Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)

Director:

Irving Pichel

Writers:

Guy Jones (novel) &
Constance Jones (novel) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 April 1949 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

As told to a psychiatrist: Mr. Peabody, middle-aged Bostonian on vacation with his wife in the Caribbean...

Plot Keywords:

Love Triangle | Whimsical | Love | Male Female Relationship | Quirky

Cast

William Powell	...	Arthur Peabody
Ann Blyth	...	Lenore the Mermaid
Irene Hervey	...	Mrs. Polly Peabody
Andrea King	...	Cathy Livingston
Clinton Sundberg	...	Mike Fitzgerald
Art Smith	...	Dr. Harvey
Hugh French	...	Maj. Ronald Hadley, gigolo
Lumsden Hare	...	Col. Mandrake
Fred Clark	...	Basil the Butler
James Logan	...	Lieutenant
Mary Field	...	Wee Shop Clerk
Beatrice Roberts	...	Mother
Cynthia Corley	...	Miss Martin (Dr. Harvey's' nurse)
Tom Stevenson	...	Waiter
Mary Somerville	...	Lady Trebshaw
Dick Ryan	...	Waiter (as Richard Ryan)
Robert Hyatt	...	Boy (as Bobby Hyatt)
Ivan Browning	...	Sidney (as Ivan H. Browning)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Ryen	...	Waiter (as Richard Ryan)
Lydia Bilbrook	...	Voice (uncredited)
Winifred Harris	...	Voice (uncredited)
Ola Lorraine	...	Receptionist (uncredited)
Carol Savage	...	Daphne (uncredited)

Directed by
Irving Pichel

Writing credits
Guy Jones		(novel "Peabody's Mermaid") &
Constance Jones		(novel "Peabody's Mermaid")
Nunnally Johnson		(writer)

Produced by
Gene Fowler Jr.	....	associate producer
Nunnally Johnson	....	producer

Original Music by
Robert Emmett Dolan

Cinematography by
Russell Metty

Film Editing by
Marjorie Fowler

Art Direction by
Bernard Herzbrun
Boris Leven

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman
Ruby R. Levitt

Costume Design by
Grace Houston

Makeup Department
Carmen Dirigo	....	hair stylist
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Lew Leary	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred Frank	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Leslie I. Carey	....	sound
Corson Jowett	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
David S. Horsley	....	underwater cinematographer
Maurice Goldberg	....	still photographer (uncredited)
James V. King	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Philip H. Lathrop	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Dean Paup	....	grip (uncredited)

Other crew
Jay Hyde	....	production aide
Julia Marcia Davies	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Nunnally Johnson Productions (as Inter-John Productions)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Budd Rogers Releasing Corporation (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Weeki Wachee Springs - 6131 Commercial Way, Weeki Wachee, Florida, USA

Company:

Nunnally Johnson Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the underwater fight scene, one shot shows that the fishtail costume had clearly separated from Lenore's back.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

Soundtrack:

THE CARIBEES

A Charming and Wistful Fantasy; Great Dialogue, and Very Fine Acting

Some postmodernists have suggested this is a dramatic film. It is a satire--the sort of film where the hero cannot fail because of his/her values, ideas and ethical self-command. The central character in this well-loved feature is an man (William Powell) who has reached the age of fifty. He has a lovely wife (Irene Hervey) but he is restless; he has lost the sense of adventure in his life, and his wife is treating him as if he were "old". Then on a fishing trip, he catches a mermaid (Ann Blyth). She cannot talk, she has a tale and lives beneath the sea; but she does not think he is old, she finds him kind, fascinating and absorbing. Of course this fabulous find upsets his staid routine and disrupts all his relationships. He has to keep the lovely young mermaid a secret; He takes her home, where she takes a bubble bath. Andrea King all-but-steals the film; she is gorgeous, on the make for him, and suspicious that he is hiding something. A highlight of the film comes when she dons a bathing suit (she is a champion swimmer and gorgeous) and investigates the mermaid tale underwater, where Blyth bites her on the leg. Clinton Sundberg, one of the best line-readers on planet, plays a man who is giving up smoking with whom Powell has droll conversations. Art Smith plays the psychiatrist to whom he confesses his find; he is also older, and has had a fantasy of his own. Ever the practical sort, Powell tries to buy half a bathing suit, with hilarious results; he also eventually has to explain the goings on to his wife; this is a character-based adult script by Nunnally Johnson adapted from Guy and Constance Jones' novel "Peabody's Mermaid"; and it makes, by my lights, an unforgettable, charming and beautiful made film. Irving Pichel directed with verve and intelligence. others in the cast include Lumsden Hare, Fred Clark, James Logan, Mary Field, Beatrice Roberts, Mary Sommerville and many more in smaller roles. The film boasts fine underwater cinematography by David Horsley and Russell Mettey's usual very fine work. Original music was composed by Robert Emmet Dolan with art direction supplied by Bernard Herzbrun and Boris Leven; the difficult set decorations were supplied by talented Russell A. Gausman and Ruby R. Leavitt with costumes designed by Grace Houston. Carmen Dirigo is credited with the film's challenging hair stylings and Bud Westmore with the makeup for Lenore the mermaid and the rest of this talented and beautifully-chosen cast (a hallmark, I suggest of Nunnally Johnsons' films, since he co-produced as well as writing the script). This is not a film about someone being old; it is a wistful and intelligent look at being human, using the fantasy of a mermaid who is decidedly real as a symbol of youth itself--Mr. Peabody's youth--in which others believe or do not depending on their attitude to selfhood and individual desert. I find this film a touching and memorable screen achievement, thanks to all concerned.