The Best Roles of Glynis Johns

Today legendary actress Glynis Johns turned 100 years old. She had a remarkable career that lasted decades, from the late Thirties to the late Nineties. She appeared on stage, in film, and on television. With an ethereal beauty, Glynis Johns could have made a good living simply playing romantic interests on stage and in film, but instead she played a wide variety of roles. Over the years she played everything from a mermaid to a suffragette to a famed author. What is more, she played all of them well. For that reason, choosing Glynis Johns's best roles is not an easy task.

Glynis Johns was born on October 5 1923 in Pretoria, Union of South Africa. It would be accurate to say that acting was in her blood. Her father was Welsh actor Melvyn Johns, perhaps most familiar to viewers today from his role in the horror classic Dead of Night (1945). Her mother was Alyce Steele-Wareham, an esteemed concert pianist and an accomplished violinist. Her family having returned to the United Kingdom not long after her birth, she started training in ballet when she was only five years old. At eight years old she played Sonia Kuman in the play Judgement Day at the Phoenix Theatre in London. She was only fifteen when she made her film debut in South Riding in 1938. Coming from a theatrical family and trained nearly from birth to perform, there is little wonder that Glynis Johns should be a remarkable talent.

Without further ado, here are what I consider to be Glynis Johns's five best roles, although I could list many more.

Miranda (1948): Based on the play by Peter Blackmore, Miranda starred Glynis Johns as the mermaid of the title. Miranda has an incredible power over men, complicated by the fact that she tends to flirt with every single man she meets. Naturally, this arouses jealousy in the wives of these men. Much to the misfortune of Claire Martin (Googie Withers), Miranda is most interested in her husband, Dr. Paul Martin (Griffith Jones). A lesser actress may have depended primarily upon their looks to play Miranda, but Glynis Johns endows the character with a real personality, making the mermaid all the more seductive. Miranda was released the same year as the Hollywood classic Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), starring William Powell and Ann Blyth. As much as I love Ann Blyth and as good a job as she did in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, I think Glynis Johns was actually the better of the two.

The Court Jester (1955): In The Court Jester, Danny Kaye plays Hubert Hawkins, a minstrel of a band of rebels led by the Black Fox. To infiltrate the castle, the rebels meet and then knock unconscious tyrannical King Roderick's new court jester, Giacomo (John Carradine), so Hubert can assume his identity and infiltrate the king's castle. Among the captains of the rebels is Maid Jean, played by Glynis Johns. Jean is a far cry from Maid Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Jean is skilled with the sword and with the bow, and fight better than most men. At the same time Jean is sweet natured and it is her love for justice that found her among the rebels to begin with. As a trained dancer, Glynis Johns easily pulls off Jean's physicality, while at the same time infusing her with both a passion for justice and genuine concern for her fellow human beings.

The Sundowners (1960): In The Sundowners Glynis Johns played a role that was well removed from Miranda or Jean. She played Mrs. Firth, the owner of the local pub in Cawndilla. Mrs. Firth is feisty, loud, talkative, and very flirtatious. While Mrs. Firth does not have a lot of screen time, Glynis Johns makes her easily the most interesting character in the film, through her body language, her eyes, and her voice.

Mary Poppins (1964): There can be no doubt that Glynis Johns is perhaps best known as Winifred Banks, the wife of banker George Banks (David Tomlinson) in Mary Poppins. The movie was the highest grossing film of 1964, beating out both My Fair Lady and Goldfinger And it has remained popular ever since. Much of the reason for the film's success was its cast, in particular Julie Andrews as the nanny of the title, who was "practically prefect in every way." While Julie Andrews was the star of Mary Poppins, the rest of the cast got to shine as well. Glynis Johns delivers a fine performance as Winifred Banks. Winifred is easily distracted and nearly all-consumed by the suffrage movement, to the point that she sometimes does not pay that much attention to her children.  At the same time she tries to be a model mother and wife, something complicated by her husband George Banks's demand for an overly efficiently run household. Winifred is not given a lot to do in Mary Poppins, but Glynis Johns brings her to life wonderfully.

The Vault of Horror (1973): The Vault of Horror is one of the portmanteau horror movies made by Amicus Productions. It was a follow-up to Tales from the Crypt (1972), and both films were inspired by classic EC Comics stories. Glynis Johns appears in the segment "The Neat Job," once more playing a wife and homemaker. In this case she is Eleanor Critchit, the trophy wife of Arthur Critchit (Terry-Thomas). To say Arthur is obsessive-compulsive when it comes to neatness might be an understatement. Unfortunately, housekeeping is not among Eleanor's talents, and she sometimes makes more of a mess than she cleans things up. Of course, this leads to constant nagging from Arthur. This being based on an EC Comics story, Eleanor does eventually get her revenge. Glynis Johns does a wonderful job of playing Eleanor, endowing the character with a personality and generating a good deal of sympathy for her in the brief time she has on screen.