Silent lips

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Movie
German title Silent lips
Original title Johnny Belinda
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 95 minutes
Rod
Director Jean Negulesco
script Irma von Cube ,
Allen Vincent
production Jerry Wald for Warner Brothers
music Max Steiner
camera Ted McCord
cut David Weisbart
occupation

Silent Lips (Original: Johnny Belinda ) is an American feature film with Jane Wyman in the lead role and directed by Jean Negulesco . The film was nominated for a total of twelve Academy Awards in 1948 .

action

The island of Cap Breton in Nova Scotia on Canada's east coast at the end of the 19th century: Dr. Richardson comes to the island as the new doctor and meets the half-orphan Belinda. She is deaf and lives on a farm with her father Black McDonald and her aunt Aggie. Dr. Richardson takes care of the girl and teaches her to write. Over time, the two develop a great deal of sympathy for each other. Dr. Richardson's secretary, Stella, is in love with her boss and wants him to marry her. The doctor's relationship with Belinda is a thorn in her side. One day, Belinda is raped by the fisherman Locky McCormick. She gets pregnant. People suspect Dr. Richardson to be the father of the child for spending so much time with Belinda. The ongoing rumors prompt the doctor to marry Belinda, leave the island with her and the baby, and take a job in a distant hospital. Locky has now married the former secretary Stella. Suspecting that Belinda's child might have been his, he visits Belinda, but is thrown out by her father. Locky tells Black that he is the father of the child and that he will bring him back. On the way back to the city, Black attacks Locky, but is thrown from a cliff into the sea by him in a fight. Belinda and Aunt Aggie can no longer hold the farm. Locky has Belinda declared unfit to raise the child. When Locky and his wife want to pick up the child, Belinda shows that they have been underestimated. She makes it clear to Stella that she will not give up on her child. A scuffle ensues, whereupon Belinda grabs a rifle and shoots Locky. She is arrested and charged with murder. Dr. Richardson states that Belinda was raped and tried to protect her family. The court declares the doctor biased. Unexpectedly, Stella Belindas takes sides and supports the doctor's statement. Her husband confessed everything to her on the day of his death. Belinda is acquitted on the grounds that she acted in self-defense.

background

Jane Wyman had spent the first decade of her film career with Warner Brothers in an endless series of second- and third-rate films. Her roles only gradually began to gain in importance, but like her colleagues Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland , she only made her breakthrough as a dramatic actress through appearances for other studios. In 1944 she had brought Billy Wilder personally to Paramount Pictures to play the self-sacrificing friend of Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend . The film won Wyman critical acclaim, and MGM signed her for The Wilds Calls as a Poor Farmer's Wife. In the meantime, the successful producer Jerry Wald tried to convince the studio boss Jack Warner to acquire the film rights to the play Johnny Belinda . The material was unusually brutal: a deaf and dumb girl is raped, pregnant by her tormentor and ends up shooting him. Jack Warner was initially negative:

Who wants to see a picture where the leading lady doesn't say a word?
Who wants to see a movie in which the leading actress doesn't say a single word?

In the end, Wald convinced the studio, not least after RKO landed a huge commercial hit with Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase as the deaf and dumb victim of a brutal murderer. Jerry Wald was now one of Warner's top producers, having produced the most financially successful Warner film of 1945 with Solange ein Herzschlag and helped Joan Crawford win an Oscar for best actress and a veritable comeback. Casting the film was difficult, however, as none of the studio's own stars were available. Teresa Wright was supposed to take on the role first . Jane Wyman had to do a lot of persuading to change Jerry Wald's mind and give her the part. The film made Wyman a big star and also helped director Jean Negulesco , who had worked with Joan Crawford in Humoresque the previous year, to achieve a breakthrough as a women director. Lew Ayres was grateful to have finally been given a substantial role again after he was practically unemployed during the war due to his conscientious objection. To prepare for the role, Wyman and Ayres learned the deaf-mute language, and Wyman spent entire days with wax in his ears to get a feel for the part.

The shooting took place in Fort Bragg, a small town in northern California. At first, however, studio boss Jack Warner was dissatisfied with the result. He criticized the rough cut:

They're up there shooting fog and a bunch of damned seagulls!
All they picked up up there was fog and a bunch of damn seagulls!

The film was then in the archive for almost a year before it came into general distribution. Silent Lips became the most successful flick of the entire year and received a unique number of twelve Oscar nominations. However, only Jane Wyman received the award for best actress.

Reviews

The New York Post said:

Jane Wyman gives a performance surpassingly beautiful in its slow, luminous awakening of joy and understanding.

The film service called the film a

gripping, sophisticated melodrama of the old style with strong feelings, a dense atmosphere and a sensitive leading actress.

Awards

There were a total of twelve nominations for the film at the 1949 Academy Awards in the following categories:

At the Golden Globe Awards in 1949 there were awards in the following categories:

  • Best movie
  • Best main actress

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Lexicon of International Films 2000/2001 (CD-ROM)