Mr. Peabody And The Mermaid (1948)

While on vacation in the Caribbean with his wife (Irene Hervey, PLAY MISTY FOR ME), a man (William Powell) while out fishing catches a mermaid (Ann Blyth) by hooking her tail! Instead of tossing her back in the sea, he brings her back to his villa and places her in its deep pond. Of course, he falls in love with her. This is a rather sweetly romantic fantasy, often attributed as the inspiration for the 1984 hit SPLASH even though it wasn't a remake. The film focuses on Powell's obsession with the mermaid as a mid-life crisis (he's turning 50) and since he's married, the flirtation with adultery is quite daring for a 1940s film. Indeed, one of the funniest sequences in the film is when he attempts to buy only the top portion of a two piece bathing suit for the topless mermaid ("She won't need the bottom!") from a befuddled saleslady (Mary Field). Powell brings some pathos to his role but Blyth, whose character doesn't speak, doesn't have much to do but react. Even with its adult content in mind, I suspect it's children who would enjoy this fantasy more than adults would today. Directed by Irving Pichel. With Andrea King and Clinton Sundberg in the film's best performance.