Rod Serling: "Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Castle, gentle and infinitely patient people whose lives have been a hope chest with a rusty lock and a lost set of keys. But in just a moment that hope chest will be opened and an improbable phantom will try to bedeck the drabness of these two people's failure laden lives with the gold and precious stones of fulfillment. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Castle, standing on the outskirts and about to enter the Twilight Zone."
Air date: October 7, 1960
Arthur Castle (Luther Adler), the kind-hearted but poor owner of a failing pawn shop, gets more than he bargained for when he accepts an old lady's offer to purchase a bottle she got out of the trash for a few dollars. Arthur and his wife Edna soon find out that the bottle contains a genie, who is willing to grant them four wishes. The genie does take the time to tell the Castles that each wish has its repercussions, so they had best use them wisely. Arthur and Edna, unfortunately, learn the hard way that the genie wasn't bluffing.
The Tropes in the Bottle:
- Actor Allusion: This isn't the first time Luther Adler, who plays Arthur, ends up becoming Hitler himself. Nearly a decade earlier, he played the Führer in The Desert Fox. An even bigger casting irony is that Adler was Russian-Jewish American.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Hard-up antiques dealer Arthur Castle gives Mrs. Gumley, an equally destitute old woman, a few dollars for an empty wine bottle she found in the trash. The bottle turns out to house a genie, who grants him and his wife Edna four wishes. After using the first wish to have the genie prove his power by fixing a cracked glass display case, the Castles use the second to wish for a million dollars in cash. Once they've gotten the money and have given a fair chunk of it away to their friends and neighbors, Arthur and Edna are presented with a tax bill from the IRS, which leaves them with a mere $5. Arthur decides to use the third wish to become the leader of a powerful, modern, foreign country, one who cannot be voted out of office... and he finds himself turned into Adolf Hitler in his bunker at the end of World War II. He then uses the fourth and final wish to return to his old life, which now looks better to him than ever before... even after he accidentally re-breaks the glass case, leaving him completely back at square one.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Castles are still broke and their store may still go under, but their experience has given them a new outlook on life, and they still gave many of their neighbors a portion of their magical funds to ensure they're better off than they are.
- Bookends: The beginning and end of the story feature the glass display case in the Castles' shop breaking.
- Bottle Episode: Noted pun aside, with the exception of one scene in Adolf Hitler's bunker, this episode takes place entirely in the Castles' pawnshop.
- Contrived Coincidence: As soon as Arthur bemoans how he can wish his bills can be paid, in walks Mrs. Gumley with a certain bottle.
- Exact Words: Arthur does everything he can to make a wish that can't screw him over. After he and Edna look at every possible downside or loophole in the details of their next wish, Arthur wishes to be the leader of a powerful, foreign country that can't be voted of office in a contemporary setting. Unfortunately for him, the genie knows a leader who fits that exact description and places the poor guy in a time period closest to the present day (i.e. Battle of Berlin).
- Face-Revealing Turn: After the genie grants Arthur's third wish, we cut to a leader with his head on the table, sobbing his eyes out, while a subordinate screams at him about the war going outside. The sound of bombs startles the leader and he turns his head to reveal... Arthur has become Adolf Hitler.
- Genie in a Bottle: The genie housed in the wine bottle Mrs. Gumley pawns on Arthur, who seems to only come out every 101 years.
- Grail in the Garbage: The bottle containing the genie looks like just an ordinary wine bottle, to the point where Arthur thought it was just a useless piece of trash when he accepted it. In the end, it does manage to improve his outlook on life.
- Here We Go Again!: The last shot of the episode has the genie's bottle repairing itself, waiting in a trash can for someone else to pick it up.
- Historical Domain Character: Arthur becomes Adolf Hitler with his third wish (and Eva Braun is mentioned).
- Historical Ugliness Update: Arthur is an old and fairly out of shape man, so when he becomes Adolf Hitler after making his third wish, Hitler looks like Goering with an undercut and toothbrush mustache.
- Jackass Genie: The genie clearly acts to ruin the Castles' wishes. The first time, he's a jackass by inaction, neglecting to mention the tax issue. Then, when Arthur wishes to be a ruler with absolute power, the genie is a more active jackass, making him Hitler in the bunker in April 1945.
- Mundane Wish: Arthur's first wish is to have a pane of glass in his shop repaired, as a test of the genie's power. He and Edna then proceed to waste their remaining wishes, but in the end, they console themselves with the fact that the glass got repaired. Arthur accidentally breaks the pane with the end of his sweeping brush. He and Edna begin laughing.
- Nice Guy: Arthur, who is willing to even accept trash from a poor old lady for a few dollars. He also shares the million dollars he wishes for with his neighbors, offering to have the money pay off their mortages or treat them to a nice vacation.
- Prestige Peril: Arthur wishes to be the leader of a modern country who cannot be voted out of position... only to find that he's Adolf Hitler, and it's the end of World War II.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: The genie appears from a cloud of smoke, wearing an elegant suit.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Mrs. Gumley, the old woman who pawns the genie's bottle on Arthur.
- Suicidal Sadistic Choice: After being turned into Hitler, Arthur is given the choice between ingesting his cyanide capsule or risk being captured by the Allies and put on trial for war crimes. Desperate for a third option, Arthur uses his final wish on the cyanide bottle, pleading for the genie to undo his wishes and return him to his mundane life.
- Taxman Takes the Winnings: The Castles' second wish is for a million dollars in cash, which the genie makes rain from the ceiling. After they give away some of the money, an IRS agent shows up and gives them a bill for the taxes (Federal and state) they owe, leaving them with only five dollars.
- Wishing for More Wishes: The genie explicitly forbids this trick, fearing what would happen if Arthur tried it, and instead tells him to think over the consequences of each wish, bad or good.
Rod Serling: "A word to the wise, now, to the garbage collectors of the world, to the curio seekers, to the antique buffs, to everyone who would try to coax out a miracle from unlikely places. Check that bottle you're taking back for a two-cent deposit. The genie you save might be your own. Case in point, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Castle, fresh from the briefest of trips into The Twilight Zone."
