Trama

A kind doctor volunteers to tutor a deaf-mute woman, but scandal starts to swirl when his pupil is raped and falls pregnant.

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. The population is poor, and the struggling physician generally gets paid for his efforts in barter. When he meets Belinda MacDonald, a young deaf mute callously dismissed by family and neighbors as "the dummy", he alone senses her innate intelligence. 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. Hopes are even raised that she might eventually qualify for a medical procedure that might improve her condition. Her optimism is crushed, however, when she raped by Locky McCormick, a brutish local fisherman. Traumatized, she is unable to communicate the outrage to her family, who are baffled and angry when they learn she is pregnant. The local gossips blame the doctor, and he and the MacDonalds become pariahs, unable to earn a living in the provincial village. Matters come to a head when McCormick and his new wife pressure the local council to declare Belinda an unfit mother and assign them as the baby's legal guardians.—duke1029

Mocked by her fellow townsfolk for being deaf and resented by her aunt, the bright-eyed daughter of an aging farmer, Belinda MacDonald, struggles to eke out an existence in the fishing community of Nova Scotia, on the wind-swept Cape Breton Island. 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. However, Belinda's beauty has already caught the eye of the boorish local fisherman, Locky McCormick, who, in a fit of passion, sexually assaults the poor woman. Now, against the backdrop of a relentless rumor mill, Dr. Richardson finds himself caught in the undertow, with a painfully quiet Belinda unable to defend herself. Will she ever overcome the emotional trauma and the silent tragedy?—Nick Riganas

In a small fishing village on the island of Cape Breton, Dr. Robert Richardson takes an interest in a sweet deaf mute named Belinda. He teaches her sign language and lip reading, and she soon falls in love with him. When Belinda is left alone one night, she is raped by the town bully, Locky McCormick. When Robert takes her to see a doctor, it is discovered she is pregnant.—Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>

It is the story of a deaf girl, Belinda MacDonald, who is befriended by the new doctor, Dr. Robert Richardson, who comes to the area of Cape Breton Island in far eastern Canada. The doctor realizes that, although she cannot hear or speak, Belinda is very intelligent. She lives on a farm with her father, Black MacDonald, and her aunt, Aggie MacDonald, and rarely goes into town. The family sells farm goods to the nearby town, mainly flour. Her father and aunt resent Belinda because her mother died giving birth to her. Dr. Richardson teaches Belinda sign language and lip reading. Over time his affection for her grows.

The doctor's secretary, Stella McCormick, tries to get the doctor to court her, but the doctor does not see her that way. After she figures out that he is becoming attracted to Belinda, she starts to resent both the doctor and Belinda.

One of the family's customers, Locky McCormick, goes to the farm when Belinda is alone and rapes her. She becomes pregnant. When the townspeople finds out that she is pregnant, they suspect Dr. Richardson, because he has spent the most time with her. As time goes by, the pressure of the rumors finally cause the doctor to look for a new practice. He decides to marry Belinda and take her and the baby with him. He goes on ahead to find both a new place to practice and a new home for them.

While he is away finding them a new home, McCormick, now married (to the Doctor's former secretary, Stella), makes up his mind that he wants the child that he fathered. He goes to visit the baby, and when Black MacDonald sees him, he orders him to leave. After McCormick confesses to Black that the baby is his, and he will come back and get the child, Black follows him, attempting to make him break and threatening to expose him to the town. They fight, and McCormick throws MacDonald off the cliff into the sea.

Now Belinda and her aunt Aggie try to run the farm, but soon start struggling to pay the bills and keep up the farm. The town, at the urging of McCormick, has a meeting and declares Belinda "unfit" to care for the child. When McCormick and his wife come to take the baby, Belinda first makes Stella McCormick realize that she is smarter than the townspeople have given her credit for and that she will not give up her baby without a fight. Then after Stella confronts Locky, and he confesses to her that the child is his, he goes in to retrieve the baby. Belinda tries to block his path; he shoves her down and heads up the stairs. She then grabs a shotgun and shoots and kills him. Belinda is arrested and goes on trial for murder. At the trial Dr. Richardson tells how McCormick was the one that raped Belinda, and that she was protecting her property and family. The court dismisses this as the doctor's love for her, but then finally Stella, holding old deep romantic feelings for the doctor, says that it is true, that her husband had confessed the truth to her on that day. Belinda is set free for protecting her baby and home.