This shows how much attitudes have changed. McShane's actions are kind and sincere, and his wish to adopt the baby is not creepy at all. It's beneficial to her future. Although Laurie was born of parents who were married, her father died just after Katie became pregnant with her. People gossip, and the timing of his death was really unfortunate. Illegitimacy was a
huge
deal back then. If McShane adopts Laurie, she will be able to say she has a father, he will
be
her father and she will never be excluded or shamed.
Well, the city's being built and I'm winning this game. So don't interrupt us with trifles.

spooky-mulder1013 says > I just couldn't stand him, especially his last appearance when he asks Katie to marry him I mean, they barely knew each other, and he's already asking her to marry him?
I find it interesting that you say you can't stand the man because he wanted to marry her. They knew each other from having crossed paths numerous times in the neighborhood. He knew her to be a decent, kind, hard-working, family-oriented, respectable person. She knew the same about him.
As you may have noticed in the case of the insurance man and others, no one really has any secrets. If either of them had been bad people, word would have gotten around. He wanted a companion and she needed help. All that may sound very unromantic to you but marriage, for most, is about commitment and family. When a man and woman have shared values and goals and they respect each other they can make it work and from that love can grow; just like that little tree.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan.
[Tarzan and his mate]

I believe Francie might have been 16 by then, thus Neely would been 15. Francie was working as a teletype operator, which earned a good wage and allowed the family to live comfortably.
McShane was a very good man. One might say rather proper. McShane seemed to have "Victorian age" values.

I recall that in the book.
Also, Francie and Neely were much older, weren't they?
I thought he was a decent man
You asked a pretty question; I've given you the ugly answer.
Fasten Your Seatbelts….
It's Going To Be A Bumpy Night!

In the book this isn't a quick marriage. McShane waits 2 and a half years.

Quick marriages often were the norm back when situations that left a woman high-and-dry and unable to care for herself made it necessary for such marriages-of-convenience to take place. That didn't bother me as much as the fact that he seemed to be into her from the beginning, and still kind of had the vibe toward her even after finding out she was married.
Then at the end here you also learn that it sounds like he was married almost right up until Katie was. No matter what kind of man Johnny was, that definitely was not fair to him, and obviously wasn't fair to McShane's wife, despite their lack of knowledge of the situation.

Thank you for the summary
. I don't even know how to process it. It's sure a heck of a lot different. lol
One of the notable moments of the film regarding McShane was during the Christmas celebration. When Grandma says she thinks McShane is a lonely man, Katie reacts to that statement and stares for a few moments (one of the brilliantly subtle moments in the film). I think it was GetTV that I was watching this film on during the past couple of months and they went to a commercial break during Katie's reaction so it didn't have the same impact at all. In the encore airing it was the same way.
Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.

In the book, poor McShane was mooning around after Katie for a long time. Johnny tells
her that McShane has some good career prospects in the future, which piques her interest. Then he tells her that McShane has been unhappily married to an invalid wife for years. Katie
responds, "I hope she dies and dies soon." When Johnny reacts with shock, Katie
elaborates on how some people are stuck in bad marriages with spouses that drag
them down; Johnny takes the hint that she's perhaps not just talking about Mrs.
McShane.
At the time that McShane proposes, he's poised for a career advancement that will provide the family with a more comfortable life (they move out of Brooklyn
at the end of the story). So Katie finds him that much more easy to love. Who's
the creepy one in this relationship?
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.

He played some pretty obnoxious villains on TV over the years as well.
I was just wondering why he gravitated towards those types of roles on TV as well as in films, since in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn he's convincing as a good guy (to a lot of us). I'm guessing he was deemed as not being the leading man type for certain roles reserved for guys like Cary Grant, James Stewart, etc.
Random thought: Nolan played a detective named "Mike Shayne" in several films before playing McShane. "Mike Shayne" almost sounds like McShane
Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.

I think there's definitely something to that. I saw him not too long ago playing a sleazy soldier in
Bataan
and at first I kept thinking of that character every time he came on screen in this film. He played some pretty obnoxious villains on TV over the years as well. He ended up growing on me though. I guess its a testament to his skills that he still has that affect after 45 years!

I must admit that part of it for me is that I do not care for Lloyd Nolan as an actor. Primarily it's his role in "Airport" that jaded me toward him. I'd like to warp his busy body noggin' in that film. 45 years later I simply cannot get over this aversion.

It threw me off because it seemed like he was looking in Neeley's direction when he said, "As the eldest, would you be approving?" I guess he just wanted the older kid's blessing.
Again though, nothing about that scene was meant to be official or final as far as marriage and adoption were concerned. Katie knew McShane was only discussing his future intentions so it would be clear why he wanted to spend time with them and it helped the family to know that life may be less of a struggle than they feared it would be. McShane and Katie both knew she had a choice to tell him whether to buzz off or not.
Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.

I was bothered by the last scene as well. He never addresses the brother, just the girl. I thought McShane asking to adopt this infant was extremely gross. If I were those children, he could do it, but, it'd be over my dead body. WTF does he think he is? No. Absolutely not. Uh, uh.

Agreed. He was honest and direct as well.

why would you hate mcshane? He seemed like a most kind, helpful and gentle man to me

As much as I love this film and McShane's storyline, it's completely understandable if he seems creepy to some people. To be fair, though, he was proposing a courtship with the intention to marry. Since he had known Katie for a while and was lonely, he was anxious to know if she liked him well enough or if she hated the idea of settling down with him. He didn't want to play games like people often do (which can drive people away) and gave Katie the peace of mind of knowing she could have additional support if she wanted it.

No I kind of expected it. The Irish
are different
. And I think he was supposed to be considerably older and not the dapper cop on the beat that Lloyd Nolan was.
He probably wanted to present himself as a catch in the somewhat awkward way he did. Not as a romantic. It was a kind of made marriage even though they were never really introduced by a third party.