Warner
Oscar Nomination: 12
Picture, produced by Jerry Wald
Director: Jean Negulesco
Screenplay: Irmgard Von Cube and Allen Vincent
Actor: Lew Ayres
Actress: Jane Wyman
Supporting Actor: Charles Bickford
Supporting Actress: Agnes Moorhead
Cinematography (b/w): Ted McCord
Art Direction-Set Decoration (b/w): Robert Haas; William Wallace
Film Editing: David Weisbart
Sound Recording: Nathan Levinson
Scoring (Dramatic or Comedy): Max Steiner
Oscar Awards: 1
Actress
Oscar Context
In 1948, “Johnny Belinda” competed for the top Oscar with Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, which won Best Picture, Actor, and other awards; the ballet-drama “The Red Shoes,” which broke box-office records in the U.S.; the melodrama “The Snake Pit,” with Olivia de Havilland; and John Huston's brilliant crime drama, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” with an all-star cast, headed by Humphrey Bogart and John Huston's father, Walter Huston.
The most nominated picture, and thus the biggest loser, was “Johnny Belinda,” receiving 12 nominations, but winning only one Oscar, Best Actress for Jane Wyman as the deaf-mute girl Belinda McDonald.
The major awards were spread rather evenly among the five nominees. “The Red Shoes” deservedly won the technical awards in color, a distinction that increased the number of winning films.