Kurt at 21:04, 23 March 2023

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	\| image = Bernard and The Genie.jpg		\| image = Bernard and The Genie.jpg
	\| image_alt =		\| image_alt =
	\| caption = ~~Title card featuring the lamp~~		\| caption =
	\| genre = {{Plainlist\|		\| genre = {{Plainlist\|
	* [[Comedy drama]]		* [[Comedy drama]]

Kurt at 21:02, 23 March 2023

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	~~{{Short description\|1991 television film directed by Paul Weiland}}~~
	~~{{more citations needed\|date=December 2016}}~~
	~~{{EngvarB\|date=December 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}}~~
	{{Infobox television		{{Infobox television
	\| image = Bernard and The Genie.jpg		\| image = Bernard and The Genie.jpg
	~~\| image_size =~~
	\| image_alt =		\| image_alt =
	\| caption = Title card featuring the lamp		\| caption = Title card featuring the lamp
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	On 11 November 2016, the [[Germany\|German]] home entertainment company Pidax Films released a DVD of the film, under its German title ''Bernie und der Weihnachtgeist''. However some reviewers criticised the quality of the release, with one complaining that the [[RBB Fernsehen\|RBB]] logo was still visible in the corner of the picture, indicating that it was ripped from a TV broadcast.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.amazon.de/Bernie-Weihnachtsgeist-Gary-Whelan/dp/B07111PBYM/ref=tmm_aiv_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= \| title= Bernie und der Weihnachtgeist \| publisher= Amazon \| accessdate=22 December 2018}}</ref>		On 11 November 2016, the [[Germany\|German]] home entertainment company Pidax Films released a DVD of the film, under its German title ''Bernie und der Weihnachtgeist''. However some reviewers criticised the quality of the release, with one complaining that the [[RBB Fernsehen\|RBB]] logo was still visible in the corner of the picture, indicating that it was ripped from a TV broadcast.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.amazon.de/Bernie-Weihnachtsgeist-Gary-Whelan/dp/B07111PBYM/ref=tmm_aiv_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= \| title= Bernie und der Weihnachtgeist \| publisher= Amazon \| accessdate=22 December 2018}}</ref>

	It was briefly obtainable to stream in the UK on the [[BritBox]] platform, and is available as of December 2022.		It was briefly obtainable to stream in the UK on the [[BritBox]] platform, and was available as of December 2022.

	~~==See also==~~
	* [[List of Christmas films]]

	==References==		==References==
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	* {{IMDb title\|0101435}}		* {{IMDb title\|0101435}}

	~~{{Paul Weiland}}~~
	{{Richard Curtis}}		{{Richard Curtis}}

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{{Short description|1991 television film directed by Paul Weiland}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2016}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Bernard and The Genie.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption = Title card featuring the lamp
| genre = {{Plainlist|
* [[Comedy drama]]
* [[Fantasy film|Fantasy]]
* [[Supernatural fiction|Supernatural]]
}}
| writer = [[Richard Curtis]]
| director = [[Paul Weiland]]
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Lenny Henry]]
* [[Alan Cumming]]
* [[Rowan Atkinson]]
* [[Denis Lill|Dennis Lill]]
* Angie Clarke
}}
| theme_music_composer = [[Howard Goodall]]
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| producer = {{Plainlist|
* Jacinta Peel
* [[Peter Fincham]]
* Mary Francis
}}
| editor = Ian Weil
| cinematography = Roger Pratt
| runtime = 67 minutes
| network =
| first_aired = {{Start date|df=y|1991|12|23}}
}}
'''''Bernard and the Genie''''' is a 1991 British [[Fantasy film|fantasy]] [[comedy-drama]] [[television film]] directed by [[Paul Weiland]] and written by [[Richard Curtis]]. Co-produced by Attaboy and [[Talkback Productions|Talkback]] for [[BBC Television]], the film was first shown on [[BBC One|BBC1]] on 23 December 1991,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/bf4753faa80a43748ff10969a3a8799d|title=Bernard and the Genie|date=23 December 1991|issue=3548|pages=80|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> with a single BBC repeat on 19 December 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6fdd1493040e4fc7b6edde6eb010a00e|title=Bernard and the Genie|date=19 December 1993|issue=3650|pages=74|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> A comic fantasy that takes its inspiration from ''[[The Book of One Thousand and One Nights]]'', it follows [[Alan Cumming]] as an art dealer who is not having a good day. Lenny Henry won the Radio Times TV Comedy Performance of the Year award for his portrayal of the Genie.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f687747976aa49e398bd48a1ddab4d5d|title=Lenny Henry: In Dreams|date=23 December 1992|issue=3599|pages=94|via=BBC Genome}}</ref>

==Plot==
The film begins in an ancient location where a man is cornered by a sorcerer after a knife-throwing accident. The sorcerer transforms the man into a [[genie]] and traps him in a lamp as punishment, with the intention that it will be forever.

Two thousand years later, Bernard Bottle, an art dealer for a prestigious firm in London, scores a huge sale and earns his company fifty million pounds. His boss, Charles Pinkworth, congratulates him on the sale, but when Bernard reveals that he promised half of the money to the original owners of the paintings, as was fair, Pinkworth fires him. Bernard returns dejectedly to his flat and seeks comfort, but discovers that his girlfriend has been sleeping with his best friend. She then clears Bernard's flat of nearly everything, leaving behind only a small amount of furniture and an ornate antique lamp. He attempts to clean the lamp, causing an explosion that sends him to the hospital.

When Bernard returns to his flat, he encounters a man who tries to kill him. During the fight, Bernard wishes that the man could speak English, at which point he does. When the man states "Your wish is my command", Bernard wishes for the fight to stop, which it does. Bernard learns that the man, named Josephus, is a genie who had been trapped inside the lamp for two thousand years, and that he can grant almost any wish. The two forge a friendship in which Bernard introduces Josephus to modern food, music and entertainment, as well as using wishes to furnish his flat with expensive furniture and even the authentic ''[[Mona Lisa]]'', which is subsequently reported missing from the [[Louvre]].

After a night on the town, Bernard returns to his flat without Josephus (who is watching movies at a theater) to find someone inside. He picks up a sword and attacks the person around the corner, inadvertently killing a police officer. A detective in the flat then reveals Pinkworth, who accuses him of grand theft, pointing to the ''Mona Lisa''. Bernard finds himself unable to wish the painting away and is arrested for grand theft and murder. At the station, Bernard tries multiple times to call Josephus at his flat, but at first Josephus does not hear the telephone ringing, then fails to understand how the device works. He starts hanging up the phone each time it rings, which the police interpret as a form of coded communication. Bernard is put in jail, and Josephus eventually joins him in the cell. Bernard then wishes he could go back and do things differently, which suddenly causes time to rewind back to when Bernard was about to enter his flat.

Bernard then enters his flat with confidence (and with Josephus by his side), where his boss again accuses him of grand theft. However, this time, a poster of [[Kylie Minogue]] is on the wall, and the detective learns the ''Mona Lisa'' has been returned to the Louvre. The police apologize for the intrusion and leave.

Bernard and Josephus discuss the origins and meaning of [[Christmas]] and how the holiday has become commercialized over time, then they set out to grant wishes for children at a local mall. They also cause Bernard's elevator operator to win the football pools (which he claims to have won twice before), get Bernard's former girlfriend and best mate arrested on drug charges, and bring about a rare snow to London. Finally, they cause Pinkworth's entire fortune to be donated to a charity organization which, in a televised news event, gathers at Pinkworth's house to express their gratitude, to his great dismay.

Josephus expresses a desire to return to his own time, and after an emotional conversation, Bernard absentmindedly says he wishes Josephus would go, causing the genie to disappear. Bernard is left with a ticket to the shopping mall where he and Josephus had granted wishes earlier. He hands the ticket to the woman at the entrance to see [[Santa Claus]], and she asks him what he would like for Christmas. A moment later, Bernard is outside and waves to the woman through the window, who blows him a kiss in return. He cheers and heads home.

The opening scene of the film is repeated, where Josephus is cornered by the sorcerer again. However, this time Josephus bargains with the man, revealing a thick-slice toaster that piques the man's interest.

==Cast==
{{colbegin|colwidth=40em}}
* [[Lenny Henry]] as Josephus
* [[Alan Cumming]] as Bernard Bottle
* [[Rowan Atkinson]] as Charles Pinkworth
* [[Denis Lill|Dennis Lill]] as Frank Kepple
* [[Angela Clarke (English actress)|Angie Clarke]] as Carrie
* [[Kevin Allen (actor)|Kevin Allen]] as Kevin Bell
* [[Andrée Bernard]] as Judy
* [[Melvyn Bragg]] as himself
* [[Janet Henfrey]] as Miss Purse
* [[Marcia Ashton]] as Miss Temple
* Sheila Latimer as Bernard's mother
* [[Bob Geldof]] as himself
* [[Gary Whelan]] as Officer
* [[Trevor Laird]] as PC Parker
* [[Gary Lineker]] as himself
* [[Trevor McDonald]] as Newscaster
* [[Vincent Hanna]] as himself
* [[Sally Geoghegan]] as Waitress
{{colend}}

==Production==
Writer was inspired to write ''Bernard and the Genie'' out of a desire for something cheerful following a viewing of an [[Agatha Christie]] adaptation which left him and his family feeling miserable.<ref name="RichardCurtisGenie">{{cite news|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6fdd1493040e4fc7b6edde6eb010a00e|title= Bernard and the Genie |publisher=BBC|access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref>

==Home media==
It was released on [[VHS]] by CBS/Fox in North America in 1992<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bernard-and-the-Genie-1991-VHS-Lenny-Henry-Rowan-Atkinson-Alan-Cumming-Christmas-/163707943792 | title= Bernard and the Genie – VHS back cover| accessdate=17 August 2020}}</ref> and in the UK by [[Thames Television|Thames Video]] in 1993<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.videocollector.co.uk/bernard--the-genie/43020 | title= Bernard and the Genie – Video Collector | accessdate=17 August 2020}}</ref>

On 11 November 2016, the [[Germany|German]] home entertainment company Pidax Films released a DVD of the film, under its German title ''Bernie und der Weihnachtgeist''. However some reviewers criticised the quality of the release, with one complaining that the [[RBB Fernsehen|RBB]] logo was still visible in the corner of the picture, indicating that it was ripped from a TV broadcast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.de/Bernie-Weihnachtsgeist-Gary-Whelan/dp/B07111PBYM/ref=tmm_aiv_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= | title= Bernie und der Weihnachtgeist | publisher= Amazon | accessdate=22 December 2018}}</ref>

It was briefly obtainable to stream in the UK on the [[BritBox]] platform, and is available as of December 2022.

==See also==
* [[List of Christmas films]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0101435}}

{{Paul Weiland}}
{{Richard Curtis}}

[[Category:1991 television films]]
[[Category:1991 films]]
[[Category:1990s fantasy comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:British fantasy comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:British supernatural television shows]]
[[Category:Television shows written by Richard Curtis]]
[[Category:BBC Television shows]]
[[Category:Christmas television films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Paul Weiland]]
[[Category:Genies in film]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s British films]]
[[Category:British comedy-drama television films]]

Bernard and the Genie - Revision history

Kurt at 21:04, 23 March 2023

Kurt at 21:02, 23 March 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Paper9oll: /* top */Removed deprecated parameter per Category:Pages using infobox television with unknown parameters (temp)