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Title: Great movie, great acting
Review: This is Elia Kazan's first film, so any flourishes of cinematic style (not something he's particularly known for anyway) are very spare. That allows the acting to shine--and the acting is amazing, supported by a terrific script from a series of newspaper articles that weren't written as a dramatic structure. The sparingness of the environments in the film highlights the stark situation this family is in, and the father and kids (and aunts) optimism provides strong contrast to Dorothy McGuire's BEST performance (and first film!). Her arc in the film is powerful, and is represented visually in a straightforward way that NEVER gets in the way of the story. The emotional release at the end is almost overwhelming.
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