Movie Reviews

‘Room For One More’ Blu-Ray Review – Cary Grant Embodies A Heartwarming Family Man In Charming Picture

By Dillon Gonzales
February 5, 2021
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When you survey the career of an icon such as Cary Grant, it is easy to get swept up in the sheer versatility of this talented man. If you needed someone who could deliver a comedic line with the best of them, films such as His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story proved he was more than up to the task. It would be foolish to pigeonhole him in this mode, though, as his roles in North by Northwest, An Affair to Remember, Charade and countless others defined him as one of the great dramatic actors of the era. Grant is associated with numerous notable films, but even his more obscure work often delivered the goods. Just take a look at a film like 1952’s Room For One More from Academy Award-winning director Norman Taurog (Skippy). Grant co-starred alongside his real-life wife Betsy Drake (Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?) in this amiable little family comedy-drama based on the 1950 autobiography of the same name by Anna Perrott Rose. The film is not a household name, but thanks to the good folks at Warner Archive audiences can rediscover this charming story.

The lovely Drake plays Anna, a mother of three who one day tours an orphanage and finds herself falling in love with the idea of fostering a child. These days, the idea of fostering or adopting a child is widely seen as a wonderful thing, but the hateful things that you hear coming from the mouths of the other potential mothers on the tour is quite shocking. Anna thankfully has a much more open mind than these women and doubles down on her belief that she wants to bring a new child into her household. Not quite as enthused is her disapproving husband George aka “Poppy” (Grant), who feels that the house is full enough. Enter unhappy 13-year-old Jane (Iris Mann), who is very guarded in her emotions due to her none-too-great experiences in the past. As the warmth of a family starts to tear down these walls and Poppy finds himself softening, as well, Anna returns to the idea of fostering yet another child – 12-year-old Jimmy-John (Clifford Tatum Jr.) who needs leg braces to walk. Just when the family thinks they have given all the love they can give, their hearts open up ever wider.

The greatest joy in this film comes from watching this family getting to know one another and really bonding as a unit. It may verge on the side of schmaltzy, but having these children come to understand what being part of a family really means just warms your heart. With Jimmy-John, in particular, you have a steep learning curve when he first arrives in the household. He is brash and even violent at times, but the understanding that comes on the part of the biological children is heartening to experience. While the comments made about orphans at the beginning of the film by certain parties were off-putting, it just goes to underline the misconceptions people have about the process of choosing someone to be a part of your family. The child actors are all quite capable in their respective roles. A personal favorite is the youngest child Teenie (George Winslow) who has a knack for blurting out the truth in a really blunt manner that elicits more than a few chuckles. This film does not set out to deliver some hard-hitting piece on adoption – it is just a well-told family tale that will have you laughing and feeling emotional.

While the story at the core of the film is strong, it would not charm nearly as much as it does without the incredible performances from Grant and Drake. Poppy can be a bit thoughtless in some of his ideas, but in his heart he has a real soft spot for his family that Grant brings to life quite wonderfully. He also gets to show off some of his natural slapstick-y comedy chops with a particularly hilarious gag involving an inflatable raft that will have you cackling with delight. The only kind of odd choice with his character is the repetitive allusions to the lack of attention he is receiving from his wife in the intimacy department. It’s never coarse in delivery, but it gets to be a little much after the first couple of times. Drake on the other hand is consistently stellar in her maternal role that still allows her some time to shine on her own. The real-life romance between the pair translates quite nicely to the silver screen as they exude a pleasant familiarity that brings more depth to both of them. For a film that is nearly seventy years old, Room For One More has a very timeless sensibility about it that allows it to be perfect family entertainment.

Video Quality

Room For One More comes to Blu-Ray with a brand new 1080p transfer courtesy of Warner Archive sourced from the best preservation elements available. While it appears the original camera negative was unavailable, you would be hard pressed to notice a difference with this stunning presentation. The beautiful black-and-white photography shines in high definition with natural grain intact. The contrast is well defined, and there is virtually no print damage to be found. Black levels are appropriately deep with no trace of black crush or compression artifacts. There is a wonderful amount of detail present with nice texture on the costumes and in the simple production design. Warner Archive keeps up their wonderful streak of lovingly preserving classic films.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that is likewise quite enjoyable. Dialogue and background noises are represented perfectly along with the lovely score from Max Steiner. There is no discernible age related wear and tear to the track such as hissing or popping. No sounds ever overpower the dialogue that is being spoken here. While mostly dialogue driven throughout, the more kinetic moments, such as when Anna gives an impromptu driving tutorial, are handled with ease and give the track a bit of punch. There are also optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. Warner Archive has provided a disc that sounds fantastic in all respects.

Special Features

Operation – Rabbit: A seven-minute Looney Tunes short that features Wile E. Coyote trying to capture Bugs Bunny so that he can have a nice dinner. Much like his antics with the Road Runner, things do not go so smoothly. This is hilarious and presented in beautiful HD.

Feed The Kitty: A seven-minute Merrie Melodies short in which a tough pup tries to care for his cute new kitten friend as it keeps getting him into trouble. Another really amusing short that looks great in high definition.

Theatrical Trailer: The two-and-a-half minute theatrical trailer is provided here which gives you a taste of the general conceit of the film while playing up the nice family values at the core of the story.

Final Thoughts

Room For One More is a real gem of a lighthearted family comedy-drama. The themes of family being the ones that you choose to have in your life always hit home. Cary Grant and Betsy Drake are the standouts in the ensemble, but it is hard to find fault in the natural performances from the children. Warner Archive has provided a Blu-Ray for this one that features a fetching A/V presentation and a few fun supplemental features. This one is a heartwarming choice for any family movie night. Recommended

Room For One More can be purchased directly through Warner Archive or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.