Room for One More (1952)

Fantastic!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Cary Grant and Betsy Drake star in this film about a family, who's always got room for one more. Based on a true story and the book written by the wife, the film is about their adjustment to a young girl they adopted, who is a trouble child, supposedly, and her adjustment to life with the Roses. To add even more spice to it, they take in a polio-stricken boy with an attitude problem. This film is so inspiring with its simplicity and love, that's it's infectious and certainly makes a very satisfying movie. Even the crankiest of people should find this film a real winner, with Cary's charm and constant struggle to be alone with his wife. But he never is taken for granted and neither is anyone else. There is so much love and respect for each other in this family, that this should be a lesson for all people seeing it, to know how to treat each other. This may not be an altogether important film in the long scheme of filmdom, but its message is. Love each other everyday, and accept others as they are.

Heartwarming tale which proves that environment is a great factor than heredity with regard to placement of children.Cary Grant and Betsy Drake are absolutely fabulous as the couple with 3 children and limited finances; despite this, they take in two difficult foster children.With patience and a firm hand, they are able to succeed beyond the expectation of what many would feel.They did a wonderful job raising their own three children as well. The three knew when to help out.The film excellently pointed out the problems of coping with a foster children; one who comes into your home with an array of problems looking for love and understanding.This is definitely a film that will tug at your heart. It is so nostalgic yet it represents the best of human kindness and dignity. You'll have a tear in your eye, but you will certainly come away with that good feeling of accomplishment.Bless those who take in foster children and are able to work with them.

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 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.