Mad About Men–Miranda Strikes Again

Miranda is mad about men, she’s man crazy!

In this colorized sequel from 1954, we meet Miranda again.  She arranges a way to get back on land and do what she does best–flirt with every man around.  She does show some limitation by rejecting the ever boring Ronald but we’ll get to that later.

Here’s our cast of characters:

                                   Caroline Trewella=gym teacher      Ronald=her boring fiancé                          Col. Barclay and Barbara=an engaged couple

                                   Jeff=a handsome fisherman            Nurse Carey=Miranda’s confidant           Berengaria=a crazy ditsy mermaid

In Mad About Men, Caroline Trewella discovers a mermaid living in the basement/cave below her home in Cornwall.  The women share an ancestor (their great grandma was a mermaid) and they look as if they could be twins so Miranda decides to take advantage of that.  Here we go on another adventure!

 

Caroline hears a sound from the basement of the house she has just moved into.  It’s some kind of ocean sound almost like a calling to her.  She takes the stairs down and finds there is a cove with a mermaid, her exact twin, blowing into a conch shell.  Miranda says that all the mermen are gone at a Coral Convention and she is bored.  (uh oh).  They decide to switch lives.  Caroline will go on a camping trip and Miranda will take her place for 2 weeks.  They will say that Caroline had an accident and Nurse Carey will come to help Miranda pull off the switch.  Will it work?

Nurse Carey sets off to get raw fish (for food) and gold (from her treasure box) to purchase clothes.  She flirts with the salesman and plays with his hair in order to get a good deal (which of course, she does).  She spots a very handsome man, Jeff, and goes right over to meet him.  She has decided that Caroline’s fiancé Ronald, is too boring and unattractive, so she in on the hunt.   Jeff turns out to be a wonderful man.  She tells him she loves his legs (since she hasn’t any and is fascinated with them).  They kiss and cuddle.

The next day she has salt water and shrimp for breakfast.  Ronald calls to say he is coming and Miranda finds him to be a stuffy guy.  She decides to have dinner with Col. Barclay and Barbara.  She adds salt to her drink and Barbara remarks, “She drinks like a fish!”  Barclay takes her home, carries her in and kisses her.  In walks Ronald.  He’s not happy.

The next day she is caught kissing Jeff and Miranda eats a raw fish!  That night at home, they have dinner (Mussel Soup).  Miranda gets so fed up with Ronald that she dumps the soup on his head.

The next day she meets up with Barclay again.  He proposes and they kiss.  Later Jeff comes to visit, bringing lobsters with him, he proposes, and they kiss.  She’s a busy little flirt.

Barbara, on the other hand, is suspicious and jealous.  She decides to take a swim in the ocean and happens upon the cove.  It is here that she “swims into” Benengaria–that silly crazy mermaid that squeals, sings (off key), and splashes around. Barbara now realizes that Miranda is a mermaid and that she and Caroline have switched places.  She sets her up to fail when she has her sing at her concert on the pier.  Caroline has returned and takes her position on stage, on a piano, to sing.  The problem is that Caroline can’t sing but Miranda can.  Miranda has escaped under the pier above the concert.  Nurse Carey slips the microphone down to Miranda in the water and she sings while Caroline pretends.  Barbara walks over on stage and plans to expose her tail but it is Caroline so her exposure fails!

There was a lot of kissing in this sequel which is what Miranda is best at–beguiling men at every turn!  But this sequel earns only 3 stars *** from me.  I expected more humorous and clever moments.  There were so many times for this to occur, but, didn’t.  In any event, it was a pleasant movie.

Enjoy a silly snippet from the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpYL8ZrwzwA

 

 

 

Mermaid Miranda–The End

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0ss67MsivQ

She flirts with Nigel, Paul, and Charles.  She says the same to each man,  “Say my name.”  They kiss.  The men are falling in love.  The funniest part of the movie for me is when Manuel exclaims, “I forbid you to upset me!”  He was all aflutter.

Paul takes her to a nearby pond and she expresses to Paul, “Please unzip me.  I shall die if I don’t get into water!”  They kiss, and she swims off.  The problem is that they have been seen…by Paul’s wife Claire.     :0

No one knows this but Miranda is preparing to leave and she gives all the men a kiss and a gift–a lock of her hair in a pendant to wear around their necks, “…as a token of a love that might have been.”  Boy, does she know who to play it.  She gives Nurse Carrie real pearls from the sea.  It is noted that Miranda never needs panties, “I think there’s something fishy about Miranda!”  lol

There is a fishbowl in the front hallway, filled with goldfish but as the movie continues, the fish disappear.  Hm….we know who’s eating those little fishies.  Claire decides to look up “mermaid” in the dictionary to find that it simply says, half woman, half fish.

Claire realizes that Miranda gets dehydrated without her bath water.  She starts to put the clues together. Paul and Miranda come into the room and Claire is searching for a word in her crossword puzzle:  mermaid.  The answer?  Sea cow!  It is clear that Claire knows for sure and that she’s a bit miffed (doesn’t she have every right to be??)

In the next scene the fishbowl is completely empty (she needed a snack).  Paul and Claire realize Miranda is gone.  The wheelchair that she sometimes used was down by the water, empty.

She had said that she wanted to be somewhere nice in May.  Why do you think?

just who is the father, or, how does that work in merpeople?

The lesson learned?  Claire and Paul realize that they never want to have vacations apart again and they end up renewing their love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI8VVVYNoao

Glynis Johns plays Miranda so spendidly.  Let’s hear what she has to say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P3x1Ax39BA

Next up, Mad About Men.  The sequel to Miranda.  Should be good!

 

Miranda the Mermaid

First of all, what is the definition of a mermaid?  A female marine creature with the tail of a fish, a sea nymph, one who beguiles men and lures mariners to destruction with their seductive singing, also known as sirens.  Well, I have a perfect example of one who beguiles men, they fall all over her and want to marry her and her name is Miranda:

 

 

 

 

 

This movie was made in 1948 and is highly entertaining, surprisingly so, as you will see!  I give it ***** 5 stars.  It’s humorous, unexpected, delightful and clever.  It also deals with something that shocked me but we’ll look at that later.  Here’s a little preview:

Paul and Claire seem to have fallen into a marital rut so Paul decides to take a fishing “holiday” (it’s a British movie) in Cornwall, apart from his wife.  As he leaves Claire says, “You never know what you might find down there!”  If she only knew…

So Paul is in his boat and falls into the water where of course, Miranda the mermaid snaps him up and pulls him down into her water cave.  Paul is at first shocked and worried.  Miranda replies to his concerns:  “The last two were too short so I had to throw them out” and “I’m thinking of keeping you for myself” and “Your wife will find another husband”.  She has an answer for everything and then she started singing as all mermaids do and lures him to her.  Before you know it they are cuddling.  For food? She loves raw fish and for Paul, she swims up to his boat and retrieves his food basket.

Miranda wants to live on the land.  They hatch a plan for her to arrive at his house as his patient who has trouble walking (Paul is a doctor).  Paul orders clothes for her (longer than normal in order to cover up her tail) from his tailor and this is where I was shocked–in a good way.  The tailor was a very gay man, pretty progressive for 1948.  It was wonderful, a delightful component to add to this black and white movie!  Paul orders her a sea green outfit and Paul ends up carrying her around through the whole movie with her tail covered.  He also orders barrels of raw fish for her (she loves sushi right?).  When Paul returns home, Claire asks if he caught any big ones and he replies, “A whopper!”  If Claire only knew…or will she figure it out?

Stay tuned…she hasn’t even begun to beguile!