That scene in the women's wear shop is a hilarious gem of scripting and acting. The relentless saleslady (Field) won't give poor addled Peabody (Powell) a break as he tries oh-so-tactfully to buy half of a swim suit for his uncovered half-woman half- fish (Blythe). Note how he doesn't even mention the pertinent word 'brassiere', a sign, I suppose, of Code-enforced times.
Powell's superb in this whimsical fantasy of replacing your ordinary pet goldfish with a lovely pet mermaid who can trill a siren's song. Trouble is Peabody's got an edgy wife (Hervey) who keeps nosing in at the wrong time, plus an amorous female acquaintance (King) who can't seem to keep her dress on. Naturally, all this produces a series of amusing situations, made more so by the expert cast, including Blythe who only needs to look silently alluring.
My one complaint is the undersea climax. It looks like the screenplay wanted it both ways, happiness with both the mermaid and the wife. But the underwater climax makes no sense and gets only a half-hearted explanation (an air pocket) as if writer Johnson is flummoxed too (maybe by the demands of a meddlesome producer).
Nonetheless, the movie remains an amusing slice of fantasy served up in Powell's inimitable style.
Powell's superb in this whimsical fantasy of replacing your ordinary pet goldfish with a lovely pet mermaid who can trill a siren's song. Trouble is Peabody's got an edgy wife (Hervey) who keeps nosing in at the wrong time, plus an amorous female acquaintance (King) who can't seem to keep her dress on. Naturally, all this produces a series of amusing situations, made more so by the expert cast, including Blythe who only needs to look silently alluring.
My one complaint is the undersea climax. It looks like the screenplay wanted it both ways, happiness with both the mermaid and the wife. But the underwater climax makes no sense and gets only a half-hearted explanation (an air pocket) as if writer Johnson is flummoxed too (maybe by the demands of a meddlesome producer).
Nonetheless, the movie remains an amusing slice of fantasy served up in Powell's inimitable style.