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In honour of Jane Wyman's 100th birthday, which was yesterday, this week on «Film Friday» — the first of 2017 — I thought I would bring you the film that gave her the Academy Award for Best Actress, the only Oscar of her career. I saw this film for the first time yesterday and already it has become one of my all-time favorites. Directed by Jean Negulesco, Johnny Belinda (1948) tells the story of Belinda McDonald (Jane Wyman), a deaf-mute young woman who leads a sad, lonely existence in a fishing and farming community on a small island in Nova Scotia. She lives with her father, Black (Charles Bickford), and her aunt, Aggie (Agnes Moorehead), who call her «Dummy» and resent her because her mother died giving birth to her. Belinda is befriended by the new local physician, Dr. Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres), who recognizes her intelligence and teaches her sign language. When Black learns that he can communicate with his daughter, a bond develops between them.   LEFT: Agnes Moorehead, J...

In honor of Judy Garland's 94th birthday, which is today, this week on "Film Friday" I bring you one of her most iconic pictures , one that should have given her the Oscar for Best Actress. Groucho Marx was right; it was "the biggest robbery since Brinks."  Original release poster Directed by George Cukor, A Star Is Born (1954) tells the s tory of E sther Blodgett (Judy Garland), a band singer who saves screen legend Norman Maine (James Mason) from complete h umilia tion when he arrives drunk at a benefit show at t he Shr ine Auditorium . Once sober, No rman goes looking for Es ther and finds her pe rforming in an a fter-hours club. Impressed by her talent, he convinces her to leave her band and pur s ue a career in motion pictures , prom ising to introduce her to studio head O liver N iles (Charles Bickford). Just as Esther ar rives in Hollywood, Norman is called away to filming on location and is unable to reach her. Assuming that he was bein ...