<--- Jane Wyman won the Best Actress Oscar for her role.Based on a play by Elmer Blaney Harris (which was based on real life events).
Jane Wyman is a deaf and mute young woman named Belinda, who lives on a farm with her father (Charles Bickford) and aunt (Agnes Moorehead). Sadly, they both call her "the dummy" and sadly, she is disliked by almost everyone in the village.
She's befriended by a young doctor (Lew Ayres), who sees her potential, and he decides to tutor her and teach her sign language.
Eventually, the two begin to fall in love.
One day, Johnny is raped by a local fisherman, and becomes pregnant, which affects every one of the characters in the film, including the rapist, who marries the doctor's secretary (Jan Sterling) and at one point decides he wants custody over the child.
The doctor's life begins to crumble when he finds himself involved in a scandal, which leads to a climactic courtroom scene with all parties.
Some great performances. The tone of the film is serious for the most part (little comic relief).
Nominated for 12 Academy Awards. Jane Wyman won the Best Actress Oscar. Directed by Jean Negulesco. I first watched this in 1990, about twenty years ago.