Room for One More

Although Cary Grant is first billed and narrates the story, the central character of Room For One More is Grant's then wife Betsy Drake. The film is based on the memoirs and true story of Anna Rose who after having three children of her own, goes out and takes in more for foster care. In real life the Roses had four foster children, here we only see presumably the first two. Drake is one of those people who just can't resist taking in a stray anything. In addition to kids, she and Grant take in dogs, and cats, and even a rabbit which does its multiplying thing in short order. The two foster kids are Iris Mann an unloved and unlovely teenager who with a real home blossoms like Cinderella. Clifford Tatum, Jr. is more of a problem, he's a sullen kid equipped with Forrest Gump like braces. Grant and Drake achieve something of a miracle with him as well. Room For One More is one of a series of films where the married and domesticated Cary Grant is more in evidence. You could also include Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and Houseboat as that same type of film. It was a new dimension for an older star and Grant handled it very well. Highlight has to be his talk with young Tatum about the facts of life after Tatum is caught trying to satisfy his own curiosity. The climax is young Tatum becoming an Eagle Scout and overcoming his physical handicaps. The film seems to be almost a commercial for the Foster Care system and for the Boy Scouts. Since the time Room For One More Was Made, both institutions have come in for their share of criticism from various sources. In 1962 Room For One More was made into a television series by Warner Brothers starring Andrew Duggan and Peggy McCay, but it only lasted for one season. But the film has endured as a family classic and likely to remain so. The leads are in fine form and they get good support from the adult and child supporting cast.

I have been a grouchy, childless, curmudgeon for the last 30 years. OK, 40. I especially get cranky with movies of easy sentimentality and clumsy "messages", eg., about patriotism or religion or love or whatever. So, I have no idea why I bothered to tune into this movie, (other than it featuring Cary Grant), since the listing told me everything I needed to not watch it: children, family, adoption, disabilities, etc. Once into it, however, I just had to keep watching. It surely has all sorts of sentimentality, and blatant messages about adoption and the Boy Scouts; however the writing is so wonderfully deft, and the performances (including those of the children) so perfectly understated that I was fully engaged and easily able to forgive the more obvious "message moments" such as Jane being the belle of the ball, and Jimmy-John's predictable physical and emotional transformation into an Eagle Scout. Perhaps being a boy scout, and perhaps remembering a sister's first big dance helps to suck you in, but there are eye-stinging moments enough for anyone, such as Jane refusing her (foster)mother's kiss, and the kids in the orphanage playground stopping their noisy play to watch anxiously the visitors looking at them from the balcony. Next Sunday I'm going to watch the golf, dammit.

Pushover engineer Cary Grant (as George "Poppy" Rose) and pretty housewife Betsy Drake (as Anna Perrott Rose) live comfortably with their three kids, dog, and pregnant cat. Then, the couple decide to become foster parents to a couple of needy children. First, they take in disagreeable, neglected Iris Mann (as Jane Miller). Next, they bring in sullen, crippled Clifford Tatum Jr. (as James "Jimmy John" Wilson). Prepare to get your heart tugged as the kids learn to fit in with their new family, and visa versa... If you've ever wondered how a TV situation comedy series starring Cary Grant would have played, this is your chance. Looking like a pilot for a series planned for Mr. Grant and Ms. Drake, who was his wife at the time, it's like "My Three Sons" and "Father Knows Best" meets "The Brady Bunch". In fact, "Room for One More" finally did become a series, in 1962. But, since Grant was a perennial box office attraction in theaters, there was no reason for him to do television. Watch it for the kids, they're terrific. ****** Room for One More (1/10/52) Norman Taurog ~ Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, Clifford Tatum Jr., Iris Mann

I love this movie. Sure, it's full of 50's idealism, but it still has some things to say. This is a movie about parenting. I particularly enjoyed Grant as "Poppy" explaining to one of his foster kids how babies get born. It's idealized because unlike real life, all of the kids turn out as good citizens and grateful children. This is not one of Grant's best films, but it is worth viewing. I'm waiting for this one to get released to DVD. I have a copy on VHS that I recorded from AMC (before commercials) or TCM but it's getting worn out. I would prefer a pristine, professionally produced copy of this film on DVD, but if it doesn't get released, I'll be forced to talk to a friend of mine with a VHS-to-DVD setup.

Real-life marrieds Cary Grant and Betsy Drake as a loving couple who adopt needy children. Perhaps trying to erase the stigma--the negative curiosity--from adoption and foster families that was highly prevalent in the early-'50s, screenwriters Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson (working from Anna Perrot Rose's book) go a little nutty providing these particular children with a happy ending. Drake is appropriately warm and buttery, but Grant (uncomfortably referred to as "Poppy" Rose, as if he were in his 70s) has the stern look of concentration that unfortunately never slides into bemusement. His "Poppy" is supposed to be wary of his wife's desire to fill the house with kids, but Grant seems a bit anxious at finding an actual character to portray. He's just relying on externals here, and the slightest sneer of discontent shows through. Story transformed into a TV series some ten years later. ** from ****

I have always loved Cary Grant. I think he is wonderful with children. Father Goose was truly enjoyable. I remember seeing Room for One More when I was child. I get nostalgic thinking about it. I haven't seen it for years. It's not on video and I haven't seen it listed. If you ever get chance to see it, I recommend that you do! Good family

I did not enjoy this movie particularly. To begin with, it was not the least bit funny. It is slow, boring and very predictable. There are also obvious mistakes, such as the "newborn" kittens being several weeks old in reality (kittens are born blind and entirely helpless). I admit there are a few fine and moving moments though - such as the adopted boy's speech at the end. If you love Cary Grant, it is worth watching this movie only for his sake - because he is at his most virile handsomeness here! I felt that he was wasted in this movie though. It was not good enough for a man with such looks and such star qualities, and he was not the right type for the part either, so he could not lift it. It was like taking the perfect Prince Tamino and dress him up like Papageno and force him to play that part instead...

I have loved this Cary Grant movie since the very first time I saw it on TV as a child growing up in Brooklyn. I can honestly say I watched it every single time I saw it was listed in the TV Guide. It is a sweet honest tale filled with humor and humanity. It is a family movie but it is also very adult. I love all the characters and it touches on so many human values for such a rather simple story that it is very much like real life. I felt then, as I do now, that I was richer for having seen it. It evokes the same kind of emotion that I would get from watching "It's a Wonderful Life" although... if memory serves... I believe I saw this movie long before I first saw that Christmas classic. If I were programming for a local TV station or a network I would purchase the rights to this movie (it's probably in public domain anyway) and show it all night on Christmas eve cause it not only has a beautifully poignant and funny Christmas scene but it more importantly embodies all of the values that the holiday season is suppose to be about. I would probably still watch it every single time. I loved it.

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and I can still watch it today with that same warm feeling. What I liked most about it was the interaction between Cary and his real life wife Betsy Drake on screen. They made another movie together, Every Girl Should be Married, which is also a charm and a must see for a Cary Grant fan. Anyhow, you will not be wasting your time if you sit down and watch this very heartwarming film. If you do watch it and feel nothing, then you may be headed towards Grinch-dom.

This movie just REEKS of 50's sit-com, so dated it might as well be a documentary of African tribesmen. Not that the kids and situations aren't cute in a 'Father Knows Best'/'Leave It To Beaver' way, but it looks cheap, like a 50's sit-com. Cary Grant plays a daddy of a tribe of kids, who have their trials and tribulations, in suburbia, and while Mr. Grant is always a welcome sight in a movie, he is sorely miscast here. Such a sophisticated, droll, elegant man playing a mundane married boob, he is as out of place as a deep red Mr. Lincoln rose in a bouquet of dandelions. The real-life Mrs. Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, does an adequate job as the swell 50's mom. She is indistinguishable from a dozen other bobbed-hair, polite, well-behaved female stars of the time, in their pearls, heels, and shirtwaist dresses. (speaking of miscast, supposedly she and Cary were very happy together in the time they were married. I simply don't see the attraction, but he was married to a few other puzzling choices). As stated elsewhere in these reviews, if you've always dreamed of seeing him in a 50's situation comedy as you would find on TV back in the day, this is a perfect example of what might have been