A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

This has to be the first movie I've seen because of the title appearing in a Warner Bros. cartoon, albeit on a copy of the book. Despite its high praise, it took a long time to become an option on Netflix, which made me wonder if it hadn't aged well. Now the only major negative I can think of is director Elia Kazan's history of getting people blacklisted during the Red Scare, which might hinder distribution of all but his most popular works.

At first, with young protagonist Francie and her brother swiping and pawning goods, I mistook the setting for the Great Depression, but it turns out to have been an even harder period for some: the early 1900s. The main family includes at least one person who remembers Ireland, and the father (James Gleason in an award-winning role) likes to play up his heritage with jolly songs like "Molly Malone"...and getting "sick" too often for comfort, as his wife likes to put it to the children. Such a setup for a two-hour drama got me thinking I'd best do something else while half-watching and mostly listening. Mercifully, as the title hints, the story doesn't settle into despair. Not for long, anyway.

I'd seen Francie's actress, Peggy Ann Garner, star in the earlier Jane Eyre. This time her character's woes don't feel half so forced, and her personality seems more fleshed out and likable, not least in her ravenous reading. I can see how Garner, too, got the Oscar for this film.

There's plenty of interaction between female characters, what with Francie, her mom, her grandma, her fun if morally loose visiting aunt (between her and Dad, Francie sure can't pick an idol), a teacher, and some annoyed neighbors. And no, their conversations do not all concern males, interesting as these males may be.

Ultimately, the plot amounts to making the best of a bad situation. Things do get a bit more tragic than at the beginning at times, but it's nothing the characters or the audience can't handle in good time. The overall feeling is naturally bittersweet. Perhaps it works better as a novel, but for those (like me) who don't want to devote that much time to the bittersweet, this movie serves quite effectively.