A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Drama • 2h 8m
Director: Elia Kazan
Cast: Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn, Lloyd Nolan, James Gleason, Ted Donaldson, Peggy Ann Garner, Ruth Nelson, John Alexander, B.S. Pully, Ferike Boros, Virginia Brissac, Lillian Bronson, Adeline De Walt Reynolds, Charles Halton, Harry Harvey Jr., J. Farrell MacDonald, Mae Marsh, Nicholas Ray, Erskine Sanford, Gloria Talbott, Robert J. Anderson, Jessie Arnold, John Berkes, Linda Bieber, Wyrley Birch, Al Bridge, Boots Brown, Sally Ann Brown, Sheila Brown, Bobby Burns, George M. Carleton, James B. Carson, Alec Craig, Peter Cusanelli, Harry Denny, Joy Duguay, Al Eben, Fernanda Eliscu, Edythe Elliott, Robert Ferrero, Elvin Field, Norman Field, Jean Fowler, Paul Graeff, Vincent Graeff, Joseph J. Greene, Irving Gump, Edith Hallor, Ethyl May Halls, Mary Lou Harrington, Paul Hilton, Janice Hood, Teddy Infuhr, Edna Jackson, Mickey Kuhn, Eva Lee Kuney, Jacqueline Larkin, Jack Lawrence, Susan Lester, Gerald Mackey, Robert Malcolm, Charles Marsh, Patricia McFadden, Mickey McGuire, George Meader, George Melford, Robert Milasch, Sue Moore, Ronnie Pattison, Francis Pierlot, Constance Purdy, Gordon Rader, Ruth Rickaby, Walt Robbins, Nancy June Robinson, Tony Santoro, Harry Seymour, Danny Shaw, Art Smith, William Smith, Robert Strange, Robert Tait, Dink Trout, Joyce Tucker, Paul Weigel, Martha Wentworth, Cecil Weston, Jack Carr
Best English-friendly release
Eureka MoC Blu-ray
Video format
Updated 10 months ago
Compare the discs
About the film
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
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- National Film Registry
Year of Induction: 2010
Director: Mike Nichols
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal 4K caps.Criterion Blu-ray better encode than StudioCanal Blu-ray.
Director: Ridley Scott
Final Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray (Caveat: No Dolby Vision from Streaming)
Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set for a better AVC encode
1982 Theatrical Mix: Embassy Video releases, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix
International Cut Dolby Stereo: Criterion Collection LaserDisc, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix
1992 Director's Cut Dolby Stereo: WB CAV LaserDisc 2.0 PCM-best fidelity of any mix, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix
Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set DTS-HD MA 5.1
2007 Final Cut remix: Blu-ray Dolby TrueHD 5.1
WB 4K Blu-ray only has Final Cut and contains a bad Atmos remix with new sound effects. Original Final Cut mix was removed.
Director: Quentin Tarantino
2025 Taiwan Deltamac 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2025 Taiwan Deltamac 4K Blu-ray > US Paramount 4K Blu-ray (Taiwan 4K Blu-ray is not low passed as the US 4K Blu-ray and has better grain and fine detail retention)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
US Criterion 4K Blu-ray > UK MoC 4K Blu-ray > Australia Imprint > US Kino Lorber better encoding
The MoC, Criterion and Imprint UHDs were encoded by FiM making all 3 very close. The higher bitrate helped in deciding and some luck; however Criterion is the most consistent one of all 3. Imprint has some scenes with more splotchy grain while MoC is quite close to Criterion but has some more blocking in dark scenes (e.g.: comp #27). With Criterion’s superior audio, it ensures complete consistency.
From cbc: "I'm personally quite fond of the restored track on Eureka's 4K Blu-ray. It does have spots with objectively worse fidelity, but for the most part, it sounds a lot more natural and less shrill, particularly dialogue. It seems to be a new mixdown of stems. Technically a remix, so not everyone's cup of tea, but it's not revisionist like most new movie mixes tend to be"
Both Imprint (included in their set) and Capelight (on its own/individually) offer remastered BDs. All other BDs, including the one included in The Complete Kubrick, are sourced from the same older master from around 2010.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray see caps
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs Criterion
Three masterings of the original Dolby Stereo SR mix exist: the original Orion video releases, the Criterion (which is from their LD) and the Arrow. All three are excellent with slight mastering differences between them. The original Orion still is probably the one with the most fidelity, the Criterion is the cleanest with a kind of warm feel to it and the Arrow has a bit of both aspects. The Arrow mastering has a tiny almost imperceptible bit of audio bleeding into the surround that isn't on the Criterion. Each has their own pluses and minuses but you can't go wrong with any of them. Whatever you do though: DO NOT WATCH WITH THE 5.1 REMIX. It is another MGM botch job that fundamentally alters the impact of many scenes. It is vastly inferior to the original mix in every way.
Director: Hal Ashby
Director: Anthony Mann
Criterion 4K Blu-ray, Universal 2008 DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2008 Universal DVD mono
The mono on the Criterion is severely filtered resulting in it sounding incredibly muffled. It is nearly as filtered as the 2003 original Universal DVD which had extreme filtering and sounds horribly thin. The 2008 DVD remaster and original LaserDisc analog mastering are mostly left alone. The original LD master is from a worn element but otherwise sounds very natural. The 2008 DVD is the highest quality version we have without the heavy filtering and the defects of the LD master. It isn't perfect but easily the best of the main four sources by a dramatic margin.
The existing 4K SDR restoration looks excellent, but the Criterion extras are limited and disappointing. The classic Stewart interview commentary from the LD is ported over but given a new mastering. Compared to past releases it has been very slightly noise reduced.
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Elia Kazan
Director: Elia Kazan
Director: Elia Kazan
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Criterion Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
More Drama on Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray > BFI 4K Blu-ray, see caps https://slow.pics/c/nPcxCNW4
BFI has more DNR and AI upscaling like their horrible 1979 Nosferatu 4K Blu-ray, and Shout! Factory has more over-exposed grading https://slow.pics/c/WQKmBTLJ
2000 R2 Stonevision DVD
2000 R2 Stonevision DVD vs Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray?
Director: David Lean
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
The legacy extras are AI-upscaled
Director: Roman Polanski
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 4K restoration introduced elevated black levels that Criterion have corrected while BFI left as is. However, the encoding on the Criterion is markedly worse, turning the grain into mush whereas the grain structure on the BFI is largely intact due to the noticeably superior encode. Therefore, the one to seek out is dependent on whether you prefer slightly better black levels or stronger grain retention.
Director: Sofia Coppola
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
See comparison
All sources are almost identical, Criterion has very minor high frequency whine filtering, unlikely to be audible. See spectrograms
Director: Govindan Aravindan
Director: Idrissa Ouedraogo
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