Tony Randall (The Odd Couple), Burl Ives (The Big Country) and Barbara Eden (Harper Valley P.T.A.) conjure up laughs and magic in The Brass Bottle—an enchanting comedy classic that inspired the hit TV series that made Eden an icon, I Dream of Jeannie. When architect Harold Ventimore (Randall) buys an antique Arabian bottle at auction, he ends up freeing the centuries-imprisoned genie, Fakrash (Ives). Forever indebted and ready to serve his new master, Fakrash grants Harold his every wish. But things quickly go from bad to worse when his beautiful fiancée (Eden) discovers a herd of camels living in his garage, belly dancers in his house, and a pack of elephants marching through the streets! Now the whole town thinks that he’s gone off the deep end, and Harold has got to make everything right and convince his fiancée that he’s not crazy. Wonderfully directed by Harry Keller (The Female Animal), this tale of a madcap genie and his zany antics will grant your wish for comedy!
For thoughts on The Brass Bottle, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic here.
Video Quality
The Brass Bottle makes its Blu-Ray debut courtesy of Kino Classics with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer that appears to be derived from a really solid older master that is in good shape. Instances of print damage such as nicks and lines occasionally pop up, but overall clarity and detail is strong. The presentation is enjoyable throughout most of the runtime with image stability and delineation being handled well. This transfer maintains the natural film grain of the presentation with no overwhelming instances of it seeming thick. The picture has a few moments of noticeable softness, but colors are well saturated with the bright hues coming through. Skin tones are natural and consistent with subtle facial features easily noticeable in closeup. Black levels hold up well with very little in the way of crush. This presentation may have looked a bit better with a new master, but fans of the film will be pleased to see how great it looks.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a stellar DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this film really well. The first thing you will notice is the vibrancy of the Bernard Green score and the clarity of the songs. Despite the strength of these elements, nothing ever overpowers the dialogue or other important information. Dialogue and background noises are represented in perfect harmony with all competing elements. This track shows no discernible age related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. All of the sound effects and music appear to be faithful to the intent of the creative team. There are also optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. You could not ask for better from Kino Classics.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin delivers a very entertaining and informative commentary track in which he discusses the history of this film, the ties to I Dream Of Jeannie, how this film responds to culture of the time, the history of the performers, analysis of the plot beats and more. This track also includes an interview with star Barbara Eden in which she recalls her experiences with this film which proves to be the most valuable part of this entire track. Well worth the price of admission.
- Trailers: The two-and-a-half minute trailer for The Brass Bottle is included. There are also trailers provided for Bedtime Story, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 40 Pounds Of Trouble and Arabesque.
Final Thoughts
The Brass Bottle is a fun and silly tale that works thanks to the strong performances from the core ensemble. Burl Ives is hilarious and intentionally maddening as the genie, and Tony Randall plays the beleaguered recipient of his good intentions quite capably. Barbara Eden does not get to do as much as she would some time later on I Dream Of Jeannie, but she is a pleasing presence here nonetheless. This movie does not quite live up to the heights of that series, but it is a perfectly enjoyable bit of business on its own. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray with a solid A/V presentation and a very enjoyable commentary track. If the concept sounds fun to you, you should have a good time with this one. Recommended
The Brass Bottle is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
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