Best Actress: Jane Wyman
For all you New Yorkers and Californians who are so used to seeing your hometown on the big screen, imagine the joy and shock when your small province (Nova Scotia) stars in an Oscar-winning film!
Aside from the very obvious silent film performances from Janet Gaynor, Jane Wyman was the first actress to win for a silent performance in the sound era of film. She utters not a word in Johnny Belinda, and, if you believe her, had wax coverings on her ears so she couldn't hear anything her castmates were saying. She also studied sign language and could, decades later, still converse in the language. Could she have been the first method actress to win an Oscar? (That's probably a bold statement, I only half-heartedly stand behind it, don't eat me up in the comments!)
It's amazing to me how much I forgot about the earlier films that won Best Actress. With this one, I forgot the impetus for the plot and why the movie's even called Johnny Belinda in the first place. If I'm being honest, even after watching it, it doesn't totally make sense, but I'll roll with it.
In Johnny Belinda, Jane plays Belinda, a young deaf woman who lives on Cape Breton Island (about 3 hours away from where I'm currently located, and accurately represented on screen. Take this with as much hyperbole as you want, but some pockets of the Island are probably still like that in 2025) with her father and aunt, both of whom neglect her because Belinda's mother died in childbirth and 'dumb' Belinda doesn't hold a candle to her mother.
It's only when the gentle doctor Robert Richardson, played by Lew Ayres, shows up and takes a(n unethical) interest in Belinda that she finally learns sign language, can better engage with her father and aunt, and even venture into town and socialize for the first time in her life.
It's a revelation watching Jane play Belinda; she's never treacly sweet, the way Jennifer Jones could be cloying as Bernadette Soubirous in The Song of Bernadette, she imbues Belinda with agency and an edge, though her sweetness and naivete never feels forced or too much. It's clear that Jane put a lot of work into mastering Belinda's character. She studied sign language for the role and could still remember it at least 20 years later.
Maybe it's location bias, but I really felt immersed in the world of Johnny Belinda. All of these characters feel like real people. I've known men like Belinda's father, I've met women like Belinda's aunt. I know the gossipers and the busybodies, and I know a lot of people who would fill a courtroom just to hear the salacious details of a murder.
I rather enjoyed Johnny Belinda.
Jane was nominated against Ingrid Bergman (Joan of Arc), Olivia de Havilland (The Snake Pit), Irene Dunne (I Remember Mama), and Barbara Stanwyck (Sorry, Wrong Number). Olivia is chilling in The Snake Pit and Sorry, Wrong Number is such a gripping movie experience. I'd have a hard time not voting for Olivia if I'd had the opportunity, but I do think that Jane's win is deserved!
DID I LIKE JOHNNY BELINDA? Much more than I remembered!
Did you like Johnny Belinda? What are your thoughts on Jane Wyman's Oscar win?
Keep up with all my Rewatching the Best Actresses posts here.
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