“‘Dear
God,’ she prayed, ‘let me be something every minute of every hour of my life.’”
—Betty
Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943)
The
image accompanying this post comes from the marvelous 1945 film adaptation of
Betty Smith’s novel, with Peggy Ann Garner as young Francie Nolan and James
Dunn, in a heartbreaking, Oscar-winning performance, as her loving but troubled
father. Director Elia Kazan, in his Hollywood debut, molded a coming-of-age
feature of uncommon sensitivity.
