Miranda *** (1948, Glynis Johns, Googie Withers, Griffith Jones, John McCallum, Margaret Rutherford, David Tomlinson) – Classic Movie Review 9,366

Director Ken Annakin’s 1947 British black and white light comedy fantasy film Miranda stars Glynis Johns, who makes a very fetching mermaid called Miranda Trewella, who talks young married physician Dr Paul Martin (Griffith Jones), currently enjoying a fishing holiday, into bringing her home to London, where she hides her tail in a wheelchair to keep her secret and wow society.

This droll hit romantic fantasy comedy is briskly and capably directed by Annakin, with some favourite British eccentric actresses in support. Miranda is a less sophisticated and less amusing precursor of the 1984 Splash!. But it is still quite fun and very well played, and it was popular enough for an eventual sequel, Mad about Men, seven years later, also with Glynis Johns and Margaret Rutherford (as Nurse Carey) reprising their roles. It is a shame that Miranda is not in colour, though, but the 1954 sequel is in colour.

Peter Blackmore co-adapts his own London and New York hit play, writing the screenplay with Denis Waldock (additional dialogue). Blackmore wrioe it after reading a scientific article about mermaids.

Also in the cast are Googie Withers, Margaret Rutherford, David Tomlinson, Sonia Holm, John McCallum, Maurice Denham, Yvonne Owen, Lyn Evans, Brian Oulton, Zena Marshall, Howard Douglas, Charles Penrose, Stringer Davis, Hal Osmond, Anthony Drake, Charles Rolfe, and Gerald Campion.

Margaret Rutherford appears with her husband Stringer Davis, as usual.

It is made at Gainsborough Studios, Islington, London, with some outside filming in Cornwall at Looe, Polperro and St Austell.

It was rushed into production to beat the 1948 American Mr Peabody and the Mermaid with William Powell and Ann Blyth into cinemas.

Gainsborough Pictures studio head Sydney Box fired original director Michael Chorlton after less than two weeks’ shooting, hating his wide-angle, deep focus filming. Annakin took over with just three days to prepare. He said the ‘script was full of well-tried, funny fishy jokes’ and ‘was inevitably going to be a stagey-type movie’. He developed a crush on Johns and they later make six more films together.

The end credits acknowledge ‘Tail by Dunlop’. All underwater scenes were shot with a stunt double, in which Joan Hebden wore the ‘tail by Dunlop’, a famed British multinational company manufacturing natural rubber goods. Glynis Johns recalled that the rubber tail was very buoyant, often keeping her head under the water.

Shooting took place on location in London and Cornwall.

Miranda is directed by Ken Annakin, runs 80 minutes, is made by Sydney Box Productions and Gainsborough Pictures, is distributed by General Film Distributors (GFD) (1948) (UK) and Eagle-Lion Films (1949) (US), is written by Peter Blackmore and Denis Waldock (additional dialogue), based on Peter Blackmore’s play, is shot in black and white by Raymond Elton, is produced by Sydney Box and Betty E Box, is scored by Temple Abady and is designed by George Patterson.

It is followed by the sequel, Mad About Men (1954).

In Helter Skelter (1949), Glynis Johns makes an uncredited cameo as Miranda. Johns and Tomlinson played another couple, Mrs and Mr Banks, in Mary Poppins (1964). Johns has a mermaid tail in a brief flashback sequence in Under Milk Wood (1971).

Miranda is directed by Ken Annakin, runs 80 minutes, is made by Gainsborough Pictures, is distributed by J Arthur Rank, General Film Distributors (UK) and Eagle Lion (US). is written by Peter Blackmore and Denis Waldock (additional dialogue), based on the play Miranda by Peter Blackmore, is shot by Ray Elton and Bryan Langley (uncredited), is produced by Betty E Box, and is scored by Temple Abady.

Release date: 6 April 1948.

The cast are Glynis Johns as Miranda Trewella, Googie Withers as Clare Martin, Griffith Jones as Dr Paul Martin, John McCallum as Nigel, Margaret Rutherford as Nurse Carey, David Tomlinson as Charles, Yvonne Owen as Betty, Sonia Holm as Isobel, Brian Oulton as Manell, Zena Marshall as Secretary, Lyn Evans as Inn Landlady, Stringer Davis as Museum Attendant, Hal Osmond as Railway Carman, Maurice Denham as Cockle Vendor, Howard Douglas, Charles Penrose, Anthony Drake, Charles Rolfe, and Gerald Campion.

Glynis Johns (5 October 1923 – 4 January 2024).

Glynis Johns turned 100 on 5 October 2023 and died in Los Angeles on 4 January 2024. She was the oldest living Academy Award nominee in any acting category and the oldest living Disney Legend. She appeared in more than 60 films over eight decades, making her screen debut at age 15 in South Riding (1938).

Glynis Margaret Payne Johns was born in Pretoria, South Africa, on 5 October 1923, the daughter of Welsh actor Mervyn Johns.

Her first husband, the actor Anthony Forwood, died in 1988, and her son, Gareth Forwood, died in 2007.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9,366

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