{"id":9236,"date":"2009-08-18T20:31:33","date_gmt":"2009-08-19T03:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9236"},"modified":"2021-01-29T20:22:46","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T03:22:46","slug":"mermaids-of-tiburon-the-1962","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9236","title":{"rendered":"Mermaids of Tiburon, The (1962)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you believe in me? If you do, there will always be mermaids.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Mermaids-of-Tiburon-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Mermaids-of-Tiburon-Poster-196x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66932\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Mermaids-of-Tiburon-Poster-196x300.png 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Mermaids-of-Tiburon-Poster-669x1024.png 669w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Mermaids-of-Tiburon-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Mermaids-of-Tiburon-Poster-176x270.png 176w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Mermaids-of-Tiburon-Poster.png 727w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA marine biologist (George Rowe) in search of rare &#8220;flame pearls&#8221; travels to Tiburon Island, where he discovers mermaids; meanwhile, a ruthless gangster (Timothy Carey) and his Mexican shipmate (Jose Gonzales-Gonzales) pursue the pearls themselves.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At Sea<\/li>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Mermaids<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<em>The Mermaids of Tiburon<\/em> &#8212; written and directed by underwater photographer John Lamb &#8212; is perhaps the only mermaid film (itself a limited sub-genre) to take place primarily off-land. Lamb does an admirable job evoking a naturalistic water environment for the gorgeous mermaids encountered by Rowe; it&#8217;s easy to believe that such a magical underwater haven &#8212; complete with luminous &#8220;flame pearls&#8221; nestled in gigantic clam shells &#8212; might actually exist. Unfortunately, the flimsy storyline about a competitive search for rare pearls (complete with a mano-a-mano fight between Rowe and Carey at the end) is cliched, badly acted, and best ignored altogether; it simply functions as a necessary framework for Lamb&#8217;s extensive mermaid footage. Meanwhile, the Cousteau-esque voiceover narration while Rowe is underwater is unintentionally humorous, and good for a few laughs &#8212; as when Rowe solemnly states, &#8220;The question occurred to me: just exactly how feminine <em>was<\/em> this mermaid?&#8221;, or notes to himself, &#8220;I was being drawn to this creature by something more than just a scientific interest.&#8221; (No kidding!) <\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, when <em>Mermaids of Tiburon<\/em> failed to generate much interest at the box office, Lamb decided to shoot additional footage of topless mermaids, re-releasing the film as <em>The Aqua Sex<\/em>; this later version &#8212; the one now widely available on DVD &#8212; is little more than shameless soft-core porn, with buxomy starlets swimming nearly naked (in seaweed &#8220;bikinis&#8221;), and green flippers substituted for mermaid tails Lamb apparently wanted viewers to have visual access to the women&#8217;s curvy behinds, but this decision ultimately makes them look more like swimming strippers than mermaids.  If you do decide to seek out this camp classic, make sure to watch the original version, with playmate Diane Webber as Queen of the Mermaids &#8212; she&#8217;s infinitely more alluring in her bra-shells and mermaid tail than the topless woman replacing her in Lamb&#8217;s updated &#8220;audience pleasing&#8221; version. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some beautiful imagery, both above and below water<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mermaids-tiburon-cave.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mermaids-tiburon-cave.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9241\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mermaids-underwater.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mermaids-underwater.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9242\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mermaids-shark.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mermaids-shark.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9243\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard LaSalle&#8217;s haunting score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though you may be curious to check it out once. Listed as a Camp Classic in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0056233\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=2803&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/allmovie.com\/work\/the-mermaids-of-tiburon-32276\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2017\/04\/08\/mermaids-of-tiburon-1962\/\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you believe in me? If you do, there will always be mermaids.&#8221; Synopsis: A marine biologist (George Rowe) in search of rare &#8220;flame pearls&#8221; travels to Tiburon Island, where he discovers mermaids; meanwhile, a ruthless gangster (Timothy Carey) and his Mexican shipmate (Jose Gonzales-Gonzales) pursue the pearls themselves. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: At Sea Fantasy Mermaids Review: The Mermaids of Tiburon &#8212; written and directed by underwater photographer John Lamb &#8212; is perhaps the only mermaid film (itself&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9236\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9236"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66933,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236\/revisions\/66933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}