke too.

I gave the movie a positive review because it [i]is[/i] a good movie for the period. Good watch.

But if you go in expecting to see real drama, forget it. It's just soapy sap wrapped up in a fluffy cotton bathrobe. All it shows you is how shabbily women were treated - And how grateful we should be that those small towns and their 'tudes are a thing of the distant past.