Eye Of The Beholder Twilight Episode
Watch The Twilight Zone - Season 2, Episode 6 - The Eye of the Beholder: A young woman is forced to undergo experimental treatments in an attempt to make her appear 'normal.' Eye of the Beholder is the 39th episode of the sci-fi anthology television series The Twilight Zone. It is a remake of the episode from the original Twilight Zone written by Rod Serling about a woman with bandages covering her face hoping that a last-chance surgery will allow her to fit in with society, lest she be sent to a community of people with her 'deformity'.
| 'Eye of the Beholder' | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 39 | ||
| Directed by | David R. Ellis | ||
| Written by | Rod Serling | ||
| Featured music | Mark Snow | ||
| Production code | 140 | ||
| Original air date | April 30, 2003 | ||
| Guest appearance(s) | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
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Eye of the Beholder is the 39th episode of the sci-fi anthology television series The Twilight Zone. It is a remake of the episode from the original Twilight Zone written by Rod Serling about a woman with bandages covering her face hoping that a last-chance surgery will allow her to fit in with society, lest she be sent to a community of people with her 'deformity'.
Opening narration[edit]
| “ | You have been introduced to Miss Janet Tyler, who lives in a very private world of darkness – a universe whose dimensions are the size, thickness and length of the bandages that cover her face. In a moment, we'll witness the removal of those bandages and we'll see what's under them – keeping in mind, of course, that we're not to be surprised by what we see, because this isn't just a hospital. And this patient, Janet Tyler, patient number 307 is not just a woman, because this happens to be the Twilight Zone. | ” |
Summary[edit]
Janet Tyler is lying in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around her head. It is her eleventh attempt at looking normal in a society that regards her as ugly and since no more procedures are allowed after eleven, she is informed by Dr. Bernardi that she would have to live among others like her should this last treatment prove to be unsuccessful. Janet is anxious to see the result of her latest surgery and the doctor complies with her request to take the bandages off, while requesting the anesthetist to be present in case she gets violent. The bandages are removed during a speech by the Leader of the State and Janet is revealed to be beautiful while those in her society are revealed to be deformed. Janet flees before the doctor can have her sedated and finds herself surrounded by screens showing the Leader's face as he preaches about conformity. She eventually bumps into Mr. Smith, a handsome man who is to take her to a village with people just like them and tells her that it doesn't matter why they were born the way they are, because 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' The doctor says goodbye to Janet as Mr. Smith leads her out of the hospital to a new life with those of her own kind.
Closing Narration[edit]
| “ | Now the questions that come to mind: Where is this place and when is it? What kind of world is this where ugliness is the norm and beauty the deviation from that norm? You want an answer? The answer is it doesn't make any difference, because the old saying happens to be true. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this year or a hundred years hence. On this planet or wherever there is intelligent life, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lesson to be learned in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
Cast[edit]
- Molly Sims as Janet Tyler
- Reggie Hayes as Doctor Bernardi
- Roger Cross as The Leader
- Allison Hossack as Janet's Nurse
- Chris Kramer as Walter Smith
- June B. Wilde as Nurse #2
- Michael Karl Richards as Orderly
External links[edit]
| 'Eye of the Beholder' | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 6 | ||
| Directed by | Douglas Heyes | ||
| Written by | Rod Serling | ||
| Produced by | Buck Houghton | ||
| Featured music | Bernard Herrmann | ||
| Production code | 173-3640 | ||
| Original air date | November 11, 1960 | ||
| Guest appearance(s) | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 2) | |||
| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||
'Eye of the Beholder' (also titled 'The Private World Of Darkness' when initially rebroadcast in the summer of 1962) is episode 42 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on November 11, 1960 on CBS.
Opening narration[edit]
| “ | Suspended in time and space for a moment, your introduction to Miss Janet Tyler, who lives in a very private world of darkness. A universe whose dimensions are the size, thickness, length of the swath of bandages that cover her face. In a moment we will go back into this room, and also in a moment we will look under those bandages. Keeping in mind of course that we are not to be surprised by what we see, because this isn't just a hospital, and this patient 307 is not just a woman. This happens to be the Twilight Zone, and Miss Janet Tyler, with you, is about to enter it. | ” |
Plot summary[edit]
Janet Tyler has undergone her eleventh treatment (the maximum number legally allowed) in an attempt to look normal. Tyler is first shown with her head completely bandaged so that her face cannot be seen. Her face is described as a 'pitiful twisted lump of flesh' by the nurses and doctor, whose own faces are always in shadows or off-camera. The outcome of the procedure cannot be known until the bandages are removed. Unable to bear the bandages any longer, Tyler pleads with the doctor and eventually convinces him to remove them early. As he prepares, the doctor develops great empathy for Tyler. The nurse expresses concern for the doctor and admits she still is uneasy about Tyler's appearance. The doctor becomes displeased and questions why Tyler or anyone must be judged on their outer beauty. The nurse warns him not to continue in that vein, as it is considered treason.
The doctor removes the bandages. The procedure has failed, and her face has undergone no change. The camera pulls back to reveal that, by the contemporary viewer's standards, she is beautiful; by those same standards, the doctor, nurses and other people in the hospital are ugly, with large, thick brows, sunken eyes, swollen and twisted lips, and wrinkled noses with extremely large nostrils. Distraught by the failure of the procedure, Tyler runs through the hospital as what is considered normal in this alternate society 'State' is revealed. Flat-screen televisions throughout the hospital project an image of the State's leader giving a speech calling for greater conformity.
Eventually, a handsome man (again, by the contemporary viewer's standards) named Walter Smith arrives to take the crying, despondent Tyler into exile to a village of her 'own kind', where her 'ugliness' will not trouble the State. Before the two leave, Smith comforts Tyler, saying that she will find love and belonging in the ghetto, and that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', meaning that even though the people from the State and their society might find Tyler 'ugly', others will find her beautiful.
Closing narration[edit]
| “ | Now the questions that come to mind: 'Where is this place and when is it?' 'What kind of world where ugliness is the norm and beauty the deviation from that norm?' You want an answer? The answer is it doesn't make any difference, because the old saying happens to be true. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this year or a hundred years hence. On this planet or wherever there is human life – perhaps out amongst the stars – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lesson to be learned in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
Cast[edit]
- Maxine Stuart as Janet Tyler (under bandages)
- Donna Douglas as Janet Tyler (unmasked)
- William D. Gordon as Doctor Bernardi
- Jennifer Howard as Nurse
- Edson Stroll as Walter Smith
- George Keymas as The Leader
- Joanna Heyes as Nurse #2
Production[edit]
Because of the complex makeups and camera angles, this was one of the most difficult episodes of The Twilight Zone to film.[1] The director, Douglas Heyes, wanted the show to feature actors with sympathetic voices. To achieve this, he cast the episode with his back to the performers.[2] Heyes had planned to have Maxine Stuart, who spoke all the lines of the main character Janet Tyler, when her head is entirely covered by bandages, dub the single line spoken by Tyler when she is revealed (as portrayed by the actress Donna Douglas). However, Douglas had been listening to Stuart's voice as she recorded her part, and was able to imitate her so successfully that she was allowed to speak the line on camera.
The original title for this episode was 'Eye of the Beholder.' Stuart Reynolds, a television producer, threatened to sue writer/producer Rod Serling for the use of the name. At the time, Reynolds was selling an educational film of the same name to public schools. Reruns following the initial broadcast featured the title screen 'The Private World of Darkness'. Because CBS consulted different prints over the years for syndication packages, the closing credits for this episode vary from one title to the other, depending on which television station is using which package. In The Twilight Zone's original DVD release the syndicated version was marketed as an 'alternate version'. Other than the appearance of the title in the closing credits, however, there are no differences between the two 'versions'.[3]
Serling, who wrote the episode, reused the theme for a later teleplay, 'The Different Ones', for his series Night Gallery. 'The Different Ones' takes place in a futuristic world where a disfigured hermit teenage boy is sent on a NASA rocket to a planet where the inhabitants are revealed to look like him. During the transfer he meets a handsome (by conventional standards) alien youth, who is going to Earth because of his own 'disfigurement.'
2003 remake[edit]
This episode was remade for the 2002–03 revival of the series using Serling's original script (but discarding Bernard Herrmann's original score), with Molly Sims as Janet Tyler, Reggie Hayes as Dr. Bernardi and Roger Cross as the Leader. The make-up was changed to make the faces look more melted, ghoulish and decayed with deep ridges. Minesweeper unblocked. The remake follows the original script more faithfully. The projection screens were changed to plasma screens and more of the dialogue from the Leader's monologue was used.
See also[edit]
- Weird Science #21 Sep/Oct 1953, 'The Ugly One'
Notes[edit]
- ^Zicree, Marc Scott (1992). The Twilight Zone Companion. Silman-James. pp. 141–149. ISBN1879505096.
- ^Zicree, p. 147
- ^Grams, Martin (September 2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Otr Publishing. ISBN978-0-9703310-9-0.
References[edit]
- Zicree, Marc Scott. The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition).
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN978-1-59393-136-0
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN978-0-9703310-9-0
External links[edit]
- 'The Eye of the Beholder (1960)' on IMDb
- 'Eye of the Beholder (2003)' on IMDb
- 'Eye of the Beholder' at TV.com
- 'Eye of the Beholder' Review at 'The Twilight Zone Project'