THE BRASS BOTTLE - "Sihirli Vazo" (1964)

HO, HO, HO, and MERRY X-MAS to you all!!!

This is as close as I could come to a Christmas movie, and it's fairly similar in a few areas, like the co-star is the folk-singer/actor, Burl, "Mr. Holly Jolly Christmas" Ives himself! Burl is also known for his classic version of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," and he kind of looks like Santa too!

Also during one it's first appearances in the movie, "The Brass Bottle" itself looks like a Christmas gift! Actually, it's a gift that Tony Randall as Harold Ventimore is bringing to the Father of his future bride, Barbara Eden as Sylvia Kenton! Of course, Tony will always be known for his role in "The Odd Couple" as will Barbara for being Jeannie in "I Dream Of Jeannie," but they were both together in another great movie too, "The 7 Faces Of Dr. Lao!" I find it hilarious that Barbara Eden is in a movie about a genie, and it's not her!!

Richard Erdman as Seymour Jenks, and Kathie Browne as Hazel Jenks are Harold's eccentric room mates! These two combined have been in literally hundreds of TV shows! Previous to this film, Richard was in the "Twilight Zone" episode known as "A Kind Of Stopwatch!" Kathie is no longer with us, but Richard has had a lengthy career and is still working today!

Sylvia's Father refuses the gift (he had a electric table lamp that looked just like it) so Harold takes it back home and pries it open! Viola, there's a genie inside and all his problems should be behind him, but instead, all his problems just get worse!

The genie's name is Fakrash, and he is capable of doing all kinds of wondrous things!

Good shot of that classic Volkwagen bus back there!

The cops get involved when Fakrash delivers a herd of camels and their trainers to Harold's home!

Sydney Jenks tries to explain a few things to Harold in his own inimitable way!

In an effort to please him, Fakrash gives Harold a trunk full of these 10 dollar bills!

Harold has Sylvia and her parents over for dinner, but Fakrash changes the whole thing into a temple with dancing girls and all means of finery, much to Harold's chagrin!

The main course is the eyes of mountain lambs cooked in honey, of course!!

 

And then the fun begins! Pop singer Lulu Porter is the belly dancer turning all the guy's heads!

 The perfectly stuffy Edward Andrews has the role of Sylvia's Father! Edward's familiar face was all over the TV in the 60's and the 70's and he was in, not one, but two "Twilight Zone" episodes, "You Drive," and "Third From The Sun!"

Fakrash bring his old girlfriend into the scene to help poor Harold, but when Harold says "No!" she refuses to leave, and since she has genie powers too, Fakrash can't send her back! The scrumptious Kamala Devi had the role of Tezra! Kamala had a total of 13 credits to her name and was married to "The Rifleman" Chuck Connors for 9 years!

Since Tezra doesn't seem to be going anywhere, Harold gets her some modern clothes. She doesn't know what a girdle is so he has to demonstrate how it's worn for her!

I just like this shot of Burl Ives!

No, it's not a guest appearance by Francis The Talking mule! Fakrash had tried to explain to Sylvia's Father the truth of the situation, but since he was having nothing to do with it, Fakrash turned him into the pompous ass that he really is!

Well, The End isn't quite this bad for Harold, but he does have to go through a lot to get to a different ending! I don't know why this movie is so difficult to find, but all fans of 1960's pop culture will find it worth the search, so without further adieu, "to all a good night!!!"