Miranda

Risque to say the least for this post war British comedy with a twist in the tail - quite literally. Glynis Johns is the delightful mermaid with a penchant for young men - wooing them with her charm alone. Interesting in part for its treatment of 'disabled' people as Miranda is treated as such throughout. Googie Withers is great as the harassed wife while Margaret Rutherford sparkles in a relatively small role - but at least she gets to dance. Of everyone, David Tomlinson is perhaps the most comical as a lovesick young butler and that really is Maurice Denham as the fish salesman. Acceptable but not for all.

What can I add about the pleasure of watching Glynis Johns in this delightful fishy fantasy film. Ms Johns captivates all the men around her after being snared in the sea by Griffith Jones, a doctor on a fishing holiday, having left his wife, Googie Withers, at home as she has no interest in fishing. Jones brings Miranda the mermaid back to his house for three weeks, thus causing romantic chaos involving the doctor, his friend, John McCallum, and the chauffeur David Tomlinson who all fall in love with her. She seduces them quite easily as they all embark on carrying her around, in a scheme to hide her mermaids tail from the other wives and girlfriends. Inevitably, having their faces so close to hers, they can't help but eventually wanting to kiss her. Margaret Rutherford is brought in by the doctor to nurse the mermaid which she's delighted to do as conveniently, she's always believed in mermaids. Brian Oulton is the dressmaker called to make some oversized dresses to cover her tail. A fairly short but quite memorable hit at the time of making apparently in 1948. I'm a huge fan of Glynis Johns and praise Talking Pictures TV for showing so many of her films recently and I look forward to watching the sequel I have recorded of Mad About Men.



V

A charming fantasy in which a mermaid appears to a young husband who has got away from it all to go fishing: Glynis Johns shines in the lead as the playful miss with the fish's tail who starts to snare all the men she comes across. Griffith Jones is the man who starts to regret bringing his find back to his home and wife (Googie Withers), while David Tomlinson is appealing as the driver with big ears who Miranda seems particularly taken with.

Quite the best performance in this confection comes from the incomparable Margaret Rutherford, joyous as the ageing nurse who has always believed in the existence of magical creatures such as mermaids. With an amusing and intriguing ending (and a credit ‘ Tail by Dunlop'), ‘Miranda' is one of the highlights of 1940s British cinema. Johns and Tomlinson would appear together again memorably in 1964 as the parents in ‘Mary Poppins'. Jones was still acting on stage recently in his late eighties in small Shakespeare roles. And the mermaid story showed up in another guise with Daryl Hannah, Tom Hanks, and ‘Splash!' some 40 years after ‘Miranda'.

This film about an Englishman on holiday, fishing in the sea and catching, or rather being caught by, a mermaid, may not rank high on the critics lists, but I love it. I used to see it occasionally on the late show many years ago. It probably has not been aired in over 25 years.

This movie is not to be confused with another mermaid movie from 1948 called Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid. One wonders which film came first, and if one film was influenced by the other. The plots are roughly similar, although the themes differ. Miranda was followed six years later with a color sequel called Mad about Men (1954) which I only saw once on the late show over 30 years ago. Hopefully, someday these films will see the light of day.

While out fishing, Dr. Paul Martin is himself caught by a mermaid by the name of Miranda. She brings him to her undersea cave, agreeing to release him only in exchange for a trip to London as his "patient". It is made clear early on that Miranda and men find each other irresistible, and she quickly adds the chauffeur and the fiancé of Paul's neighbor to her list of conquests. This causes more than a little consternation among their respective women, whose pity turns to jealous anger over their eagerness to carry and otherwise indulge the wheelchair-bound Miranda. Since Miranda sleeps in a tub of cold water at night, and her diet consists almost exclusively of raw fish, it's only a matter of time before her secret is revealed (one hilarious clue is that she treats the goldfish bowl as sort of a candy dish). Glynis Johns is utterly charming as Miranda, and Googie Withers is excellent as Paul's ultimately understanding wife. Despite the improbable premise, one can't help but be drawn into this very funny film. And don't miss the scene at the very end, which may leave more questions asked than answered.