"Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" (Universal-International, 1948) this was another opportunity to work with one of my favourite screen stars of all time and a true movie legend Ann Blyth. William Powell. Unfortunately, Mr. Powell was very ill during the production, but "you would never have known it." He was a consummate actor and professional at all times. Filming was to start the summer of 1947, but ended up being delayed until February of '48. The cast and crew endured rainy weather, unusually cold temperatures and even pneumonia from some of its principal cast while they managed to "pretend" to be happily secluded on a South Sea island.
The plot revolves around Mr. Peabody (Powell), a "mature" gentleman on the eve of his fiftieth birthday. When he and his beautiful wife (Irene Hervey) escape to a Caribbean seaside retreat for the occasion, the magical "fish story" begins. Powell encounters a mermaid named Lenore (Ann Blyth), and everyone including his wife believes her to be nothing more than a figment of his imagination -- A fantasy manifested out of anxiety over his lost youth.
Andrea King’s scenes had to be filmed inside a giant heated water tank, still located on the Universal back lot. Andrea and Ann Blyth were both accomplished swimmers, so they rose to the challenge of doing their own underwater stunts, including a complicated sequence where Andrea catfights with the jealous mermaid. She recalls that particular day with a laugh. They attempted to film without heat in the middle of winter. "The tank's water heater was malfunctioning, they told us. So we tried anyway for about half hour, but Annie and Andrea King just went numb! I think Annie got terribly sick after that."
In the spring of 1947 Annie had got her driving license, and she what’d to drive down scenic route down CA-243 abounds with mountain vistas and fire-following spring flowers. From Redlands, the CA-38 meanders northeast through an impressive rocky landscape that modulates into conifer territory as one climbs toward Big Bear Dubbed “Southern California’s only four-season resort,” Big Bear Lake nevertheless has an off-season in spring. After the skiers have departed and before the summer crowd has arrived, accommodations are plentiful and cheaper than at other times, although both weather and sightseeing are at their best in spring.
