Harold B. Lee Library

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn, Lloyd Nolan, and Peggy Ann Garner

• Time: 7:00 PM
• Date: Friday, November 30, 2007
• Place: HBLL Auditorium, 1st Floor; Admission is free; arrive early for seats.

About the Event

Teenager Garner received a special Academy Award for her portrayal of Francie Nolan, growing up in the turn-of-the century Irish tenements in Brooklyn with her overly protective mother and her essentially good, but alcoholic, father played by Dunn, who received his own Best Supporting Actor Oscar. First-time director Elia Kazan said in 1990 that “every picture that is successful has one little miracle in it, and we had ours–Peggy Ann Garner.” Kazan brought Betty Smith’s best-selling novel (still in print) to the screen in a memorable family film of depth, pathos, and humor, but without the obvious sentimentality that has otherwise defined the genre. “There have been few pictures,” the Variety review reads, “to tug at the heartstrings as this one does.” 20th Century Fox. 1945. 128 mins. Director: Elia Kazan.

Links and Materials

• Digital Copy of Original Poster

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