I'm not sure whether Mr. Peabody's(William Powell) tale of falling in love with a singing mermaid is simply a bizarre manifestation of a midlife crisis, or perhaps the result of a bout of schizophrenia, or maybe the result of taking a psychoactive drug. In any case, his tale clearly was disturbing to those he told it to. Clinton Sundberg's character was so disturbed that he resumed drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes: 4 at a time! Strangely, no one else saw what he saw, only a big fish. For the most part, I found the film boring. Perhaps it was meant mostly to entertain children, in the manner of "The Little Mermaid". It might have been made more palatable if Lenore(Peabody's name for Ann Blyth's mermaid) was given the capacity to talk as well sing eerily. She seemed to understand English, so why couldn't she talk, thus providing some insight into her past and life? His wife(Polly) confused his ardor for Lenore with an interaction with Cathy(Andrea King): a casual acquaintance, who seemed to take a liking to him. Polly got mad and left Peabody for home. Incidentally, Irene Hervey , who played Polly, looked a good deal like Myrna Loy, Powell's frequent costar, as in "The Thin Man "series. See it, if you wish, at YouTube.