The family sells farm goods to the nearby town, mainly flour.

The film stars Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead, Stephen McNally, and Jan Sterling. A kind doctor volunteers to tutor a deaf-mute woman, but scandal starts to … Then, a chance encounter with the community's compassionate physician, Dr Robert Richardson, will pave the way for an unexpected friendship, as the benevolent doctor sets his sights on teaching Belinda sign language and lip-reading. To read the full text of Belinda Sutton’s first petition, click here. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: The film was remade first as a 1967 television movie starring Mia Farrow as Belinda, Ian Bannen as her doctor, and David Carradine as the rapist, and in 1982 as another TV remake with Rosanna Arquette as Belinda and Richard Thomas as the VISTA worker. "[8] "A powerful dramatic entertainment," wrote Harrison's Reports. After Stella figures out that he is becoming attracted to Belinda, she starts to resent both of them. Johnny Belinda is a 1948 American drama film based on the 1940 Broadway stage hit of the same name, by Elmer Blaney Harris. This results in her pregnancy, which is diagnosed by another doctor to whom Dr. Richardson had brought her for audiology testing. When he meets Belinda McDonald, a young deaf mute callously dismissed by family and neighbors as "the dummy," he alone senses her innate intelligence. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that while some of the scenes "were pretty lurid, especially towards the end," that "the best of the film is absorbing, and Miss Wyman, all the way through, plays her role in a manner which commands compassion and respect. Belinda: A book to read before you die! © 2020 The Royall House and Slave Quarters. "[7] The Monthly Film Bulletin called it "a memorable film in which Jane Wyman's performance as Belinda is outstanding. They have a fight on a seaside cliff and Locky throws Black off the cliff into the sea, killing him. A kind doctor volunteers to tutor a deaf-mute woman, but scandal starts to swirl when his pupil is raped and falls pregnant. Over time, his affection for her grows. When Locky and Stella (who by now are married) come to take Johnny, Belinda first makes Stella realize that she is smarter than the townspeople have given her credit for.

Basically, all the good stuff."

Dr. Robert Richardson, a dedicated young general practitioner, seeks to establish himself in an isolated fishing village on Cape Breton Island off the Nova Scotia coast. He teaches her sign language and lip reading, and she soon falls in love with him.

Jeremy Walker is a famous, middle age author of children's books and a painter, who illustrates his own books. Exploring freedom and slavery in Revolutionary New England, “Belinda’s Petition,” a Poem by U.S.

Black rejects this idea, as he knows that Dr. Richardson does not truly love Belinda, but merely pities her. All Rights Reserved.

It has been seen by some commentators as the first call for reparations for American slavery. Most of what we know about her life comes from a remarkable 1783 petition to the Massachusetts General Court, in which she recounted her life story and claimed a pension from the estate of Isaac Royall Jr. It is the story of a deaf girl, Belinda McDonald, who is befriended by the new doctor, Dr. Robert Richardson, who comes to the area of Cape Breton Island in far eastern Canada, at the end of the nineteenth century. "[9], The film was the second most popular movie at the British box office in 1948. In 1799 Willis Hall requested the balance of the estate from the state treasury for distribution to Royall’s heirs, stating that the last of “two family servants who were left behind” was now dead. "The following podcast contains adult themes, sexual content, and strong language.

Now, against the backdrop of a relentless rumour mill, Dr Richardson finds himself caught in the undertow, with a painfully quiet Belinda unable to defend herself.

When he goes to retrieve the baby, he overcomes Belinda's efforts to stop him, managing to make his way upstairs to the room where Johnny is. Hopes are even raised that she might even eventually qualify for a medical procedure that might improve her condition. When Black sees him, he orders Locky to leave. When Belinda is left alone one night, she is raped by the town bully, Locky MacCormick.
Origins of Belinda Sutton. She wears plain work clothes, rarely goes into town, and only once to church. Recipient of numerous literary fellowships and awards, she is currently Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia. When Robert takes her to see a doctor, it is discovered she is pregnant... Taglines

Belinda Sutton and Her Petitions. Locky inadvertently implies to Black that he is the father of the child. However, before Locky can unlock the door, Belinda uses a shotgun to shoot and kill Locky. Two documents from 1785—one a petition, the other a receipt—identify her as “Belinda Royal,” in accordance with the common practice of assigning a slaveholder’s surname to formerly enslaved individuals. She then grabs a shotgun, and shoots and kills him. The Royall House and Slave Quarters is on Twitter! The Boston Globe Features our Museum and Executive Director in Sunday issue: Visit our Media page to read: Details. because I say so! Dr. Richardson teaches Belinda sign language, and what things are. Yes Belinda is beautiful and young and exciting and young and charming and young and shapely and did I mention young. Stella confronts Locky, who confesses that the child is his. He overcomes the initial skepticism of her flinty, gruff father and indifferently cold aunt, who operate a hardscrabble grist mill and farm, and devotes himself to teaching the young girl sign language and lip-reading. Before moving to Belinda's current city of Spring, TX, Belinda lived in Houston TX. Belinda, a slave in the Royall House, wrote a petition to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1783, requesting an income from the estate of her former owner, Isaac Royall. It has inspired poets and fascinated historians.
Belinda arises to prepare for the day’s social activities after sleeping late. At the trial, Dr. Richardson testifies that she was protecting her property and family. Support the RH&SQ by Using Amazon Smile Will she ever overcome the emotional trauma, and the silent tragedy? "The direction, acting, and photography are of a superior quality, but the outstanding thing about the picture is the exceptionally fine performance by Jane Wyman, an acting job that will undoubtedly make her a foremost contender for the Academy Award.

Of all the residents on the Royall estate in the 18th century, free or enslaved, perhaps the best-known today is Belinda Sutton, an African-born woman who was enslaved by the Royalls. Belinda Sutton’s 1788 petition, courtesy of Massachusetts Archives (click to enlarge). In 1790 Willis Hall refused to make another payment “without a further interposition” from the legislature, which appointed a committee to investigate and ordered resumption of the payments, but Belinda’s 1793 petition—signed again as Belinda Sutton—shows that this did not occur. Her public assertion of her rights has given her a place in history and public memory. The Massachusetts legislature approved an annual pension of fifteen pounds and twelve shillings, to be paid from Royall’s estate, but just one payment was made, and in 1785, she petitioned the legislature for payment of the amount previously authorized. This Book is amazing? All of her petitions are available through the Antislavery Petitions Massachusetts Dataverse, maintained by Harvard University. The petitions that came to light in 2015 also informed us for the first time of her marriage. Belinda petitioned for three years’ back pension in 1788, now identifying herself as widow Belinda Sutton. [10], Content aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an 89% "Fresh" rating based on 8 out of 9 surveyed critics giving the film a positive review.[11]. Plot Keywords Her father and aunt resent Belinda because her mother died giving birth to her. Black follows Locky and threatens to expose him to the town. Summary Summary Summary Summary. The title character is based on the real-life Lydia Dingwell (1852–1931), of Dingwells Mills, Prince Edward Island. Belinda again petitioned the Massachusetts legislature in 1787 and was again granted one year’s allowance. Ms. Dove is the author of the novel Through the Ivory Gate, a collection of stories, a verse drama, and five books of poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas and Beulah. Her optimism is crushed, however, when she raped by Locky McCormick, a brutish local fisherman. Since her first petition was made public in 1783, she has been commonly referred to as “Belinda Royall.”  Until the subsequent petitions came to light in 2015, however, our museum chose to call this strong African woman “Belinda,” the name she called herself in the petitions of which we were aware. Belinda is befriended by Dr. Robert Richardson, the new physician who recently moved to town. He buys her a pretty dress and encourages her father to take her to town and church. by Margot Minardi, Postcards, Stereocards, Artworks, and Ephemera, Enslaved People’s Lives at the Royall House, Documenting Those Enslaved by the Royalls, The Revolution and the End of Slavery in Massachusetts, The Royalls and the Antigua Slave Conspiracy of 1736, The Royall Bequest and Harvard Law School, Archaeology and the Unexpected Revelation, Chloe Spear: Leaving a Legacy, Listing a Life, Antislavery Petitions Massachusetts Dataverse.

Matters come to a head when McCormick and his new wife pressure the local council to declare Belinda an unfit mother and declare them the baby's legal guardians. Belinda tries to block his path; he shoves her down and heads up the stairs. | The local gossips blame the doctor, and he and the McDonalds become pariahs, unable to earn a living in the provincial village.

Belinda is arrested and goes on trial for murder. The population is poor and the struggling physician generally gets paid for his efforts in barter.

We know much more about her than we do about most of those who experienced slavery, but it is still frustratingly little. The doctor realizes that, although she cannot hear or speak, Belinda is very intelligent. "[5] Variety called it "somber, tender, [and] moving," with Wyman's performance "a personal success.

And it opens a rare window onto the life on an enslaved woman in colonial North America. At the beginning of the narrative, Ariel explains to Belinda through the medium of a dream that as she is a both beautiful and a virgin, it is his task to watch over her and protect her virtue—though as the poem unfolds, it’s unclear if Belinda is really as virtuous as she seems. Click here to start shopping.