Miranda

If it weren't for the fact that the two films came out around the same time in different countries, I'd say the other either copied the British Miranda or the USA's Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid. Both William Powell and Griffith Jones go fishing and get themselves a fetching young mermaid for their troubles.

Ann Blyth's Lenore in Mr. Peabody is a silent young lady, but that's definitely not true of Glynis Johns in the title role of Miranda. She not only talks, but is rather well read on human kind. Of course one does not learn everything from books.especially some of the interspecies facts of life.

Because it's a man that Miranda is seeking. The mermen of the oceans seem to be just not her type. And though Griffith Jones is married he is taken with her.

Being a doctor Jones concocts a wild cover story involving her being a paraplegic patient who has come to live with him and wife Googie Withers. He has dresses made an extra foot long to cover her tail and has her in a wheelchair for the most part. And she's on an exclusively fish diet. Unusual doctor's orders to say the least.

Miranda is a nice little fantasy and Glynis Johns practically glows in the title role. Besides Jones and Withers other performances of note are David Tomlinson as their butler and the irrepressible Margaret Rutherford as the practical nurse that is engaged.

Hopefully it will come out on DVD/VHS and soon.

This is a one-of-a-kind fantasy movie that beautifully showcased such major talents as Glynis Johns and Margaret Rutherford. I can hardly wait til this movie is made available for sale (if the film is still in good shape, why hasn't it been available yet?). In my view, there simply isn't enough information, or good movies, on the subject of mermaids, and hopefully this could be rectified by an updated version of this movie..I haven't casted it in my mind yet, but there are a handful of worthies that come to mind for Miranda. However, it will be a more difficult task to find someone even close to our beloved Margaret Rutherford.

Like so many other people who have commented, I saw this film as a very young boy on television and was mesmerized by it.

So taken with it that I followed Miss Johns career and was amply rewarded. She's always been a delight..and not to forget that she was the original cast member to sing "Send in the Clowns". Margaret Rutherford also sticks in my memory as the hilarious nurse. When I saw the Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah film many years later, I immediately was drawn back in time and remembered a much more delicate, sweet film as this one is.

Please....please....release this movie on DVD??

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

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.