MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 98 this week

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

7.8
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.8/10 from 4,037 users  
Reviews: 61 user | 20 critic

Encouraged by her idealistic if luckless father, a bright and imaginative young woman comes of age in a Brooklyn tenement during the early 1900s.

Director:

Writers:

(screen play), (screen play), 2 more credits »
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 1456 titles created 10 months ago
 
a list of 629 titles created 29 May 2011
 
a list of 2916 titles created 16 May 2011
 
a list of 1284 titles created 12 Nov 2011
 
a list of 2000 titles created 21 Feb 2012
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) on IMDb 7.8/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Certificate: Passed Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Diana is outwardly the hit of the party but inwardly virtuous and idealistic. Her friend Ann is thoroughly selfish and amoral. Both are attracted to Ben Black, soon-to-be millionaire. He ... See full summary »

Director: Harry Beaumont
Stars: Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Nils Asther
Coquette (1929)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A flirtatious southern belle is compromised with one of her beaus.

Director: Sam Taylor
Stars: Mary Pickford, Johnny Mack Brown, Matt Moore
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

Drifter Chance Wayne returns to his hometown after many years of trying to make it in the movies. Arriving with him is a faded film star he picked up along the way, Alexandra Del Lago. ... See full summary »

Director: Richard Brooks
Stars: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight
Queen Kelly (1929)
Certificate: Passed Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Prince Wolfram is the betrothed of mad Queen Regina V of Kronberg. Supreme ruler, her word is law and he is a playboy. On maneuvers as punishment for partying with other women, he sees ... See full summary »

Director: Erich von Stroheim
Stars: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever. They go to Paris to see if Louise's blindness can be... See full summary »

Director: D.W. Griffith
Stars: Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A young woman marries an older millionaire and then falls in love with a handsome nobleman on her honeymoon.

Director: Sam Wood
Stars: Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Edythe Chapman
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four day drinking bout.

Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry
East of Eden (1955)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

In the Salinas Valley, in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of their father Adam. Cal is frustrated at ... See full summary »

Director: Elia Kazan
Stars: Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

An emotionally remote recovering alcoholic and his dowdy, unambitious wife face a personal crisis when they take in an attractive lodger.

Director: Daniel Mann
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, Terry Moore
All About Eve (1950)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

An ingenue insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

A poor Midwest family is forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.

Director: John Ford
Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Jerry always wins in his rivalry with Red over women, gunrunning, and diamond smuggling. While running booze into the U.S. during Prohibition, Jerry seizes Jane's seaside home. When she ... See full summary »

Director: Jack Conway
Stars: John Gilbert, Ernest Torrence, Joan Crawford
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
James Dunn ...
...
...
McGarrity
Ted Donaldson ...
Peggy Ann Garner ...
Francie
Ruth Nelson ...
Miss McDonough
John Alexander ...
Steve Edwards
B.S. Pully ...
Christmas Tree Vendor
Edit

Storyline

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. Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild depiction of mature plot material | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

2 August 1945 (Australia)  »

Also Known As:

Ein Baum wächst in Brooklyn  »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

After being so impressed by the dailies of the film, executives at Fox wanted to re-shoot the entire movie in Technicolor, but Elia Kazan refused. See more »

Goofs

Teacher's name is Miss McDonald not McDonough. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Katie Nolan: This'll be the last of them now, Francie.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Being Human: The Looking Glass (2010) See more »

Soundtracks

"Silent Night, Holy Night"
(1818) (uncredited)
Music by Franz Gruber
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr
Performed by various cast members
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Growing Up in Brooklyn
26 December 2003 | by (Kissimmee, Florida) – See all my reviews

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (20th Century-Fox, 1945), directed by Elia Kazan, from the book by Betty Smith, is a nostalgic look back to the days when Hollywood used to produce moving family stories and true to life characters, at the same time recapturing the life and times of old New York, in this case, Brooklyn, as seen through the eyes of an adolescent Irish girl named Francie Nolan. While the screenplay doesn't reproduce the entire book from which it is based, it does capture the essence and mood, ranging from hardships and heartaches of a poor Brooklyn family and their struggles blending in with the good times during the early part of the Twentieth Century.

Opening with an eye-view of early Brooklyn with horses pulling the food carts through cobblestone streets, trolleys passing by ringing the bell, clothes hanging out to dry over the back alley of apartment buildings on the line connected from one fire escape to another, the first half hour gives an insight look into the livelihood of the Nolan family: Katie Nolan (Dorothy McGuire), an embittered wife and mother who must scrub floors in order to support her family; Johnny (James Dunn), her happy-go-lucky husband who just can't seem to find time to earn a living but does take the time to cater to his children, particularly his "prima dona" adolescent daughter, Francie (Peggy Ann Garner); Francie finds the world a fabulous place to grow up in, and like President Abraham Lincoln, wants to learn everything about anything by reading books; Neely (Ted Donaldson), the youngest, would just rather enjoy himself playing in the streets with the other kids than going to school. While Francie and Neely are total opposites, they are typical brother and sister, having their differences but showing their devotion for one another. Their dad, Johnny, a singing waiter by profession, is a caring soul with a weakness for drinking and gambling. His wife, who feels him a failure, would discover, at his funeral the abundance of people in attendance, that anyone with as many friends as he had was not a total failure at all. Since Johnny was taken for granted by both his wife and son, Francie is one who looked up to him as someone special. Another member of their family looked upon with great fondness by the children is their beloved and fun- loving Aunt Sissy (Joan Blondell), whose past reputation doesn't go well with sister, Katie.

At 128 minutes, there's bound to be slow spots, but with those slow spots comes some great highlights: The Nolan kids visits to the local meat market telling the butcher their order for what "Momma said"; Francie reading a book on the fire escape and observing everything going on around her; Johnny singing a traditional Irish song, "Annie Laurie"; The Nolan kids obtaining a Christmas tree from a street vendor (B.S. Pully) on Christmas Eve followed by the family togetherness on Christmas Day; Aunt Sissy taking Francie to a secluded place in the school building after the girl receives her graduation gift (flowers), arranged several months ago by her father, now deceased, so she can have herself a good cry; and Officer McShane (Lloyd Nolan - excellent) nervously proposing to Widow Katie Nolan so he can provide for her and her new born baby; and one on the rooftop with Francie and Neely overseeing the city of Brooklyn, looking back with fondness to the times they had together, putting those memories behind them.

With Peggy Ann Garner being the main focus here, she deservingly won a special Academy Award for her natural performance. James Dunn (1904-1967), a veteran actor of Fox Films best known for his roles opposite Shirley Temple in the mid 1930s, makes a temporary comeback in a major motion picture that earned him a much deserved Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor of 1945. Along with Garner, Dunn was not only a natural, but born to play his role, that of Johnny Nolan. Let's not overlook Joan Blondell, another screen veteran, giving one of her best performances of her career that should have been honored an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Along with Dunn, Blondell's chemistry with the children is not only natural, but highly memorable.

In smaller but not entirely unimportant roles are Lloyd Nolan (Officer McShane); James Gleason (Mr. McGarrity, the neighborhood barber); John Alexander (Steve Edwards, Sissy's latest husband); Ruth Nelson (Mrs. McDonough, Francie's teacher who inspires her to become a write); and J. Farrell MacDonald (Carney, the junk man). That distinctive voice of the Christmas tree vendor belongs to B.S. Pully. And who can forget boy actor Ted Donaldson's distinctive Brooklyn accent, adding the flavor to character.

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN might have been filmed at the back-lot of 20th Century- Fox, but it does have that Brooklyn flavor to it (particularly with the organ grinding score to "Rings on Her Fingers" and other popular tunes of the day. Author Betty Smith recaptures everything there is to the old New York and the characters she created, while Elia Kazan, making his directorial debut, successfully brings all this and the characters to life.

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (in reference to a tree in the back lot of the apartment) was distributed on video cassette in 1991. Other than becoming a late show favorite on commercial television from the 1960s to the 1980s, especially on Christmas Eve, it has later enjoyed frequent revivals on American Movie Classics cable channel for many years before turning up on the Fox Movie Channel and Turner Classic Movies where it premiered February 8, 2009. In spite of a 1974 television movie remake, the 1945 original remains an unsurpassed movie gem. Why? Because, "Momma said." (****)


60 of 64 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Johnnie's drinking sh2836
TCM Needs To Show This Movie! gosh717
Has anyone read the book? gabysaysbam
Favorite scene? dwightandkris
DVD pobasted
A Great Movie? -- Is It or Ain't It? detailsautumnrain
Discuss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?