Plot

New Jersey couple Anna and Poppy Rose become foster parents to several kids born into less fortunate circumstances, including a desperately unhappy 13-year-old girl and a physically handicapped boy with a penchant for getting into serious trouble.

Anne and "Poppy" Rose are the average American family, with three quirky kids. Anne has a good heart and takes in lost cats and dogs--and one day, also an orphan named Jane, a problem child who has already attempted suicide. At first Poppy is worried and wants to get rid of her, but with love and patience they finally manage to integrate her into the family. Just then Anne invites another orphan, aggressive handicapped Jimmy John, to their summer vacation.—Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>

The Rose household is renowned for taking in stray animals. Although it is mother Anna Rose who is the one to take in the strays, she has passed on this compassionate attitude to their three children Tim, Trot, and Teenie; their father George, who is more practical on the surface, is equally compassionate underneath. Although they cannot afford luxuries for their current three children on George's modest salary as a city engineer, after touring a local orphanage with other neighborhood mothers, Anna suggests to George (on the urging of the facility's head, Miss Kenyon) that they take in one of the orphanage's older children for a trial period. Miss Kenyon would like them to take 13-year-old Jane Miller, who comes from a broken home and attempted suicide when her mother rejected her after remarrying. Eventually, Anna and George decide to take in a second older child, equally angry and troubled Jimmy John Wilson, a 12-year-old orphaned since age two, whose belligerent behavior has made the authorities brand him as trouble; he also needs to wear leg-braces, which makes him even angrier and more violent because of what he can't do physically like most boys his age. They will also learn that he has so far refused to learn to read. Anna and George, who deal with Jane and Jimmy John's issues differently, will find if their love, support and compassion are enough to melt the two adolescents' seemingly icy hearts, although the love could wane if their own three children are negatively affected. The situation might not be helped by the attitudes of their friends and neighbors if they look down on the notion of the two being trouble.—Huggo

The average American family: two adults, two kids and one dog...But the Rose family is anything but average. With three children plus an assortment of stray animals, the Roses still manage to find Room For One More. The parents of three children and two more adopted, George Rose and his enthusiastic wife Anna already lead busy lives. But when homeless children need love and understanding, this special couple open their hearts and their home. Inspired by a true story, this charming family comedy celebrates life and love in a place where there's always Room For One More.

Poppy (Cary Grant) and Anna Rose (Betsy Drake) have a soft spot for young people in need. Despite having three children of their own, they can't help but take action when they meet a pair of troubled young orphans. Young Jane (Iris Mann) is horribly depressed, while Jimmy (Clifford Tatum Jr.) is physically disabled and has a long history as a troublemaker. As they welcome the pair into their home, the Roses use love and understanding to help the orphans get to the bottom of their problems.—maschzentertainment

After Anna Rose, mother of three and collector of stray animals, tentatively expresses interest in becoming a foster parent during a PTA tour of a children's home, the director, Miss Kenyon, arrives unannounced at the Rose household with a sullen teenager, Jane, who needs a place to stay for two weeks. Anna's good-natured husband George, called "Poppy" by the family, is reluctant to add to his motley household of kids and pets, which is swelling with the birth of a litter of kittens. However, recognizing what he calls "the gleam in Anna's eye," he does not interfere with her need to do good. Jane, an abused child with a history of suicide attempts, is at first distrusting and abrasive, but after Anna realizes that she is resentful of her dependence on others, who, in the past, have not wanted her, Anna finds her small paying jobs to help her feel self-reliant. During Jane's first baby-sitting job, which Anna arranged with their friends, the Foremans, Jane proves to be dependable and resourceful, and after two weeks, she is amiable, happy and loved by the Roses, who want her to stay permanently. Later, Anna arranges with Miss Kenyon for a young handicapped boy, Jimmy-John, to accompany them on vacation to the beach. Poppy, who had hoped to spend more adult time with Anna now that the children were settled, insists that his engineer's salary cannot afford another child, but relents after seeing the harsh conditions in which Jimmy-John lives. However, Jimmy-John, who compensates for his leg braces and difficulties in school with a mean-spirited reserve, hits the Roses' daughter Trot, destroys one of the boys' bicycles during a tantrum, and is caught peeking in the girls' window. Although Poppy solves the latter problem by explaining to the inquisitive boy how babies are born, the family is nearly convinced that Jimmy-John is more than they can handle. As Poppy prepares to take him back to Miss Kenyon, however, the children generously give him a reprieve. Back at home, Jimmy-John continues to throw tantrums when he is frustrated with his disabilities, until he is introduced to the Boy Scouts at a meeting held in the Rose home. Using the Boy Scout manual as a primer, he learns to read and is further challenged to earn merit badges, and as his self-confidence grows, he becomes more lovable. Later, at a PTA meeting, featured speaker Anna describes the "fun" of raising foster children, but during the question period, Poppy wonders aloud if her husband is neglected. She answers that her husband is respected and loved by every member of the family. Later, Jane's distress at being asked to the New Year's Eve prom by her beau, Ben, confuses Poppy and Rose, until the children explain that a formal evening gown is required for the occasion, which they cannot afford. As a Christmas gift, Anna alters her own evening dress for Jane, who is thrilled, until Teenie, the Roses' youngest, unflinchingly honest son announces that the dress "stinks." The children return their Christmas gifts to raise the money to buy Jane a new dress, but on the day of the prom, Jane is stood up by Ben, whose mother disapproves of her background. After sending Jane to the prom with their oldest son Tim, Poppy confronts Ben's parents at their home and persuades them to allow him to take Ben to the prom. There Poppy discovers that Jane is finding plenty of dance partners. Meanwhile, Jimmy-John undertakes a ten-mile hike required for a merit badge, which is made especially difficult by the cold weather and his leg braces, and he is late in returning. Poppy drives around until he finds Jimmy-John valiantly determined to succeed. When the annual Boy Scout Court of Honor is held, Jimmy-John is awarded the Boy Scout's highest honor, the Eagle badge. When asked to speak, Jimmy-John attributes his success to his luck in choosing his own parents. Later, the Foremans invite all five Rose children to spend the night at their house. After Poppy cheerfully bids each child a good night, he and Anna return home for a well-earned night to themselves.