A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

This classic movie, based on Betty Smith's autobiographical novel, was Elia Kazan's directorial debut. Though the entire cast was wonderful, James Dunn won a well-deserved Oscar, here, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.Since this story is about a poor family in greater New York City around the turn of the century, I sometimes get it mixed up with that of George Stevens' I Remember Mama. However, any momentary confusion is soon rectified when I recall the cast and the character difference between the two maternal figures (Irene Dunne in I Remember Mama and Dorothy McGuire in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. McGuire was great at playing 'hard' and serious characters, as she later did in Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement and Mann's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960).To me, this is one of those many priceless movies in which life is viewed from a child's point of view (how they see--and feel--things that are going on around them and within the family. The protagonist, here, is 12 or 13 year-old Francie Nolan (Peggy Ann Garner). Her acting may be a little over-sentimental, but I think her role may have called for it. On the other hand, Ted Donaldson is refreshingly realistic as her younger brother, Neeley.The Nolan family is poor and has learned to live by all of the cost- savings means humanly possible. For example, the two children go to a cheaper school and work on Saturdays as 'rag pickers,' gathering trash on the streets and selling it to the neighborhood junk man. On Christmas Eve, they wait until all of the other Christmas trees have been sold and then gather at the tree lot as the vendor throws his leftover trees to anyone whom can catch them.The children's mother, Katie Nolan (Dorothy McGuire), works hard doing domestic work, cutting corners, and being the disciplinarian of the family so they can survive. As a result, those around her often see her as 'hard.' Her husband, Johnny Nolan, aka 'The Brooklyn Thrush' (James Dunn), works at night as a singing waiter for a small salary--but mainly for tips. He is a pipe dreamer, a romantic, and a drunk. Everyone in the neighborhood, including the local policeman, Officer McShane (Lloyd Nolan), knows it—but they all love him anyway--and learn to call him 'sick' when he comes home drunk. Johnny fills Francie's head full of fanciful dreams about being discovered by an impresario and telling her what he will do for the family when he is discovered and 'his ship comes in.' When Francie dreams of going to a better school down the block, her father helps her get into it by making up an address that is within the school district.Katie's fun-loving sister, Aunt Sissy (Joan Blondell), often comes to visit and often has a new husband—'Aunt Sissy has gone and done it again.' She, too, wants to see that the children are not too hardened by Katie and that they get to enjoy their life. Although everyone wants Francie to be protected from life's hardships, soon must see things as they are.

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" was adapted from the best selling novel of the same name by Betty Smith. It was also the first feature film to be directed by the legendary Elia Kazan. Boy what a debut and keep the Kleenex handy.The story centers around an early 20th century family living in the run down tenements of Brooklyn. Told through the eyes of Francie Nolan (Peggy Ann Garner) we follow the ups and downs of her family....mother Kate (Dorothy McGuire), dad Johnny (James Dunn), brother Neeley (Ted Donaldson) in their daily lives.Johnny is a happy go lucky Irishman with high ambitions. He has trouble finding and keeping a job. He also has a penchant for a wee nip now and then. Kate is left with the task of running the household on literally pennies a day while working at scrubbing the stairs of their tenement on the side to help with the rent. The children run the errands such as selling junk to the junk man (J. Farrell McDonald), buying 10 cents worth of ground beef and getting in on the distribution of 3 day old bread from the bakeries.Francie is very close to her father and he in turn to her. He manages to get her transferred to a better school and promises her the brighter future that he knows he cannot provide. Kate, becoming despondent over the family's hardships, finds herself becoming hardened despite reassurances from her flighty sister "Aunt Sissy" (Joan Blondell). Local cop on the beat Officer McShane (Lloyd Nolan) takes an interest in the family and secretly worships Kate.Kazan was able to get excellent performances from his ensemble cast. Dorothy McGuire the beauty that she was, is very convincing as the distraught mother with little hope for the future. James Dunn has you rooting for him as the ever down on his luck father. Peggy Ann Garner is superb as the young daughter who has ambitions to become a writer. Both Dunn and Garner received Academy Awards for their performances.Kazan would return to the tenements in Tennesee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1951.

It was the early 1900s in Brooklyn. Many families crowded together in tenement buildings, poor families that barely made ends meet, but always paid the monthly ten cents to the man who sold funeral insurance. Life expectancy wasn't real long. An extra penny here and there meant something.This movie has special appeal to me, it came out in 1945, the year I was born. Shot in glorious black and white, the cinematography is excellent. The title is a reference to a tree growing in a courtyard, seemingly out of the concrete. The young daughter laments that it is being cut down, but dad says it won't die, it will grow back. It is also a metaphor for life, for getting back up after you have been knocked down.Beautiful Dorothy McGuire, in her 20s here, is the mom, Katie Nolan. She is a severe mom, hardly ever smiling, because she knows how difficult it is to keep the family in home and fed. Joan Blondell is her sister, the good, fun-loving aunt, Sissy, who is at one point banned from the family, but later returns to help the healing.Winning an Academy Award for supporting actor was James Dunn as the father, Johnny Nolan, who calls himself a singing waiter but often drinks too much, and never seems to deliver the goods for the family. He is a "pipe dreamer", always talking about what is going to happen, without a plan to make it happen.The real star is young (12) Peggy Ann Garner as the daughter, Francie. She is smart, reads a lot, and works hard to help the family. She adores her dad, it is clear that he has the greatest influence on her.This is a really good movie, about family, how things become trials, and how they are able to overcome them.

Movies such as this continue to encourage me to watch the 'ole Black and Whites. The purity and true reflection of family values permeate this picture. It transcends time and place and represents the force of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles; big and small. The impression that stays with me the most is the relationship between father and daughter; there is a special bond that exists on pure love. As hard as things got Katie managed to provide a good home and the children were never worse for wear. She kept me entranced to see through her eyes. Though Johnny has human failings, his love of family is the lodestone of his personality and shone through to all he met. He made you feel good inside just by being around him.