A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1945 123movies

Watch: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1945 123movies, Full Movie Online – In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa’s alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy’s scandalous succession of “husbands”; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie’s desire to transfer to a better school…if irresponsible Papa can get his act together..
Plot: In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa’s alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy’s scandalous succession of “husbands”; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie’s desire to transfer to a better school…if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
Smart Tags: #poverty #tree #brooklyn_new_york_city #aunt_niece_relationship #mother_daughter_relationship #grief #childbirth #coming_of_age #school #brother_sister_relationship #sister_sister_relationship #pregnancy #police_officer #father_daughter_relationship #dreamer #alcoholic #death_of_father #based_on_novel #kindness #immigrant #father_son_relationship

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Ratings:

	8.0/10 Votes: 7,905
	94% | RottenTomatoes
	N/A | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 70 Popularity: 5.623 | TMDB

Reviews:

A Large Dose of Reality and Sentiment
Films about the post Civil War, pre World War I years in urban America usually are nicely entertaining with a warm nostalgic glow about them, liberally sprinkled with the music of the time. One of the biggest marketeers of that kind of film was 20th Century Fox.

So it’s a bit of a surprise that Fox would market a film like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The nostalgia is there, but there’s a large slice of reality in this film about life growing up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn pre World War I. Maybe because a new director, named Elia Kazan who would make his mark directing dramas of social significance was in charge here.

It was his feature film debut as a director, so Darryl Zanuck didn’t give Kazan a name cast to work with. Some were up and coming, some were coming back, and some were fading out. Yet the mix was great, not a bad note in the cast.

I also have to say that I liked Kazan’s use of the hurdy-gurdy as background music. Rings on Her Fingers and Ciri-biri-bin were never played better.

This was Dorothy McGuire’s third feature film and the role of Katie Nolan was hardly a glamorous one. But she’s perfect as the mother who keeps her family together, but loses and regains some humanity in the process. She was an underrated actress in her time, always gave great performances and was never fodder for the scandal sheets.

Joan Blondell and James Dunn were respectively cast as McGuire’s sister and husband. Blondell, who had sparkled in Warner Brothers musical films and films of social significance was a perfect fit for Aunt Cissy. With this role she transitioned nicely into character roles and never lacked for work.

The career of James Dunn is a puzzle. He was an ex-vaudevillian of good talent who had slipped into B Films by the time A Tree Grows In Brooklyn was made. He won a richly deserved Oscar as Johnny Nolan, singing waiter and would be star. Maybe his dreams outraced his talent, but Nolan had every reason to dream. What’s not remembered is that folks who would have been Dunn’s contemporaries like Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante started out that way. He was a man with the talent, but you need the breaks as well.

Dunn’s scenes and relationship with daughter Peggy Ann Garner pivot the film. His character of Johnny Nolan is not unlike Gaylord Ravenal in Showboat if he had stayed around until his daughter was beginning adolescence. That Oscar should have revived Dunn’s career, but didn’t. He had very much the alcohol problem that his character in the film had. Ironically he’s remembered today for supporting Shirley Temple in three of her films in the thirties than this Oscar winning, best supporting actor performance. But maybe those films were good training for this role. Neither Dunn nor Garner upstage the other.

The best acted scene in the film is when McGuire goes into labor and Garner is the only one around. Back in those days before medical insurance, people had their babies at home and infants died, due to lack of good post-natal care. In fact prior to this scene, Joan Blondell cashes in an insurance policy so she can splurge on the cost of a hospital because previous infants of her’s had died.

Garner is a bright girl and her father encouraged her to dream big as he did. She was daddy’s little girl and her relationship with mom was not all it should have been. As mom goes into labor and they wait for Blondell to arrive, they start confessing to each other. Garner realizes the sacrifices mom has made and McGuire realizes how much she’s stifled her daughter’s dreams. It’s a wonderfully played scene and you’re made of stone if it doesn’t affect you.

Rounding out the cast is Lloyd Nolan as the neighborhood beat cop, James Gleason as a tavern owner and Ted Donaldson as Garner’s younger brother. I should also mention that Peggy Ann Garner got an honorary Oscar as most promising juvenile performer of 1945. She had a decent career, but nothing ever as good as A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

Bleak, tear-stained turn-of-the-century drama focusing on the hard knocks of tenement living offset by brilliant direction and radiant performances; an absolute must.
All one needs to view this 1945 near-masterpiece is an appreciation for brilliant film-making. I assure you, you will lose yourself completely in the story of the Nolan family, a humble, impoverished Irish-American family holding on by mere threads in 1900 New York. Director Elia Kazan’s first film experience is often overlooked by his magnificent cinematic efforts in years to come (`A Streetcar Named Desire’ and `East of Eden’), which is hardly fair. So much heart has gone into this emotional piece of Americana –- notably its flawless attention to detail and its ultra-sensitive, Oscar-nominated screenplay — that it deserves equal attention. Superb in every aspect.

`A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,’ from Betty Smith’s poignant novel, is able to capture the essence of the author’s words not only because of its trenchant

writing, but because of three remarkable, beautifully-realized performances. Peggy Ann Garner offers one of the most astonishing child performances ever, finding the very spirit of this 12-year-old child going on 21. Blessed with one of the most expressive faces witnessed on camera, her eyes are sheer poetry and alone speak volumes as Francie, a young girl devoted to her ailing, debilitating father and brutally distant from an unnurturing mother she partially blames. It is such a complete performance. Her steadfast growth in this film is beautiful to observe as she begins to spread her branches and assume her rightful place in life sooner than expected. Garner is simply unforgettable.

James Dunn, as Jimmy Nolan, leaves an indelible impression as the amiably charming ne’er-do-well, a solitary dreamer who has frittered his life away, as well as his family’s money. Despite the cruelties of his actions, your heart aches for this man. His touching scenes with daughter Francie reveal his innate goodness and its heart-wrenching to watch him dissolve before your very eyes. Even a treasured bond with his idolizing daughter isn’t enough for him to fight hard enough to forego the liquor bottle and regain his place at the head of the table. It is an unbearably sad decline, one that haunts you long after the picture is over. Both Dunn and little Peggy Ann would never find movie roles like these again, and earned well-deserved Oscars (Peggy actually copped a ‘special juvenile’ award) for their work here.

In an exceptionally careful and astute performance, Dorothy McGuire plays the necessary heavy here, the taciturn, seemingly cold-hearted matriarch Katie Nolan, who is also this family’s hope and salvation. Unable to trust her husband or afford him the time and patience he desperately needs, she has ultimately abandoned her love for him out of necessity, what with two children and a third on the way, and no viable means to support them. Ms. McGuire, in a career best performance, serves up a somber, beautifully restrained portrait of a flawed, modest, uneducated, somewhat ignoble woman handling life the only way she knows how, and expecting little in return. McGuire, who was only 27 at the time this was filmed, easily nixes any comments that she is too young for the part by displaying a strong, careworn maturity well beyond her years.

Joan Blondell, as only Joan Blondell can, puts some oomph in the drab and dreary proceedings as Katie’s gregarious sister, Sissy, who juggles husbands in her ever search for the right man, and earns the scorn of the town in her reckless, law-breaking pursuit. Blondell manages to give the film a breath of fresh air everytime she appears, though her character’s development is choppy in its transition. Her story, unfortunately, gets lost midway and never truly kicks back in. Little Ted Donaldson as younger brother Neeley contributes fine work also, but is another victim of the primary focus the film decides to takes — Garner’s Francie is rightfully the heart and soul of the piece and she is quite up to the task.

Despite being robbed of a best picture that year (I mean, really, “Anchors Aweigh” and “Mildred Pierce” were nominated over it??) and the fact that Ms. McGuire was overlooked completely, it is slowly earning the attention it deserves. It should be in the top “20” of anybody’s movie lists. For me, this movie is most effective come the yuletide season. It is that touching and meaningful.

The 1974 TV-remake of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” starring Cliff Robertson and Diane Baker is a mere sapling compared to this giant oak of a film.

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 2 hr 9 min (129 min)
Budget 0
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated PG
Genre Drama, Family, Romance
Director Elia Kazan
Writer Tess Slesinger, Frank Davis, Betty Smith
Actors Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn
Country United States
Awards Won 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 1 nomination total
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Aspect Ratio 1.37 : 1
Camera N/A
Laboratory N/A
Film Length 3,530.5 m (13 reels)
Negative Format 35 mm
Cinematographic Process Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm