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A young deaf mute is befriended by a Vista worker.

Rosanna Arquette, Dennis Quaid, and Richard Thomas in Johnny Belinda (1982)

A hearing impaired woman is befriended by a social worker.

Rosanna Arquette gives an emmy deserved performance as a hearing impaired woman who meets and falls in love with a social worker played by Richard Thomas.  Dennis Quaid and Candy Clark co-star in this compelling tearjerker. I&#39;ll be the first to admit that this movie brought me to tears of joy and tears of sorrow a number of times.  If you get the chance to view this adaption, please do so.

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Johnny Belinda

In this remake of a Jane Wyman film, Rosanna Arquette takes the role of Belinda.She is a deaf girl,who finds a light in her dark world. The little shelter Belinda lives in suddenly shines with hope;Richard Thomas plays a visiting aid worker, and he teaches her sign language. When Kyle,played by Dennis Quaid,abuses and rapes Belinda during a town party,Belinda&#39;s father has his suspicions about this &quot;new guy in town&quot;; The secret is revealed that his daughter is pregnant. <br/><br/>Although Arquette appears to be a helpless waif, she is determined to fight for her child. The motherly instinct within her brings out strength and courage.There are sweet scenes of tenderness; We hear Belinda pray over her father who dies accidentally by Kyle&#39;s anger, and Thomas says to her &quot;I will take you and Johnny away from here&quot;, when she shoots her assailant in defense.This movie shows how the disabled can take pride, and prove themselves in a world that does not understand them.

a sensitive performance highlighting the problems of deaf people showing they can be treated as less than normal. Perhaps a bit over the top in the conclusion.

This is the third version of the story I&#39;ve seen, a far cry from the excellent 1948 version of the 1940 play that seems to focus on the character played by Richard Thomas (in the role of William Richmond, played by Lew Ayres opposite Jane Wyman&#39;s Johnny) rather than the title character played by Rosanna Arquette. Living with her fearsome father (Roberts Blossom) and world weary aunt (Fran Ryan), Johnny is rumored to be developmently disabled but is really deaf and mute, and slowly for friends William who works at a local medical clinic. When Johnny is raped and becomes pregnant, the friendship between them begins to turn to romance even though he&#39;s been seeing pretty local Candy Clark. A young Dennis Quaid is the rapist father to be, getting his comeuppance when he makes a reappearance after abusing Arquette on a drunken joyride.<br/><br/>There were so many remakes of classic films of the 1930&#39;s and 40&#39;s done for television in the 1970&#39;s and 80&#39;s, and hardly any of them are memorable. It&#39;s not horrendous, and it&#39;s interesting to see the perspective told through Thomas&#39;s character, but the pretty Arquette doesn&#39;t have the tragic waif like quality that Wyman did. Slightly better however than the 1967 TV version with Mia Farrow, and given a colorful look thanks to 80&#39;s technical advancements. So it&#39;s a different viewpoint for the story, with Blossom and Ryan great in support, with Blossom grizzled and yet an old softie in spite of his gruffness. This is definitely done in a more modern setting, another unique change. I can&#39;t call it an unnecessary remake, but certainly not the version that should be watched first.

Richard Thomas as well as all the cast tell a wonderful story brought in more modern times of the classic Johnny Belinda. The older film with Jane Wyman is also exceptional. Richard Thomas is assigned a temporary job as a social worker in a small town. He soon meets a deaf and mute young lady. She lives with her dad and I believe an aunt with meager means. Wanting to help, the social worker orders a sign language book which opens up her world. He and girl develop a close friendship. Actually, they fall for each other, however, he knows his future is not with her. She is attacked and raped as she makes her way home after a dance, which results in the baby Johnny. The baby&#39;s father and his terrible gang of fools prove to be awful challenges. A very heartwarming tale.

User reviews

Johnny Belinda

A hearing impaired woman is befriended by a social worker.

The Handicapped are human beings

deaf is not dumb

A different take on a classic play.

Wonderful film, top notch acting

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