|
|
| ROOM FOR ONE MORE
(director: Norman Taurog; screenwriters: novel by Anna
Perrott Rose/ Jack Rose/Melville Shavelson;
cinematographer: Robert Burks; editor: Alan Crosland;
music: Max Steiner; cast: Cary Grant (George
"Poppy" Rose), Betsy Drake (Anna Rose), Lurene Tuttle
(Miss Kenyon), Randy Stuart (Mrs. Foreman), John Ridgely
(Harry Foreman), Irving Bacon (The Mayor), Mary Treen
(Mrs. Roberts), Iris Mann (Jane), George Winslow
(Teenie), Clifford Tatum, Jr. (Jimmy-John), Gay Gordon
(Trot), Malcolm Cassell (Tim), Larry Olsen (Ben);
Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Henry
Blanke; Warner Bros.; 1952) "Turns mawkish." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz Norman
Taurog ("If I Had A Million"/"G.I. Blues"/"Little
Nellie Kelly") directs this sentimental,
episodic domestic comedy, that's ok as long it sticks
to the comedy involved in raising foster children with
your own kids and doesn't take a preachy turn to
become a homage film to foster care. It's written by
Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson, who cull
from the popular autobiographical book by Anna
Perrott Rose some amusing incidents. The stars, Cary
Grant and Betsy Drake, were a real-life married couple
who met four years ago while working together in
"Every Girl Should Be Married" and remained married
for ten years. Drake was Cary's third wife, as the
actor married five times. The
married mother of three (George Winslow, Gay
Gordon & Malcolm Cassell),
Anna Rose (Betsy Drake), is a New Jersey
suburban housewife who tours on Sunday with her PTA
delegation a local foster children's home and the
pushy director Miss Kenyon (Lurene
Tuttle), after the visit, shows up at her
doorsteps with abused 13-year-old foster child Jane (Iris
Mann). When her amiable hubby "Poppy"
(Cary Grant) begins to grumble, the overbearing Miss
Kenyon proposes the nasty tempered Jane stay for two
weeks. The
Rose family has just taken in a stray dog and their
cat gave birth to a litter of kittens, the Rose's
three adolescents need plenty of attention and,
Poppy's income is fixed because he's a city engineer,
making the family not in a good financial position to
take in additional children. But the family can't
resist nurturing unwanted children and become foster
parents. The
kindness of the family does wonders for the angry
Jane, who calms down when welcomed into the family.
Next they take in a young handicapped boy,
Jimmy-John (Clifford Tatum, Jr.), and
despite his tantrums against their own children he
gets a second chance to stay with the family. When Jimmy-John
joins the Boys Scouts, he learns skills that
make him more secure and less angry. Everything
works out fine for the family, except the film turns
mawkish even if one can only praise the Rose family
for their generosity and willingness to do good.
REVIEWED ON 7/31/2012 GRADE: C+ Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |