Customer Reviews

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid [VHS]

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had fond memories of seeing "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" on TV when I was a kid, and I think I enjoyed the film even more when I recently watched the home video version. A classic black-and-white film, it has a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson and is directed by Irving Pichel. The film stars William Powell as Arthur Peabody, a married man who is experiencing great anxiety over his impending 50th birthday. He and Mrs. Peabody (a wonderful performance by Irene Hervey) take a vacation to St. Hilda's, a Caribbean island under British rule. But the story quickly takes a turn into the fantastic when Mr. P discovers a beautiful mermaid (Ann Blyth).

Although the film is certainly appropriate for a family audience, it does have a deliciously "naughty" feel; it's full of drinking, extramarital flirting, and smoking (two memorable sight gags involve the last of those vices). But that probably just reflects the times when the film was made.

The production values and performances are first rate. Powell has a marvelously sympathetic "everyman" quality as Peabody, and Hervey brings a nice mixture of sweetness and fire to her role as the exasperated wife. Blyth nearly steals the film as the enchanting mermaid. She is mischievous and childlike, but with an alluring sexuality bubbling beneath the innocent surface. Her chemistry with Powell is delightful and touching.

The film is full of some great visual images; there is some particularly memorable underwater photography. "Mr Peabody" is one classic film that's still a lot of fun.

However you measure it, this movie is a keeper. Having seen it afterschool as a little kid, it still works it's magic on me 40+ years later. "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" is a charming mix of reality versus fantasy. William Powell as the stiff-upper-crust-Bostonian who slides unwittingly into the fantasy of catching and keeping a real mermaid, played by the enchanting Ann Blyth is a masterpiece of casting. His mid-life crisis gently shoves him over the edge and what an edge it is. The sharp contrast between the bored tropical colonials and the sweet tenderness of Mr. Peabody and his mermaid divides the characters into two widely different groups -- the adults who are in a paradise but cannot see it; and the mermaid who pulls Peabody into a paradise which he embraces wholeheartedly. For a time he is a kid again. Eventually the adults gang up on Peabody and drag him back to the cold reality of being an adult. The question is was she real or was Peabody in need of serious therapy? Amazing what an effect a tropical paradise can have on a person. Please do snuggle up with your loved ones and enjoy this story again and again.

This a great old film that deserves to be on DVD. I'm sure there are many Boomers out there that remember this film and would vote for its release to DVD. Thanks, Anita

This is without a doubt, a magical, treasured story the memory of which I have carried with me from my childhood! I remember seeing it when I was 8 or 9 years old and it stirred my imagination so that it left a lasting impression that has remained with me through the years! I am 52 and a Viet Nam Vet and believe me, this wonderful story will bring anyone back to an age of innoncence lost long ago, and help re-introduce it to those of the younger set who never knew it! A must for the little ones too! True Baby Boomers will love it!

All the reviews here, correctly, state what a terrific movie this is. But for me...just having turned 60...I confirm the absolute veracity of an early line of the movie, a voice-over by the great William Powell: "Ah, fifty. The old age of youth, and the youth of old age.." That, my friends, is the truth. Now, however, I am one lucky boomer to be able to confirm also that "sixty is the new forty." So, there it is. Enjoy te movie, a lovely fairytale on the aging process. Now, can we have it in a DVD?

What a great surprise to find this old video from my past. It was a favorite of mine and my sister. William Powell finds the mermaid so intriguing and lovely he must be with her reguardless of what anyone thinks. A good story and one I am glad to be able to see over again.

A charming and lovely film. My favorite movie simply for the reason that movies like this will never be made anymore. The film features crisp black and white cinematography. William Powell is dapper and the exquisite Ann Blyth is at the height of her beauty. The Wee Shop and Flying Squad sketches deserve special mention due to wonderful acting performances. Although this film is classified as a comedy/fantasy, I found the ending to be quite sad. In spite of the moral lesson at the end of the story, I feel that there should have been a more cheerful ending for Mr. Peabody and his beautiful maiden of the sea.

I remember seeing this movie with my mom years ago, when I was little and I used to pretend I was a mermaid in our pool! (what little girl didn't!)I loved it and hadn't seen it years and it happened to be on TV the other night and it brought back such fun memories so I found it on the internet and ordered it!

than we see in some of his earlier films such as The Thin Man series, I Love You Again, Love Crazy and My Man Godfrey. He has put aside his witty, comedic genius to portray a gentle, sensitive and serious man confused and frightened by the advent of old age.

And we see a very young Ann Blythe, whose career blossomed, then was cut short when she retired upon marrying to raise a family. She has no dialogue (mermaids cannot talk, although they sing very well), yet she is a master of facial expressions, tender, naive emotions and even cries at the drop of a hat albeit underneath the sea. She is perfect for the part.

The film is about their relationship, with a secondary theme about Powell's wife (excellently protrayed by Irene Hervey), who is attracted to a local while on vacation and is experiencing temptations involved in long marriages (and perhaps her own trepidations about leaving middle age behind).

Mermaids have fascinated me since reading Hans Christian Andersen. And whimsy honestly portrayed is delightful. This is a gentle, tender and dear movie. There are some good laughs in it, and the outcome is more lifelike than ideal. Did she really exist, or was she a hallucination? We are given a lifetime to ponder this.

The psychiatrist making an appearance at the beginning and at the end of the film is played by Art Smith, and his acting is excellent. Besides Powell and Blythe, he really stands out.

But it is the different William Powell who as usual holds center stage; his acting which appears so easy is for all to admire.

Unlike the relatively recent Splash, which jump-started the career of a young TV star Tom Hanks into the ranks of movie superstardom, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid goes about the Mermaid story from the opposite side of the romantic spectrum. Furthermore, it does so with more sophistication and a greater sense of discernment into what lies behind the allure of such a mythical creature as a mermaid - (Hint, it's not non-stop coupling atop the refrigerator.) In this early version, the aging Mr. Peabody's sense of youth slipping away forever becomes so strong that he actually comes to believe in his mermaid, when we and everyone else are left to wonder just what it is he thinks he has discovered. Despite a serious illness during the shooting, paralleling the script's opening, Powell carries off this thespian slight-of-hand with practiced aplomb, and by the time the movie ends we realize we, like the mermaid, have also been caught and intriqued.
The excellent cast never overdoes the fantasy, and the graceful whimsy carries through without a hitch. Ms. Blyth, who played Joan Crawford's daughter in Mildred Pierce just two years previously, and was nominated for an Academy award as best supporting actress, conveys a totally different female persona here, capturing to a remarkable degree the perfect balance of naiviete and coquetry - if only actresses today might underplay their roles with such quietude and disarming ease.
Hopefully this will be released on DVD, along with a restored version of those other two fine films Powell made late in his career, Life With Father, and The Senator Was Indiscreet.