"Actor: Peggy Ann GARNER"

• A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (Masters Of Cinema) Blu Ray | Blu Ray | (22/07/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to release A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, Elia Kazan's heartfelt and sentimental first feature, presented on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration as a part of The Masters of Cinemas Series from 22 July 2019. Director Elia Kazan's first film, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn shows that the filmmaker's great empathy for his characters was already quite evident at this early juncture, and this endures as one of the most moving Hollywood dramas of the 1940s. Based on Betty Smith's novel a bestseller in the U.S. but also one of the most popular books among American soldiers overseas in WWII Kazan's debut is a sensitive, masterful adaptation. Set among Brooklyn tenements circa 1912, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a portrait of the Nolans, an Irish-American family living in financially challenging circumstances, often made worse by father Johnny's drinking and employment problems. But matriarch Katie keeps the family together during all of the obstacles, caring for son Neeley and daughter Francie, as well as Katie's outspoken, oft-married sister Sissy. But just as Francie's gift for writing opens up new avenues, more tragic developments test the family's resolve. Winning Academy Awards for actors James Dunn (as Johnny) and Peggy Ann Garner (as Francie), and featuring splendid work by Dorothy McGuire and Joan Blondell, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a heartfelt testament to the strength of family, and offers an early indication of Kazan's unrivalled proficiency with actors. Special Features: 1080p transfer of the film on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration completed from a 4K scan of the original film elements Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Feature-length commentary by Richard Schickel with Elia Kazan, Ted Donaldson, and Normal Lloyd The Making of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn An Appreciation of Dorothy McGuire A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Hollywood Star Time: Original radio broadcast version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn from 1946, starring Peggy Ann Garner, James Dunn and Joseph Kearns PLUS: a collector's booklet featuring new essays by Kat Ellinger, Phil Hoad, and Philip Kemp, alongside rare archival imagery

• Jane Eyre | DVD | (11/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  This 1943 version of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was made just two years after Citizen Kane, and it certainly looks like star Orson Welles muscled his way behind the camera much of the time. (In fact, co-star Joan Fontaine--who plays the title character--has maintained that Welles methodically did just that every day on the set.) Not that the film's official director was a hack: Robert Stevenson gets the credit, a man who later had a busy career at Disney making numerous live-action hits such as Mary Poppins. But there's no mistaking Welles' masterful hand in this film's bold and creative look, and there's no getting away from his enigmatic charisma as Rochester, the widower who takes in Jane as a governess to his daughter. An engrossing, gorgeous film, there's even a small role for Elizabeth Taylor at the beginning as Jane's unlucky, doomed friend at a cruel boarding school. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• A Tree Grows In Brooklyn | DVD | (21/03/2005) from £26.60   |  Saving you £-13.61 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The story centers on young Francis Nolan whose father's sudden death leaves the family to somehow survive in a harsh desperate time. Like the tree in the back of their house uncared for and forgotten their struggle to survive is a valiant one. Based on Betty Smith's 1943 novel 'A Tree Grows In Brooklyn' picked up 2 Academy Award Nominations: with James Dunn scooping the Best Supporting Actor award.