Miranda is a 1948 British comedy film starring Glynis Johns in the title role.
Meet Paul Martin (Griffith Jones), a wealthy London doctor who's Happily Married to a woman called Clare (Googie Withers). At least in theory; Clare isn't too fond of Paul's frequent holidays to go fishing in Cornwall, so Paul opts to go on his latest one alone. While out in the boat, he falls overboard and is rescued by the eponymous Miranda. A woman with a beautiful singing voice, flowing long hair and quite a thirst for men.
Oh and she's got a fish tail.
As a mermaid who's never met humans before, Miranda suggests that Paul take her on a trip to London - wrapping her tail up in a long dress and passing her off as a patient. Paul obliges, but Miranda's beauty and casual attitude towards romance causes quite a bit of friction among Paul's chauffeur Charles (David Tomlinson), Clare's painter friend Nigel (John McCallum) and of course Clare herself.
The film was adapted from a play by Peter Blackmore, who also wrote the screenplay. It was directed by Ken Annakin. Dame Margaret Rutherford stars as Nurse Carey - Miranda's Secret-Keeper.
Tropes:
- At the Opera Tonight: Miranda's first wish is to see the opera in London. She asks Paul to take her again, and sings while he's getting her a drink, just so she can say she sang at Covent Garden.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Although 90% of their screen time is spent disagreeing, Nigel and Isobel are shown to truly care for each other - and Isobel feels horrible about destroying Nigel's portrait.
- Babies Ever After: The end shows that Miranda gave birth to a baby.
- Bathtub Mermaid: Miranda sleeps in the bathtub every night. Betty overhearing her splashing around in the water is what helps tip Clare off to her true identity.
- Battleaxe Nurse: Downplayed. Nurse Carey does try to keep Miranda in line, but is ultimately just charmingly eccentric.
- Berserk Button: It turns out Miranda hates being called a "sea cow".
- Big Eater: Miranda has a huge appetite, even eating an entire market stall's worth of seafood. She also sneakily eats a large fish intended for a seal in the zoo.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Miranda sees no problem with having relations with multiple men at a time, even if the men are engaged or married.
- The Burlesque of Venus: Discussed and defied, as Nigel says he'd like to paint Miranda to resemble The Birth of Venus. She's not thrilled with the idea.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Nurse Carey, who's described as "eccentric" and is presumably hired to look after Miranda because if she blabs the secret - no one is likely to believe her. She also gets a scene where she complains about the bandaging on a museum's mummy.
- Costume Porn: Clare, Isobel and Miranda have lots of scenes wearing splendid evening dresses. Clare even gets all dressed up for a scene where she decides to stay in.
- Easily Forgiven: All the men are forgiven incredibly quickly for cheating on their spouses with Miranda. Clare's the only one who even finds out she's a mermaid!
- Ethical Slut: Miranda is not in fact judged or condemned by the narrative for romancing three men at once. Presumably because she only wanted them to make a baby.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Clare has a realisation when she sees an illustration of a mermaid, and puts two and two together about Miranda.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Of course the Head-Turning Beauty Miranda is the only blonde in the cast!
- Foreshadowing: Miranda mentions her "poor Aunt Augusta" a couple of times, as a mermaid who was pickled and put on display. This factors into her decision to escape at the end.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: Miranda is of course the glamorous, sexy one. Betty is the naive, emotional one. Clare is the wise, responsible Team Mom. Isobel is not too mannish, since it's the 1940s, but she's an independent career woman and the most aggressive out of the females.
- Godiva Hair: Surprisingly, Miranda forgoes a Seashell Bra and just has long hair covering her breasts.
- Going Commando: Betty notices that Miranda suspiciously doesn't own any panties.
- Informed Attractiveness: Inverted. Paul describes Clare as merely "nice looking" to Miranda. When she meets her, she gushes that she's far more beautiful than described.
- Inhumanly Beautiful Race: Mermaids are more beautiful than humans, but apparently human males are more attractive than mermen.
- Innocent Innuendo: When Charles first carries Miranda into the apartment, she innocently asks if they're going to his bedroom now.
- Interspecies Romance: According to Miranda, most mermaids prefer to mate with humans, because mermen are less attractive.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Miranda has elements of this, as an unusual yet beautiful woman who livens up the lives of the men involved. However, she ends up with none of the men and the plot is driven by her wishes.
- Mermaid Problem: If there is a problem, we don't see it, as Miranda happily gives birth to a baby thanks to Paul.
- Nice to the Waiter: Paul and Clare seem to care about their employees Charles and Betty as if they're friends.
- Not What It Looks Like: Nurse Carey assumes that Paul and Miranda are getting up to no good in the bathroom, before he reveals the latter as a mermaid.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Miranda cannot turn into a human at all, and has to have her tail wrapped to conceal it. While visiting land is no problem, she has to sleep in a bathtub full of cold water to prevent dehydration. There are mermen in existence, but most mermaids prefer to mate with humans. She also appears to be able to communicate with seals.
- Sirens Are Mermaids: Miranda has a beautiful singing voice that proves stunning enough to wow an entire opera house.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: The last we see of Charles and Betty is him giving her a big kiss to stop her in the middle of a rant.
- Two-Person Pool Party: Paul and Miranda go for a midnight swim which presumably conceives Miranda's baby.
