Rent A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
3.9 of 5 from 78 ratings
1h 50min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Set among Brooklyn tenements circa 1912, 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' is a portrait of the Nolans, an Irish-American family living in financially challenging circumstances, often made worse by father Johnny's (James Dunn)'s drinking and employment problems. But matriarch Katie (Dorothy McGuire) keeps the family together during all of the obstacles, caring for son Neeley (Ted Donaldson) and daughter Francie (Peggy Ann Garner), as well as Katie's outspoken, oft-married sister Sissy (Joan Blondell). But just as Francie's gift for writing opens up new avenues, more tragic developments test the family's resolve.
- Actors:
- Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn, Lloyd Nolan, James Gleason, Ted Donaldson, Peggy Ann Garner, Ruth Nelson, John Alexander, B.S. Pully, Robert J. Anderson, Jessie Arnold, John Berkes, Linda Bieber, Wyrley Birch, Ferike Boros, Al Bridge, Virginia Brissac, Lillian Bronson, Boots Brown
- Directors:
- Elia Kazan
- Producers:
- Louis D. Lighton
- Writers:
- Tess Slesinger, Frank Davis, Betty Smith, Anita Loos
- Studio:
- Simply Home Entertainment
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Brando: A Centenary Celebration, People of the Pictures, Three Ps of Perfection
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 22/07/2019
- Run Time:
- 129 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Feature-length commentary by Richard Schickel with Elia Kazan, Ted Donaldson, and Normal Lloyd The Making of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"
- An Appreciation of Dorothy McGuire
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Hollywood Star Time: Original radio broadcast version of 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' from 1946, starring Peggy Ann Garner, James Dunn and Joseph Kearns
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Reviews (1) of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Tender is the Borough - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn review by griggs
Elia Kazan, still finding his feet in Hollywood, leaves an immediate imprint. There’s already a quiet confidence in knowing when the camera should move and when it should simply watch — a restraint that pays off in the quieter scenes, where the film earns its emotional moments rather than manufacturing them.
It’s not quite the Brooklyn of cold pavements and gnawing hunger. The tenement grime stays tastefully off-screen, and the sentimentality occasionally slides from earned to applied — you can feel the schmaltz being spread a little thick in places.
But A Tree Grows in Brooklyn knows what it has and uses it well. Peggy Ann Garner, twelve years old and carrying the whole film on her face, anchors everything — her special juvenile Oscar was no consolation prize. James Dunn’s Oscar-winning turn as the dreamer father is quietly devastating alongside her, and together they do what the script alone can’t: make you feel the weight of a life half-wasted without tipping the whole thing into despair.
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