A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Plot
One-time movie song-and-dance man James Dunn won an Academy Award for his "comeback" performance in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Based on the best-selling novel by Betty Smith, the film relates the trials and tribulations of a turn-of-the-century Brooklyn tenement family. The father, Dunn, is a likable but irresponsible alcoholic whose dreams of improving his family's lot are invariably doomed to disappointment. The mother, Dorothy McGuire, is the true head of the household, steadfastly holding the family together no matter what crisis arises. The story is told from the point of view of daughter Peggy Ann Garner, a clear-eyed realist who nonetheless would like to believe in her pie-in-the-sky father, whom she dearly loves. Joan Blondell co-stars as the family's brash, freewheeling aunt, whose means of financial support is a never-ending source of neighborhood gossip. This first film directorial effort of Elia Kazan earned a special Oscar for "Most Promising Juvenile Performer" Peggy Ann Garner. A Tree Grows From Brooklyn was remade for TV in 1974, and also served as the basis of a Broadway musical. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a prototypical "family values" film. Its coming-of-age motifs were perfectly suited for 1945 audiences looking for reassurance that American ideals would survive the tumult of World War II and the challenge of Communism. Appropriately, it was directed by Elia Kazan, who would later "name names" of suspected Communists before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The performances are first-rate, particularly James Dunn, who won an Oscar as the family's alcoholic father, and Peggy Ann Garner, who won a special Oscar as "outstanding child actress." Dorothy McGuire provides a steady centerpiece, and the film is also a splendid recreation of New York circa 1900. ~ Richard Gilliam, RoviCast
- Dorothy McGuire - Katie Nolan
- Joan Blondell - Aunt Sissy
- James Dunn - Johnny Nolan
- Lloyd Nolan - Officer McShane
- Peggy Ann Garner - Francie Nolan
Credit
Lyle Wheeler - Art Director, Bonnie Cashin - Costume Designer, Elia Kazan - Director, Dorothy Spencer - Editor, Alfred Newman - Composer (Music Score), Leon Shamroy - Cinematographer, Louis D. Lighton - Producer, Frank E. Hughes - Set Designer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Fred Sersen - Special Effects, Frank Davis - Screenwriter, Tess Slesinger - Screenwriter, Betty Smith - Book Author| A Tragic Adventure (1910 Film), A Tragedy at Midnight (1942 Film) | |
| A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1974 Film), A Tree of Palme (2002 Film) |
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (film)
| A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | |
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 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Elia Kazan |
| Produced by | Louis D. Lighton |
| Written by | Frank Davis Tess Slesinger |
| Based on | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith |
| Starring | Dorothy McGuire Peggy Ann Garner Joan Blondell James Dunn Lloyd Nolan |
| Music by | Alfred Newman |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Editing by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | February 28, 1945 |
| Running time | 128 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a 1945 film, the first film directed by Greek-American director Elia Kazan, starring James Dunn (who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, and Peggy Ann Garner (who won the Academy Juvenile Award).
The film is based on an American novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith first published in 1943. It relates the coming-of-age story of its main character, Francie Nolan, against a backdrop of tenement life in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, at the turn of the 20th century.
A 1974 made-for-television film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, starring Cliff Robertson, Diane Baker, Pamelyn Ferdin and James Olson, was adapted from the 1945 screenplay by Tess Slesinger.
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Contents
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Plot
The film covers several months in the life of the Nolans, an Irish American family living in the Williamsburg neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City in 1900. Katie Nolan (Dorothy McGuire) is a hard-working housewife who scrubs the floors of her tenement building and collects rags for sale to a scrap fabric dealer to help feed her family. She's married to Johnny Nolan (James Dunn), an alcoholic and waiter who is a happy man and good father but unable to earn a living to support his family. The Nolans have two children, 13-year-old Francie (Peggy Ann Garner) and 11-year-old Neeley (Ted Donaldson).
Katie's sister, Sissy (Joan Blondell), is a sassy, free-spirited woman who arrives in the late fall and announces she is getting a divorce and will soon be remarrying for the third time. This scandalizes Katie and ruptures her relationship with Sissy, but thrills the children (who love their wild and wacky aunt). Francie is worried that the landlord has cut too many branches off the tree which grows in the tenement's courtyard, and it may die. But her father says that the cutting is necessary, and the tree will grow again. A police officer new to the force, Officer McShane (Lloyd Nolan), encounters Aunt Sissy and the children one afternoon and is enchanted by the beautiful Katie. A few days later, however, he realizes that the drunken Johnny is Katie's husband and is devastated to learn Katie is married.
Francie wants to go to Miss McDonough's school, but it means lying about where the Nolans live. Katie is opposed, but Johnny convinces her to lie. Katie moves the family into a cheaper apartment in the building, angering her husband. Johnny believes she is merely being stingy, but then learns Katie is pregnant. Determined to get a job to support the family and keep Francie in school, Johnny leaves during a snowstorm to find work. Sissy, too, becomes pregnant, and she and Katie reconcile shortly before Christmas.
Johnny goes missing for a week. Officer McShane then delivers the bad news that Johnny has died from pneumonia. Francie blames her mother for her father's death, but the birth of Sissy's baby and then Katie's daughter (whom Katie names Annie Laurie) help ease tensions in the household. Come spring, Sissy uses money that Johnny gave her back in December to buy Francie a bouquet of flowers for graduation day. Francie, who has bottled up her grief for months, finally breaks down. Officer McShane proposes to Katie (offering to adopt Annie Laurie) and Francie has her first date. Francie and Neeley think that Annie Laurie's life with McShane as a father will be much easier, but not nearly as much fun. The film ends as Francie sees the courtyard tree begin to grow again, just as her father said it would.
The book is much lengthier than the film, and covers the time from before Francie is born until after she turns 16. Much of this never makes it into the film.
Cast
- Dorothy McGuire — Katie Nolan
- Joan Blondell — Sissy Edwards
- James Dunn — Johnny Nolan
- Lloyd Nolan — Officer McShane
- James Gleason — McGarrity
- Ted Donaldson — Neeley Nolan
- Peggy Ann Garner — Francie Nolan
- Ruth Nelson — Miss McDonough
- John Alexander — Steve Edwards
- B.S. Pully — Christmas Tree Vendor
Awards and nominations
James Dunn won the 1945 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Frank Davis and Tess Slesinger were nominated for Writing, Adapted Screenplay, and Peggy Ann Garner won the 1945 Academy Juvenile Award.
In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[1][2]
References
- ^ "'Empire Strikes Back' among 25 film registry picks". http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaseG0DbTvl6sIv1uPc-xelSmvjg?docId=c086d710fa42415cbeff1a6a2f80aa36. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Barnes, Mike (28 December 2010). "'Empire Strikes Back,' 'Airplane!' Among 25 Movies Named to National Film Registry". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/empire-strikes-airplane-25-movies-65915. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
External links
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (film) at the Internet Movie Database
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (film) at the TCM Movie Database
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (film) at AllRovi
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Mentioned in
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
(1974 Drama Film)
Betty Smith
(literature)
Robert Fryer
(American Theater)
Nomi Mitty
(Actor, Drama/Comedy Drama)
Ted Donaldson
(Actor, Drama/Children's/Family)
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