PG | 2 h 8 min | Drama | 1945
Betty Smith’s partially autobiographical novel inspired Elia Kazan’s coming-of-age film that won three nominations and was awarded two Oscars. Like many of Frank Capra’s films, Kazan’s directorial debut about the needy Nolan family, in 1912 downtown Brooklyn, prioritizes the heart over the head.
Playful singer-daydreamer Johnny (James Dunn) waits tables. His diligent but dour wife Katie (Dorothy McGuire) is a homemaker. So their children, Francie (13-year-old Peggy Ann Garner) and Neely (12-year-old Ted Donaldson), can’t elude the shadow of want that haunts their home. Penury may have taken up permanent residence, but through the irrepressible Johnny, laughter finds a way in, as an equally stubborn houseguest….