I can't help noticing rewatching "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" that one of the few major characters not named Nolan is being played by Lloyd Nolan. It appears that the only other film of his I've seen from his long career is "Hannah and Her Sisters." He played Hannah's father and died while the film was being made. I also remember him as Diahann Carroll's boss in the 60s TV Series "Julia," which was notable because it starred a black woman who wasn't playing a maid, but wasn't that memorable a series (though I remember Nolan, which is something).

I also notice that although James Dunn won an Oscar, there are at least three performances in the film I like better, including Dorothy McGuire's.

The past week, I've been rewatching a bunch of 30's and 40's films, mostly Katherine Hepburns and Cary Grants.
I was mostly neutral about Bringing Up Baby.
Fell asleep to Philadelphia Story and didn't bother to finish it.
Didn't care much for Woman of the Year, the first pairing of Hepburn and Tracy. But did appreciate a fair amount of Hepburn in it. And the period clips of baseball and football were interesting.

The Shop Around the Corner had some nice touches, but was also a bit tiresome and obvious where it was headed. A bit too much Jimmy Stewart for me.

Meet John Doe is pretty great. Really sucks you in and Stanwyck is quite good. There are a few scattered weak scenes but they tend to be rather brief. Easily the best of the bunch.

And I don't think I ever watched Talk of the Town before. It's pretty good. It starts off like something out of Fugitive From a Chain Gang, and Cary Grant seems to be a bad man on the wrong side of the law. Jean Arthur is quite good at zany comedy when things turn into screwball territory. I like her voice. It's a bit long and at times uneven, but also a fun romp. And it wasn't always clear where it was heading. The law debates and then the roel reversal was pretty well done. Drops right into #2 of this batch of old Hollywood I'm plowing through.

But Norval recovered and
became increasingly happy
for, as Shakespeare said:
"Some are born great, some
achieve greatness, and some
have greatness thrust upon
them.

Another rewatch was Miracle at Morgan's Creek. I wanted to like this, and there were some good scenes, but it didn't really work for me.
Betty Hutton's hair is a terrible distraction. William Demarest's crotchety Dad has a rather dated vaudeville quality to it. Like he just came in form a 3 Stooges film. Eddie Bracken grates a times, and only rarely has a good moment. I found myself really liking the beyond-her-years younger sister a lot.

The premise is pretty great and risque as hell for the times. Small town girl goes to a sendoff for the troops, winds up staying out all night, getting married and knocked up. But she has no idea who she married, thinking his name sounded like Ratzy-Watzky, which in any case might've been a made up name. So basically we have a youngish girl get drunk, have a one night stand and get pregnant, only glossed over by a sham wedding (fake names/unknown and missing husband). They also pretend she wasn't drunk but hit her head while dancing. But wow, the premise is racy stuff for the early 40's. More like pre-codeville. Of course it is a comedy, which I guess helps it glide by as well.

But overall, I wanted to like the film more than I did.

The past week, I've been rewatching a bunch of 30's and 40's films, mostly Katherine Hepburns and Cary Grants.
I was mostly neutral about Bringing Up Baby.
Fell asleep to Philadelphia Story and didn't bother to finish it.

The Shop Around the Corner had some nice touches, but was also a bit tiresome and obvious where it was headed. A bit too much Jimmy Stewart for me.

"Too much Jimmy Stewart" is an impossibility.