Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)

There could have been some real pathos here in the device of a man facing his mid-life crisis also happening upon a beautiful and very young mermaid. But instead the movie is just plain funny and fun. It's a good movie, and a deliberately limited one, the events taking place mostly in a little resort-seeming set where the lead man, Mr. Peabody (the wonderful William Powell), fights with the meaning of a mermaid who has fallen in love with him.

I say pathos right away because what the movie needs is some edge, and it's almost there. It's not at all as silly as it sounds. The mermaid, played by Ann Blyth (who was nineteen when it was filmed, next to Powell's 56), is certainly a coy and apparently enticing thing. Peabody is both taken with her, but (if you know Powell at all from the "Thin Man" or "My Man Godfrey") Peabody plays it cool and never quite falls for her, even if he would like to. He does however seem to abandon his wife at one point (or she abandons him, and he lets her), so the complications are echoes of the most ordinary situations in post-war America: an older man finds a younger woman and makes a mistake, or what the movie portrays as a mistake.

There are psychological and social depths here that are only hinted at, as would be the mode of the era, but in a way that's enough to make it a "delight," which is no demeaning word. Powell is great, finally done with his Thin Man series (the last was 1945), and he still has that elegant but odd charm about him that is utterly unique. The rest of the cast is played by types--the beautiful good wife with a little spunk, the beautiful temptress woman at the resort with a little too much spunk for the wife's taste, and a host of less characters. And the mermaid? None other than the daughter from "Mildred Pierce."

Scuba fans and underwater types will love all the really good footage of Blyth (the mermaid) doing a great job swimming and being a bit randy, as any good mermaid would who hadn't met a man for who knows how long. A highlight? When Powell shows her how to kiss. Check it out!

William Powell stars as Mr. Peabody, a married man and on the verge of 50, and Ann Blyth as a mermaid he snags on his fishing rod one fanciful day, and ultimately falling for her. Usually I don't read other reviewers, but I did happen to scan over a few and found most of them liked this film. You can't help but like anything that William Powell is in; he gives anything he's in charm and a high regard it may not possess without him.

Having said that, this movie suffers mostly from a weak script and an awkward feel to it due to its staginess and the use of a flashback, in the form of telling the story to a psychiatrist. I can't help feeling it would have been more effective in the present day, as it was happening right now. It does a mystical feel to it and I can see how someone would have fond feelings for it having seen it as a child and therefore see past its technical flaws.

Ann Blyth is good and quite striking as the mermaid, who rightly doesn't speak a word, unlike Glynis Johns in "Miranda." With Glynis Johns' "Miranda" being made in 1948 also, I get the feeling that this was made to capitalize on "Miranda"'s success. It may not have the magic and humor that "Miranda" has, but, if you like William Powell and like his usual quirky approach to life's dilemmas, you'll be pleased for 90 minutes.

William Powell plays a man whose wife thinks he's having a mid-life crisis and who police later think has murdered his wife! It all is told through a flashback as Mr. Peabody tells how this all transpired. Apparently, he was in the Caribbean with his wife and managed to catch a sexy young mermaid (Ann Blythe). While he tries to tell his wife, she isn't willing to listen--even though he went to all the trouble to bring the mermaid home! Later, after the wife leaves him (she thinks he's having an affair), the cops begin to think he's killed her. What exactly happens next you'll have to see for yourself.

This is not the most distinguished film William Powell ever made. Now it's not because the story idea is bad, but the writing just didn't seem to always make a lot of sense. It was like they had a nice story idea but weren't sure exactly where to go with it. They seemed unsure if it should be a comedy, a fantasy, a romance or melodrama--and the ending sure didn't help. It SHOULD have been a lot better given the plot and Powell--a wonderful and generally underrated actor. Worth seeing, though.