A Film for These Times

Just the Facts: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) 128 minutes, Black and White, English. Directed by Elia Kazan. Starring Dorothy McGuire, James Dunne, and Peggy Ann Garner. Based on the book by Betty Smith. (Much different from the book, but still wonderful in its own right.)

A Movie about Dreams
The Nolan family is struggling to survive the combination of poverty, alcoholism and strong dreams in 1900’s Brooklyn. Although there are other worthy characters involved in the story, the main interaction involves the father, Johnny Nolan; the mother, Katie Nolan; and the daughter, Francie Nolan. All three find their dreams both fueled by and threatened by one another.

The Father
Johnny Nolan is a dreamer - he has the vision of a different kind of life but doesn't know how to practically achieve it. When he does get the occasional job it is as a singing waiter. When his daughter or wife looks lovingly into his eyes, he can only dream bigger and talk of more beauty and wonder. However, when he can’t meet even the smallest of expectations, he comes home drunk again and again. By the end of the film, he must decide whether to hold onto dreams that will never come true or let them go to make the smallest of dreams real for his daughter. James Dunne gave Johnny just the right amount of likeability and desperation and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal. In James’ real life, he was denied many parts due to his own alcoholism.

The Mother
Although we don’t see it onscreen, Dorothy McGuire as Katie Nolan convinces us of all the reasons she fell in love with Johnny. He must have had that twinkle in his eye - those dreams that no one else she knew would dare ever have. She wanted to be a part of that world that Johnny spoke of and so they married and had a family. Soon she finds out that although he makes the days magical, he cannot seem to make a living. So she scrubs the floors, does others’ laundry and scrimps pennies to keep the children clothed and the family fed. She wants so much for her children to achieve their dreams, but she is drowning in the drudgery of surviving and finds it difficult to inspire them.

The Daughter
And the Oscar for Outstanding Child Actor goes to…Peggy Ann Garner for her role as Francie Nolan. This is one of the finest performances by a young actor in the history of film. She carries all of the complex emotions of this character without overwhelming the audience with drama. She loves both her parents but is pulled in two different directions by them. She so wants to believe all that her father tells her. She wants to believe that she can “become something” but every time he fails to keep his word, it undermines her confidence in the dreams he inspired. On the other hand, her mother appears to want dreams dissolved into almost nothing, but is the only one keeping things together. In the end, Francie must find a way to understand the ways of both her father and her mother to succeed in her own way.

Truthful, not Sad
I enjoy this film because it gives us poverty, laughter, death, family, love, and hardship the way it comes in real life – all jumbled up together. Some people find this movie terribly sad, and I can imagine that is because they sympathize rather than empathize with the characters. I have lived through similar experiences as the Nolans, and when I see their story it doesn’t make me sad, but rather I cry with joy that I have survived such things and have become stronger and more loving because of them.

You might like this if you:
Have experienced hardship in your life
Enjoy Oscar-winning performances
Love it when much of the acting takes place in meaningful glances
Want to be inspired to weather that storm!
Want to show your kids what Christmas could be like (scratchy homemade underwear as your present)

You might not like this if you:
Are cynical
Don’t want to cry
Want a movie with lots of action, romance or sci-fi

If you are interested in this film, you might also be interested in: Jane Eyre (1944) the other of Peggy Ann Garner’s starring roles, Friendly Persuasion (1956) another great mother part for Dorothy McGuire, or It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) a family movie with inspiring hardships as well (but less crying).