Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The time period is Irish Brooklyn after the first waves of immigrants built the city's infrastructure. The time period is set before young widows raising children without current income were not yet offered social services. The symbolic tree could be the one removed from the view of the tenement occupants perhaps the widowed mother who is the tree supporting the family perhaps the ambitious daughter willing to give up her dreams to see her mom and little brother better looked after perhaps the widowed Irish cop whose hopes and dreams are this little family could after their bereavement period now becomes his. Brilliant performances by some actors not known today and by others major figures of their time among them Joan Blondell, Dorothy Maguire and Lloyd Nolan. A fond recollection for the recently deceased who were children in this era as well as for those of us raised by them too young to have experienced it. For those who wonder what it might have been like this is perhaps the best portrait of this era one will ever see on film.

This is a movie without flaws. I hadn't seen it in awhile and forgot how gruesome it can be. But it also is loving towards the frailty of human beings. Thank goodness it gave us a happy ending after all we had been through. Should have won the Oscar for Best Picture but who trusts awards. Dorothy McGuire has a role that requires so much range. She is brilliant. As is Dunne and Garner. Even the actress playing the teacher makes an enormous impact in her short scene. The kid playing Neely was unlike what we expect of cute fat kid actors of the time - stunningly honest. Kazan once said in an interview that this was his finest film. No argument from me. This one will live forever.

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" was adapted from the best selling novel of the same name by Betty Smith. It was also the first feature film to be directed by the legendary Elia Kazan. Boy what a debut and keep the Kleenex handy.The story centers around an early 20th century family living in the run down tenements of Brooklyn. Told through the eyes of Francie Nolan (Peggy Ann Garner) we follow the ups and downs of her family....mother Kate (Dorothy McGuire), dad Johnny (James Dunn), brother Neeley (Ted Donaldson) in their daily lives.Johnny is a happy go lucky Irishman with high ambitions. He has trouble finding and keeping a job. He also has a penchant for a wee nip now and then. Kate is left with the task of running the household on literally pennies a day while working at scrubbing the stairs of their tenement on the side to help with the rent. The children run the errands such as selling junk to the junk man (J. Farrell McDonald), buying 10 cents worth of ground beef and getting in on the distribution of 3 day old bread from the bakeries.Francie is very close to her father and he in turn to her. He manages to get her transferred to a better school and promises her the brighter future that he knows he cannot provide. Kate, becoming despondent over the family's hardships, finds herself becoming hardened despite reassurances from her flighty sister "Aunt Sissy" (Joan Blondell). Local cop on the beat Officer McShane (Lloyd Nolan) takes an interest in the family and secretly worships Kate.Kazan was able to get excellent performances from his ensemble cast. Dorothy McGuire the beauty that she was, is very convincing as the distraught mother with little hope for the future. James Dunn has you rooting for him as the ever down on his luck father. Peggy Ann Garner is superb as the young daughter who has ambitions to become a writer. Both Dunn and Garner received Academy Awards for their performances.Kazan would return to the tenements in Tennesee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1951.

Movies such as this continue to encourage me to watch the 'ole Black and Whites. The purity and true reflection of family values permeate this picture. It transcends time and place and represents the force of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles; big and small. The impression that stays with me the most is the relationship between father and daughter; there is a special bond that exists on pure love. As hard as things got Katie managed to provide a good home and the children were never worse for wear. She kept me entranced to see through her eyes. Though Johnny has human failings, his love of family is the lodestone of his personality and shone through to all he met. He made you feel good inside just by being around him.