Mad About Men

Quite a nice little film, possibly inspired by the many mermaid fairy tales of old.

Glynis Johns always looked lovely in no matter what film she was in; and Dora Bryan made ample use of her comic talents as Glynis Johns's dotty mermaid companion.

Anne Crawford was also turned in good a performance as Glynis Johns's jealous adversary - it is a pity that such a talented actress died so young. However, I must say that I much better enjoyed its prequel, "Miranda", made 6 years earlier in 1948.

8 out of 10

I just wanted to share my feelings about this film I had seen in the 60's growing up with my big sister. Were we ever enchanted by the mermaid story! I had and have hoped to go to Cornwall some day to see the locales. Since that time it has been fun seeing other people from this film in others. I discovered the talented Anne Crawford who was great in serious roles as well. Sadly, she passed away all too soon from Leukemia (before we had ever seen the film).

The story is delightful with the beautiful Miss Johns as the wistful mermaid wanting to meet men and switching places with her lookalike who has inherited a lodging house in Cornwall with a cave underneath.

The prim schoolteacher eventually meets a handsome man Miranda has chosen for her. Of course there is competition along the way, in the form of Anne Crawford's suitor who would turn aside from his engagement to be with Miranda. And of course the dowdy fiancée of Caroline is soon dispensed with.

A lovely and delightful story! Margaret Rutherford is outstanding as the eccentric Nurse Carey tending to her eccentric charge, Miranda. And a delightful whimsical moment - We even have Margaret's husband in a comedic scene as the Vicar who wants Nurse Carey to hang out with the sailors and smoke a pipe. This she endeavors to do with little success.

I can't even mention this wonderful film in the same breath as Splash which I might have liked better had it not been overdone sexual overtones. But I did like the story line of that film too. It's just that the actions and some dialogue were too blatant. Some of Tom Hanks's lines (and I do like Tom Hanks) are overdone.

Not to create a spoiler here - The original film to Mad About Men entitled Miranda is more racy, as we are to conclude that Miranda has had a child by a mortal man. But this is done with class and aplomb when we see the little "Merman" at the end with his mother looking wistfully toward the cave where she first met a married man.

In conclusion, to me Glynis gets the award as the most fetching and beautiful mermaid of all time - some 40 years after first seeing the film. My big sister and I wanted to grow up to look and be just like Glynis.

New info. as of May of 2016 - I recently obtained a copy of the film that is not garish. I know what the reviewer was saying and had a copy where Miranda's hair looked grayish blonde and the darker colors garish. I recall seeing the film in the 60's as a child on TV and it looked great. My new copy is just about as perfect as you can get.

This is quite an enjoyable vehicle for a mischievous Glynis Johns, who doubles up as a gymnastics teacher ("Caroline") who is left a remote house on the Cornish coast, and a mermaid ("Miranda") who lives with her equally cheeky friend "Berengaria" (Dora Bryan) in a cave underneath. The two characters have a common ancestor and look identical, so when "Caroline" heads off on a cycling trip, her mermaid cousin takes her place - and immediately starts to charm just about every man in the village. Many of us who recall later performances from (Sir) Donald Sinden may forget just how handsome he was as he falls for her; as does "Col. Barclay Sutton" (Nicholas Phipps) whose fiancée "Barbara" (Anne Crawford) tires of the endless flirtations and sets about trying to put a spoke in her wheel. Margaret Rutherford is her usual, ebullient, self as the enthusiastically game nurse who is in on the whole thing from the start. It's amusingly suggestive at times, and the dialogue quite witty but the film is way too long, and once the joke has worn off it drags a bit. It is better, I felt, than the rather more rigid, staid original from 1948 however, and well worth a gander.

For a movie about a mermaid, the special effects are quite basic. All to the better though, really, since it allows the writers to concentrate on their spiffy, silly dialog. The viewer is never made to feel too uncomfortable over the possibility that the mermaid will get caught in her disguise. Any such threatening moments would be pointlessly manipulative of the audience anyway, this being an obvious fantasy flick, so why not just have a good time, right? Where the movie fails to ignite is in the dated chick-flickian rather-fall-in-love-with-a-good-looking-guy drill. It's monochromatic and not terribly involving (so the ending's a bit ho-hum), but it does make way for good, direct, innocent -- and occasionally spicy -- remarks from the mermaid. Watch for great facial expressions from Margaret Rutherford, the nurse, and a good physical workout for the old gal as well!

Mad About Men is a sequel to the innovative little British comedy Miranda. That film was about a mermaid coming out of water and befriending every male she met. This picks up some time after with Glynis Johns reprising her role not only as Miranda but also as stuffy teacher Caroline going to Cornwall to sell her house so she can marry snooty Peter Martyn. There she finds Miranda, realizes the two look just alike, and leaves Miranda in her place as herself. Naturally, Miranda is up to nothing but mischief, again befriending every male she meets. Brain surgeons are not needed to figure out how this all ends, but the film has a nice pace and keeps the whole thing afloat somehow. Like its predecessor, Mad About Men is charming, funny, and frivolous entertainment. Johns is breathtaking in colour. She exudes tons of sex appeal once again as the fishy nymphomaniacal mermaid looking for men. Margaret Rutherford reprises her role as the nurse who knows Miranda's secret and as always is a joy. The rest of the cast is very solid, and director Ralph Thomas does a more than workmanlike job creating some believability - a possible problem with this film, unlike Miranda, being in glorious colour.