Today is Dorothy McGuire day and it turned out to also be children’s/moms’ day. Today’s films turned out to be quite a perfect double feature: technically family films, or at least film about families and kids, but also kind of tearjerkers.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
A story about coming of age in 1900s Brooklyn. Dorothy is the mom of our main character. The little girl is a romantic soul who maybe doesn’t feel like she fits in in her grey, ordinary world. Dorothy’s life is very hard – she literally has to collect scraps to feed her family. Her husband is a good-for-nothing alcoholic but he’s also very charming so she comes out as the cold, strict disciplinarian – good cop, bad cop. Even the grandma calls Dorothy cold-hearted which is very frustrating to watch because she really does what she can to keep the family going. But it’s the father who comes out the hero as he’s the one who helps to make his daughter’s dreams come true.
I felt bad for Dorothy who might seem like „the villain” of the story but I found her character quite complex: very sad and helpless but with some enormous strength as well. And in the end her and her family REALLY go through some tragedies.
Joan Blondell is also in this film and she is amazing as the auntie who is, and I say this with love, kind of a hoe. And I’m not a hundred percent sure but I’m pretty sure that at one point she uses the phrase „spill the tea”.
Old Yeller (1957)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was kind of a sad coming of age film but it was that in an interesting, nuanced way. Old Yeller is an absolute, obvious tearjerker.
Dorothy plays a mom again and it’s a period film again: her family are actual, Little-House-on-the-Praire-style pioneers. The dad leaves home to look for money and (I love this sexist trope) leaves the care of the family to his older son who is a literal child. But Dorothy still gets some moments of a true pioneer woman, working hard to make life possible.
Old Yeller is a dog who shows up one day and causes trouble but Dorothy thinks it would be good for them, especially the younger son, to have a dog. So they keep it. The ending is very sad. Work it out.
The theme song is incredible
That was today. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn presented some interesting family dynamics and even Old Yeller seemed like a time well-spent when I compared the two. Tomorrow I think we’ll get some more adventure but most likely less moms.
Swingin' at the Seance 