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| Peggy Ann Garner and James Dunn both received Oscars as daughter and father in 'Tree.' |
Whenever
I think of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn—the
book or movie—I think of my late pal, Alice Crosby. She was born October 2,
1922. A life-long movie fan, Alice was
born the same year as one of her favorites, Doris Day.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’s
slice-of-life story of a hard-working mother, hard-drinking father, and their
poverty-stricken family, as told through a dreamy-eyed young girl, stuck with
Alice. Also an Irish Catholic, Alice grew up in Depression-era Detroit under
similar tough circumstances.
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| My friend Alice as a teenager. |
I
knew of the gist of Betty Smith’s novel and had Alice’s beat up copy for years,
but never put it on my reading list until I got my MFA in creative writing a
few years ago. Even though we had a love of old movies in common, Alice and I never
watched 1945’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
It was never intentional, but now I wish we had, to hear her thoughts on the
story versus her own upbringing.
I
love how someone’s personal story can affect so many different people. Director
Elia Kazan’s first take on A Tree Grows
in Brooklyn was that it was too sentimental. Then Kazan realized how close
the story was to that of his own immigrant family. In The Glass Castle, when Jeannette Walls writes about her wild card
of a drinking dad, she cites Tree as
a childhood favorite. In my family, my mother suffered a similar family
dynamic, a drunken father who pulled disappearing acts, except he wasn’t a good
man, like Tree’s Johnny Nolan or
Alice’s father.
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| I own this edition of 'Tree,' a gift from my friend Alice. |
How
ironic that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
was made at 20th Century Fox. All the studios in Hollywood’s golden
era peddled nostalgia and fantasy, but Fox had the market cornered on gaudy and
gooey Technicolor turn of the century musicals. While warm-hearted, the story
of the Nolan family is a surprisingly straightforward look at the poor people of
early 20th century New York City. I wasn’t surprised to find that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was first
written as a memoir. An editor asked author Betty Smith to rewrite it as a
novel—today, with the trend toward memoirs, it would be the exact opposite
story. The book still has a strong ring of truth, much like another story of a
girl and her father, To Kill a
Mockingbird.
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| Right, Joan Blondell as Sissie, in a heart to heart with Dorothy McGuire's Katie. |
The
cast is terrific in Tree. Dorothy
McGuire, a naturally pretty actress, never minded deglamourizing herself for a
role. As hardworking and increasingly hardhearted cleaning woman Katie Nolan,
McGuire has one of her best roles. One of the most touching scenes is when
Katie’s sister gently tells her she’s becoming hard. Carrying the burden of
poverty can do that, though Alice told me her mother Della was always a gentle
woman, no matter how dire their circumstances.
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| James Dunn's performance as the drunken dreamer dad hits close to the bone. |
James
Dunn was cunningly cast by director Kazan as the feckless father, Johnny Nolan.
Like the character, Dunn was handsome, charming, and an alcoholic. Dunn is
effortless, going from gaiety to hopelessness, as the singing waiter who loves
his family but can’t help going on benders. Alice never had anything bad to say
about her father, despite his drinking and disappearing—though she admitted the
family was frantic when one of his benders stretched into weeks.
Joan
Blondell made her segue into character parts as Katie’s sister, flirtatious Sissy.
Blondell’s best qualities fit this good-hearted broad; she’s warm, natural, and
appealing. The often grim story of A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn is given its levity from Blondell’s breezy presence.
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| Center, Dorothy McGuire is versatile as tough and tender Katie Nolan. |
Lloyd
Nolan gives a great supporting turn as McShane, the neighborhood cop with a
soft spot for Katie. Nolan, with that instantly recognizable voice, was always
a bracing presence on screen. As the strong cop with a sweet side, Nolan is one
of those character actors who should have been given more chances as a leading
man, along the lines of Bogart or Cagney.
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| Peggy Ann Garner in a heart-tugging moment as Francie. |
Peggy
Ann Garner got a well-deserved special Oscar for her heartrending turn as the sad-eyed,
yet plucky girl who yearns to be a writer. Francie has a great curiosity about
the world, though often bewildered by its harsh realities. Garner has the role
that runs the gamut of emotions, and she hits all the right notes.
The
scenes between Garner and Dunn, as daughter and father, are the film’s highlights.
Johnny’s final disappearance—desperately looking for work upon finding out
Katie’s pregnant—and his subsequent death, are painfully moving: the funeral,
where Francie stands apart from her family; the grueling birth scene, with
Francie and her mother reconciling; or when Francie graduates from the school
her father helped her get in to. That bouquet scene…flowers on the daughter’s
desk, delivered by Aunt Sissy, but paid for by her late father, with the card
in his handwriting…sigh. Your heart would have to be made of stone not to be
moved by Francie’s cathartic tears.
Throughout
the movie, every time I saw Garner’s Francie reading or writing on the fire
escape, I thought of Alice as a child. Alice once told me that she had to stay
on her family’s front porch, where her mother or brothers could keep a
protective eye on her. With a laugh, she said they did their job a little too
well! Alice surely wasn’t out on the streets with her brothers, catching
Christmas trees, like Francie and brother Neeley.
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| The wonderful cast of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." |
James
Dunn and Peggy Ann Garner received Oscars, but except for a best screenplay
nomination, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn received
no other nods. This seems odd, since Tree
was a highly anticipated movie, based on a huge bestseller. A look at the various
posters shows that Fox sold the movie on the strength of the book. The movie
was popular enough, yet all you have to do is look at what was tops at the box
office that year and compare it to that year’s Oscar nominations. They’re
pretty much one and the same—typical of the era. While the best picture
nominees The Lost Weekend and Mildred Pierce still stand as classics,
fluff like The Bells of St. Mary’s, Spellbound, and Anchors Away—really? And McGuire shouldn’t have had to wait until
her ’47 reunion with Kazan for Gentleman’s
Agreement for her first nomination. Though Joan Crawford rightly won Best
Actress for Mildred Pierce, the rest
of the nominees were merely popular stars in glossy vehicles. Twentieth Century
Fox threw their studio votes to Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven, which compared to McGuire’s real character and
acting, seems laughable today. For me, A
Tree Grows in Brooklyn holds up beautifully, far more realistic than most
films from the ‘40s. I just re-read the book and am again surprised by its
frank look at early 1900’s NYC. Betty Smith creates a loving, but realistic
look at bygone era.
As
for Alice, the ‘40s and ‘50s was her heyday as a movie-goer. Late in her life,
Alice told me, that as a teenager, she daydreamed of being a movie star. I was
caught off-guard at the time, and remember thinking, “Thank God you didn’t!”
Alice certainly had the face, figure, and personality to get into movies, but
she was also far too sweet to have survived Hollywood.
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| Alice Crosby in one of her most memorable roles: Mother. |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’s
Francie is obviously based on the author, Betty Smith. Well, my pal Alice grew
up to be a wife, housewife, mother, and later, a waitress. That last role is
how I met her, when I first moved to Traverse City, MI, working at the same
restaurant. Alice had moved up there from Detroit, after her second divorce,
for a fresh start and to be near her two sons. In true movie fashion, when
Alice was pulling out of Detroit with her belongings, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore was on a movie marquee.
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| Alice in her Lana Turner phase. |
We
became fast friends, though she was nearly my grandmothers’ age. And we
remained the best of friends until she died. On countless evenings at her home,
we talked about everything, but often family, films, and the past. A big idol
from her youth was Lana Turner. Alice sometimes adopted Lana’s blonde hair,
tan, and white outfits ala The Postman
Always Rings Twice for Michigan summers. Alice once told me that as a young
mother, she and her next door neighbor had a routine: They would clean their
houses and tend their yards during the day. After getting dinner going, they’d
both put on swimsuits and sun in the backyard. While their kids were playing, they’d
chat and relax. Then they’d get ready for their husbands’ arrival. Alice would
give the boys a bath, then she’d shower, and everyone put on fresh outfits. Dinner
almost done, the husband almost home. I remembered smiling when Alice told me
that she’d take a look around her house and yard, then at the boys and
herself—everything and everyone looking great—and feel good about her life. It
seemed kind of frivolous to me. Later, walking home, I thought about what Alice’s
childhood was like. She wasn’t telling a silly story. Alice was recalling her
gratitude for when life was good.
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| A Life magazine advertisement for 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.' The studio heavily referenced the book to sell the film. |