'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' Still Stands Tall 1945

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.

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.

I own this edition of 'Tree,' a gift from my friend Alice.

How ironic that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was made at 20^th 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 20^th 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A Life magazine advertisement for 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.' The studio heavily referenced the book to sell the film.

Performances Make 'Peyton Place' Worth a Visit 1957

"Peyton Place" became the password for small town gossip and scandal. In the 1957
 film version, Lana Turner & Diane Varsi play the problematic mother & daughter.

Peyton Place was forever equated with small town scandal the moment Grace Metalious’ novel was published September 24, 1956. Peyton Place was an instant sensation and huge bestseller, eventually selling 12 million copies. A year later, the film version of Peyton Place was released, and audiences were dying to know if the movie was half as steamy as the book.

An estimated 1 in 29 people had read 
"Peyton Place"at the height of its popularity.

In truth, Peyton Place the movie was about half as steamy, but that was still mighty hot for 1957. On a recent re-viewing of Peyton Place, I was amazed at how much did make it onscreen. Particularly, the rape of Selena Cross by her alcoholic stepfather—it is subtle, but still powerful. And the big showdown between uptight mother Constance MacKenzie and angst-ridden daughter Allison doesn’t water down the fact that Connie was not a widow, but a mistress. Though the screenplay toned down or tweaked certain plot points, as when Betty Anderson’s method of cock-blocking Rodney Harrington becomes verbal rather than literal, or how Selena’s abortion becomes a miscarriage—they are diluted, but not deleted. Audiences already read the book and were movie-wise to censorship substitutions, with the original action burned in their dirty minds. The film version still pushed the envelope, but had its eye on the Oscar envelope, which rewarded “good” films, not trash—at least in theory!

Off-screen, Lana Turner wasn't exactly a wallflower!

Jerry Wald was a pistol of a producer, who gravitated toward material and stars that generated class or cash, preferably both. Wald had created the sizzle in casting Joan Crawford as a mother in her Oscar-winning Mildred Pierce comeback. When he snapped up film rights to Peyton Place over a decade later, he talked another former MGM star into playing a mother with a problem daughter: 36-year-old Lana Turner. 20^th Century Fox preferred Olivia de Havilland or Jane Wyman as Constance MacKenzie, the small town shop owner with a secret past. Both actresses were Oscar winners, certainly better actresses than Lana, and a bit closer to the character’s age. At this point, Lana’s public began to prefer reading about her romances, marriages, and divorces rather than paying to see her perform onscreen. 

Lana Turner as upright and uptight Constance MacKenzie in "Peyton Place."

But Jerry Wald was canny about casting and publicity. First, Wald knew that everyone loves a comeback.  Like Crawford before playing Mildred Pierce, Turner hadn’t had a hit several years, since The Bad and the Beautiful—which was also a comeback! Plus, the public and the press would eat up the scoop that love goddess Lana was playing a mother for the first time. So what if Lana had a teenage daughter in real life, one who would make headlines of her own shortly after Peyton Place’s release. Mother roles were considered the last hurrah for Hollywood glamour girls. But this wasn’t just any maternal role, this was Constance, a hot mama underneath the cool demeanor. Wald figured that audiences, who often equated stars with the character they played, would use movie short-hand in filling in the blanks of what was suggested on-screen with Lana’s own scandalous off-screen behavior.

Welcome to Peyton Place! Lee Phillips as Michael Rossi,
the one uninspired performance in the movie.

Wald also used a popular method of casting in mid-century movies, when audiences young and old were now watching television at home, to attract both audiences. Lana Turner was still very much a star and Wald backed her up with veteran character actors like Lloyd Nolan, Arthur Kennedy, Betty Field, Leon Ames, Lorne Greene, and Mildred Dunnock. But the producer also cast up-and-coming young stars like Hope Lange, Russ Tamblyn, and David Nelson in featured roles. Wald also chose an unknown Diane Varsi to play Constance’s dreamer daughter, Allison. At 18, Varsi was certainly a more forward-thinking choice for the role than Debbie Reynolds, who was considered—and six years older.

L: Lloyd Nolan as no-nonsense Doc Swain, telling some tough truth to the people of Peyton Place!

As often the case with all-star movies, it’s the old pros who steal the show: Nolan, as plain-spoken Doc Swain; Kennedy as despicable drunk Lucas Cross; Field as rightly depressed Nellie Cross; Leon Ames as the blowhard bigshot; Lorne Greene as the fiery D.A.; and Mildred Dunnock as the passed-over teacher. These veterans are terrific troupers here.

Diane Varsi & Russ Tamblyn as shy kids Allison & Norman.

The young folk of Peyton Place are a mixed bag. Diane Varsi’s awkwardness actually works as Allison, the teen who dreams of writing a novel—about guess what? Russ Tamblyn as Norman Page, her comrade in shyness, gives a genuinely excellent performance. And Hope Lange is heartbreaking as Selena Cross, the sad girl from the wrong side of the tracks. But the others, like David Nelson of Ozzie and Harriet, are bland. And at 28, Terry Moore comes across like an aging starlet than a high school age fast girl, Betty Anderson.

Constance gets her comeuppance from daughter Allison. Lana Turner's best moment.

Last but not least, there’s Lana. For her role as Constance MacKenzie, Turner received her first and only Oscar nomination. Though Lana’s role was not the showcase that was Crawford’s Mildred Pierce, Turner gives it her MGM best, suffering and insinuating, with chin tilted and eyebrows arched to the heavens. It’s easy to laugh at acting styles from another era, but Lana has a number of genuinely effective scenes in Peyton Place. The scene where the new man in town puts the moves on near-frigid Connie, Turner’s reaction of disgust rings surprisingly true, considering the real Lana was quite hotsy-totsy. Another authentic moment is after an argument with Allison, who throws her mother’s past in her face, which ends with Lana leaving the room. Grandly walking down the stairs in despair, Turner crumples on the steps, sobbing in semi-darkness, gasping, “Oh, God!” It is a genuinely great bit of acting by Lana. And of course, Turner turns it on during the courtroom scene, during the trial of Selena Cross.

Turner as Constance, on the witness stand. Lana would appear in a real courtroom
 the following year!

20 Century Fox, with their widescreen Cinemascope, was the first studio to embrace location filming. Peyton Place exteriors were filmed mostly in Camden, Maine and a few other New England locations. The panoramic locales against Franz Waxman’s memorable score rather romanticized Grace Metalious’ seamy small town. This irritated the author, though she liked the performances from the cast.

The Cross family's subplot in 'Peyton Place,' the toned down, is still a shocker.

The greatest task for solid studio director Mark Robson and his screenwriters was to “clean up” the scandalous story for the silver screen. This was Hollywood hypocrisy at its best: Let’s buy a salacious book, turn it into a whitewashed movie, and then promote it as shocking!

28-year-old Terry Moore is less than believable as hot teenager Betty Anderson.

The critics condescendingly praised the “classy” screen version of Peyton Place as a vast improvement over the “dirty” book. Yet a few critics at the time called the adaptation sanitized or antiseptic. The truth falls somewhere in the middle: Peyton Place was run through the Hollywood Hayes Code whitewash cycle, though it managed to keep key events intact. There was no way in 1957 that the movie could have depicted the book’s dirt intact. Metalious may have disliked her book’s adaptation, but then, the depressed author didn’t like much of anything. Peyton Place was one of the year’s top-grossing films and received nine Oscar nominations—though it won none.

Finally, Peyton Place was still playing in theaters when Lana Turner’s latest boyfriend, gangster Johnny Stompanato, was fatally stabbed by her daughter, Cheryl. The details that flowed after the murder made Peyton Place look like a small-town picnic. When Lana was going through her real trial the following year, some audience members were heard to call out their support to Turner as she testified onscreen in Peyton Place.

Blood, sweat, & tears: Lana at the inquest over the stabbing death of gangster boytoy Johnny Stompanato.

After her latest scandal, Lana was forced to, yes, make another comeback! Turner took a small salary against a huge potential share of the profits and starred in a film even soapier than Peyton Place. 1959’s Imitation of Life was one of the biggest hits of Lana’s career, making a fortune, and extending her career as a leading lady for nearly another decade. And that’s about as happy of a Hollywood ending that Lana Turner ever got in her long career.

After the Johnny Stompanato scandal, Lana would get the call for another comeback opportunity. This time it would be from producer Ross Hunter, for 'Imitation of Life.'

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