The Man in the Bottle

One of the most cliched Twilight Zone episodes, this one is at least aided by a strong cast. Ruskin is diabolical as the genie promising consequences with every wish granted. Adler and Janiss are likeable enough as the overwhelmed, but kindly aging couple. And the first animated voice of Batman, Olan Soulé is perfect as an I.R.S. agent on a mission. Worth a look, but not the most memorable story.

Mesmerized by their acting and chemistry. So much to learn from these 2 actors, I was pleasantly surprised.

Arthur Castle and his wife are the owner of an antique shop and have many bills to pay. When a poor old woman offers a bottle that she found in the garbage to Arthur, he feels sorry for her and buys the bottle. Soon a genie leaves the bottle and offers to grant four wishes to Mr. and Mrs. Castle. He does not believe and wastes the first wish to repair a broken glass in a cabinet. Then he asks for one million dollars in small bills. They give money to their friends and out of the blue, the IRS agent visits the shop and collects the tax, leaving only five dollars to the couple. Now Mr. and Mrs. Castle are thinking carefully to use their last two wishes.

"The Man in the Bottle" is an interesting episode of "The Twilight Zone". Mr. and Mrs. Castle are nice people, but when they have a chance to have four wishes granted by a genie, they can think only in money and power. They have a chance to make the world a better place in a post-war period, but they think only in themselves instead. This episode shows how selfish the mankind is. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Homem da Garrafa" ("The Man in the Bottle")

For a newcomer in the TWILIGHT ZONE series, of course this episode is pretty amazing, but this scheme of a wish for better which seems to bring worse - and not worth - this scheme is not new at all in the show. In the first season, there were a couple of episodes proposing this kind of plot. A story full of moral elements: hope, greed, meaning of life...As many other episodes. It is a routine good story, built on the ground of other ones already written in this show. Luther Adler playing Hitler is also not really new; movie buffs know what I am talking about. I am afraid that many further episodes will also recycle already used plots of the first season.

I knew there was an episode of this show about a genie. I just always envisioned him as looking like a standard genie. Instead, he looked like just a normal person. It really is neat to read about something from a movie or TV show and then see how it's different than what you thought. So, there's this genie this couple summons. He gives an easy way of giving them a million dollars.

They end up losing 94% of it to taxes. I really don't know if that can even happen, but we'll let it slide. There's a somewhat famous wish near the end. The husband wishes he was the ruler of a country where he couldn't be voted out of power and turns into Hitler. I've never heard of a genie that gave four wishes. Well, I like unique stuff. ***1/2