Classic Films in Focus: MIRANDA (1948)

Mermaids must have been a hot topic in 1948 because that year saw not one but two mermaid movies, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid and Miranda. The 1947 debut of live mermaid shows at Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida had something to do with it, although the Cornish setting of Miranda is far less tropical than that of its Hollywood counterpart. Directed by Ken Annakin, Miranda is very much a British picture, both very polished and very naughty and shot through with eccentric humor that benefits greatly from the unique charms of its lovely star, Glynis Johns.

Johns stars as the eponymous heroine, a love crazed mermaid who hooks a married doctor, Paul Martin (Griffith Jones), off the coast of Cornwall and persuades him to take her to London so that she can see the sights. Paul falls for Miranda, much to the dismay of his wife (Googie Withers), but Miranda falls for every man she sees, including the Martins' chauffeur (David Tomlinson) and a handsome young painter (John McCallum). Cared for by an eccentric nurse (Margaret Rutherford) who knows her secret, Miranda has a fine time, but her odd behavior and mysterious inability to walk eventually convince Clare Martin that something fishy is going on with her seductive house guest.

Plucky comic performances make this film thoroughly amusing, especially Johns as the winsome heroine. Most film fans will recognize her as the suffragist mother in Mary Poppins (1964), although she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Sundowners (1960). As the star of Miranda she gets more opportunity to flex her comedic talent, and she makes the most of her fey beauty and kittenish voice. The supporting players mostly react to her, although zany Margaret Rutherford threatens to steal several scenes. Rutherford would be the only cast member aside from Johns to return for the 1954 sequel, Mad About Men, which says something about the importance of her character to the original picture's appeal. She would go on to enjoy a long run as Miss Marple in a number of films adapted from the works of Agatha Christie, although her only Oscar win, for Best Supporting Actress, came with her work in The V.I.P.s (1963).

For more of Glynis Johns, see 49th Parallel (1941), An Ideal Husband (1947), and The Court Jester (1955). You'll find Margaret Rutherford cutting up as usual in Blithe Spirit (1945) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1952). Look for Googie Withers in the delightful English comedy, On Approval (1944). David Tomlinson can be found as Glynis Johns' stuffy husband in Mary Poppins and as the unorthodox Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). If you enjoy the first film, go on to the sequel, Mad About Men, although the original picture is the better of the two.

An earlier version of this review originally appeared on Examiner.com. The author retains all rights to this content.

Classic Films in Focus: MR. PEABODY AND THE MERMAID (1948)

Mermaid movies turn up every now and then; the most famous is certainly Splash (1984), with Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks, and among the more recent you'll find the modern tween fairy tale, Aquamarine (2006). Long before either of these films, however, dapper William Powell fell for a mermaid of his own in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), which pitches the encounter as a mid-life crisis being experienced by Powell's character. Instead of a convertible or a human mistress, Powell's character lands a mythological maiden, much to the distress of his irritated wife. Although it certainly has fallen into obscurity, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid is no lost masterpiece, but it's a fun little film for a quiet afternoon, and Powell fans will enjoy it just for another outing with the inimitable star.

Powell plays Arthur Peabody, a respectable Bostonian on vacation in the Caribbean after a serious illness. Peabody's convalescence is marred by the arrival of his fiftieth birthday, and he feels that his wife (Irene Hervey) is taking him for granted now that she sees him "safely" past the age of indiscretion. Her assurance is shaken, however, when Peabody accidentally lands a mermaid (Ann Blyth) and installs her in the resident fish pond. Peabody adores his ichthyoid idol, but the locals begin to wonder about his sanity. When his wife disappears, the resulting investigation threatens to ruin Peabody's romance and force him back to reality.

Powell really carries the picture, primarily because the female characters function as mere satellites to his protagonist. Ann Blyth is beautiful but mute as the mermaid (a sexist commentary on the perfect woman, no doubt), while Irene Hervey is rather shrill as the wife and Andrea King much too aggressive as the would-be paramour. That said, the scenes with the mermaid do have a magical quality of the type that viewers in 1948 might well have associated with Florida's Weeki Wachee Springs, where the famous live mermaid shows had just begun the year before. The sexual subtext of the plot is subtle enough that small children will probably enjoy watching the movie for the mermaid without noticing that it's really a story about midlife crisis and the idea of an extramarital affair as the cure for that ailment.

If you enjoy fish stories of this sort, try Miranda (1948) and The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964). For more of William Powell, see The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). You'll find Ann Blyth playing a much darker role in the Joan Crawford classic, Mildred Pierce (1945), but she also stars in The Great Caruso (1951) and The Helen Morgan Story (1957). See Irene Hervey in Destry Rides Again (1939), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Cactus Flower (1969). Director Irving Pichel also made the 1932 film, The Most Dangerous Game, which serves as a more intense example of his professional talent.

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid is not currently available on DVD, but you can usually find it, along with dozens of other minor classics, on streaming sites like Netflix Instant Viewing and Amazon Instant Video.

An earlier version of this review originally appeared on Examiner.com. The author retains all rights to this content.