GB
1954
1hr 30mins
Dir: Ralph Thomas
Starring: Glynis Johns and Donald Sinden
A flirtatious mermaid swaps places with a schoolteacher who has gone on holiday
Despite the six-year gap and the film’s poor attempt at trying to emulate the charming original, Mad About Men is in fact the sequel to Miranda (qv). It was not well received but is still a delightful little romp. Like the first film it features some good railway shots, though unlike Miranda the continuity is a little hit and miss. None the less, as it was produced in Technicolor, these shots are a treasure. There is a general view of the platforms of London Paddington near the start of the film as Glynis Johns begins her journey to Cornwall, which is followed by a shot of the Cornish Riviera Express (stencil headcode ‘130’) pulling out of platform 2 hauled by an ex-GWR ‘King’ Class 4-6-0. There is then a nice lineside view from Terras Level Crossing of a 4575 Class 2-6-2T with a train on the Looe branch. However, these accurate shots for a journey to the Duchy are somewhat spoiled by the final railway shot, which shows a train arriving at Seer Green and Jordans station on the GW&GC Joint in Buckinghamshire. The loco in this instance is too far off to identify. The carriage interior scene looks to be the real thing.
