MovieChat Forums > I Dream of Jeannie (1965) Discussion > Tony Meets Jeannie For The First Time (c...

Tony Meets Jeannie For The First Time (clip)

posted 4 years ago by Satan2016 (23918)
6 replies | jump to latest

Is she speaking Arabic? https://youtu.be/Zmm6dwcftS0 (4m)

From Season 1 Episode 1 'The Lady In The Bottle' - American astronaut Tony Nelson splashes down near a deserted island and finds a bottle that contains a beautiful genie named Jeannie. After helping him get rescued he sets her free, but she prefers to come home with him. Besides she is very much in love with her handsome master and she will grant his every wish or desire no matter how much trouble he gets in.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (12865) 4 years ago

Jeannie is speaking in Persian, (at least, that's what we're told her language was, I don't know if it's genuine Persian or not). I got sooo mad when I watched the colorized version of the First Season, and they took out the subtitles in the Pilot! I mean, how hard would it have been to put them back in after colorizing the footage? I ask you! Now I gotta read the telescript to see what she was saying.

[–] Gryneos (39) 4 years ago

Try this version for the subtitles: https://archive.org/details/01theladyinthebottleunairedpilot

As for the language she speaks, it is Persian and not Arabic. At least according to these two links (http://www.payvand.com/news/08/aug/1287.html , https://iranian.com/2008/12/20/nostalgia-larry-hagman-dreams-of-a-persian-jeannie/ ) and to what little has been written about it in the two books on the show. Supposedly, there were no tutors in Arabic to be found when they needed them, so they made her language Persian or Farsi. That makes more sense anyway, due to Baghdad having been originally within the Persian empire. It was the dominant language of her birthplace and time.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (12865) 4 years ago

Cool, thank you :).

You see, I remember watching the black and white version, and they had subtitles translating what Jeannie said, but I don't remember what it was, other than archaic talking.

[–] Gryneos (39) 4 years ago

You're welcome :-)

I haven't checked, but the subtitles are probably on the regular black and white DVDs. I don't know why the subtitles were removed from the colorized versions, but it probably had something to do with the process of colorizing each frame.

[–] Satan2016 (23918) 3 years ago

Full unaired pilot with subs now available! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMwm-u8X37k

[–] Satan2016 (23918) 3 years ago

I Dream of Jeannie **Rare Pilot End Credits, Subtitles and Commercial Tag - in Color!** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbYbv_sNxPo