A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

This one breaks my heart every time I have seen it. Dorothy McGuire, Peggy Ann Garner, James Dunn, Joan Blondell and all the rest of the cast, without exception, under Elia Kazan's careful tutelage, render portraits that ring so true one is hard put to think of a film where such ensemble work has been surpassed. It is certainly an example of the Hollywood studio system, then in full flower, providing audiences with an experience that touches the emotions without a hint of sentimentality. Its restraint now seems like an artifact of days long gone, with so much current product catering to audiences who seem to demand nothing but mindless pablum and/or brutal sensation. I've never been able to confine myself to a "Ten Best" list of my own but "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" would definitely have a place on it should someone ask me to name such a small number of my all-time favorites.