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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Photos

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Movie Info

This adaptation of the classic novel tells the story of young Francie Nolan (Peggy Ann Garner) who yearns for life beyond her Brooklyn apartment building. While her daily routine is difficult, she makes the best of her situation, living with her hard-working mother (Dorothy McGuire), alcoholic father (James Dunn) and tough little brother (Ted Donaldson). Encouraged by her kind but irresponsible dad, Francie struggles to keep her hopes up and persevere despite all the odds against her.

Cast & Crew

Dorothy McGuire
Katie Nolan
Peggy Ann Garner
Francie Nolan
James Dunn
Johnny Nolan, The Brooklyn Thrush
Joan Blondell
Sissy Edwards
Lloyd Nolan
Officer McShane
Ted Donaldson
Neeley Nolan
James Gleason
McGarrity
Ruth Nelson
Miss McDonough
John Alexander
Steve Edwards
B.S. Pully
Christmas Tree Vendor
Elia Kazan
Director
Frank Davis
Writer
Anita Loos
Writer
Tess Slesinger
Writer
Betty Smith
Writer
Louis D. Lighton
Producer
Alfred Newman
Original Music
Leon Shamroy
Cinematographer
Dorothy Spencer
Film Editor
Lyle R. Wheeler
Art Direction
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Critic Reviews for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (16)

View All Critic Reviews (16)

Audience Reviews for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

  • Apr 10, 2013
    Flying under the radar, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a great Kazan film. Putting aside the snitch tendencies off the screen, the tale of the family in a Brooklyn tenement is particularly dark in a tremendous way.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Feb 05, 2010
    Director Elia Kazan gives us his adaptation of the Betty Smith novel about a young girl coming-of-age in 1900s Brooklyn. Living with an alcoholic father and a workaholic mother, she and her tough little brother try to survive the rough times in their little apartment home. The father is a singing waiter and dreams of one day making it big in show business. To his daughter, he's larger-than-life character, a charming prince or movie star. The mother is more pragmatic or cynical, or maybe just tired of the hard life, and finds his antics less amusing. The daughter is naturally inquisitive, she attempts to read every book in the library in alphabetical order. It's only natural she's extraordinarily bored at the substandard and overcrowded school she attends. She wants nothing more than to attend the school where the children of higher incomed families go. The father makes it the one wish of hers he can fullfill and somehow manages to get her in. She means to rise above her status in life and make something great of herself. She wants to be a writer. The teacher at her new school encourages her, but warns her not to be a pipe-dreamer, as "they never do anyone any good" (ironically, her father is one of the biggest pipe-dreamers ever, and she fails to see this). The little girl is like a tree growing in Brooklyn, a thing of radiant beauty pushing it's way up through the sidewalk. Where so many darkened minds exist in illiteracy and poverty, she intends to grow up with her imagination intact and in pursuit of the intellectual, despite her surroundings. But when her surroundings are a family as loving and supportive as hers, she almost can't help but succeed. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a wonderfully expressed film, full of the sorrow and joy of timeless adolescence.
    Devon B Super Reviewer
  • May 14, 2009
    A family living in poverty with a realist mother and a dreamer dad. Touching father/daughter scenes full of their optimism despite their circumstances are well-executed due to the talents of Dunn and Garner. This movie definitely requires a box of tissues.
    nefnie l Super Reviewer
  • May 26, 2006
    i never get tired of watching this. so many different stories throughout that make up this family's life. Peggy Ann Garner (Francis) has such talent
    Mary G Super Reviewer
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