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Season Two, Episode Six
Written by: Rod Serling
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.'
Directed by: Douglas HeyesThe Eye of the Beholder, as in where beauty is, is one of
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Janet Tyler (the voice of Maxine Stuart, later the body of Donna Douglas) is introduced with her face wrapped entirely in bandages, and she remains obscured in this manner for the bulk of the episode, a formidable acting challenge that the lovely-voiced Stuart handles finely with Olivierian gesturing. She's lying in a hospital bed, where she has received 'injections' meant to alter her appearance; we learn from the dialogue that she is hideously ugly (one nurse histrionically declares if she had the patient's face she would, 'go bury herself in a grave somewhere') in a fictional and assumedly futuristic society that won't tolerate such physical aberrations. If the injections haven't taken this time—this is her ninth attempt—then she is likely to be shipped-off to live with other people as ugly as she. Though, at least while in public, the nosocomial staff argues that this is awfully generous of the State, Tyler protests, apostatically shouting, 'the State is not God!' and insisting they have no right to cut her off from ordinary society and the sweet smell of garden flowers.
While the phrase 'the State' sounds like Communist argot and may hint at Cold War patriotism, enough to trick the censors, it's ultimately misleading and the phrase is better understood with an 's' at the end, as in those United; similarly, though the appearance of 'the Leader' on ubiquitous television screens during the finale hint at fascism, and Hitler specifically in the speeches about the need for homogenous appearance (akin to racial purity), it's clearly meant to bring to mind the ranting of racist Southern politicians, namely the rhetoric of certain Senators and governors and thusly, exaggeratedly, likening Strom Thurmond to Das Fuhrer. Aired in 1960 in the midst of the struggle for Civil Rights in America—six years after Brown v. Board of Ed and four years before the Civil Rights Act on the one hand and George Wallace's presidential candidacy on the other--The Eye of the Beholder functions as a cautionary tale about the character of Dixiecrat domination, about the inevitable consequences of segregationist policy—a profoundly unjust world of arbitrary distinction, as demeaning to the US Constitution as a George W. Bush presidency. The episode's original title, A Private World of Darkness (which still appears at the end of the version in syndication) takes on a weighty double meaning when 'darkness' is understood as a description of the color of one's skin.
When Janet's bandages are finally removed—slowly and with unbearable suspense in a nearly five minute sequence—it's revealed that she is in fact Donna Douglas, an undeniable beauty, and the self-declared 'normal' doctors are mutilated monstrosities, porcine-faced deformities by our usual human standards. (Credit is due to the episode's careful choreography under director Douglas Heyes, who cleverly bathes the episode in shadows and successfully prevents the great revelation until the very end.) As in another episode, The Masks—except here on a cultural, rather than just an individual, level—the characters' subficial ugliness of character is determinatively manifest right on their faces.
For Netflix purposes:
On Vol. 43 of Image Entertainment's Twilight Zone DVDs.
“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 a swath of bandages that cover her face. In a moment we’ll go back into this room and also in a moment we’ll look under those bandages, 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, 307, is not just a woman. This happens to be the Twilight Zone, and Miss Janet Tyler, with you, is about to enter it.' Miss Janet Tyler sits alone in a shadow-draped hospital room staring off into the black nothingness that has become her existence. Miss Tyler has not left her hospital room in what seems like a lifetime.
She hasn’t seen a blade of grass, felt the afternoon sun upon her skin, or stared up into a night sky filled with stars in so long that she has practically forgotten that all of these things are possible. Layers of thick bandages cover her face, keeping her isolated in her own private world of darkness. In a moment the secret of her torment is revealed: Miss Tyler was born with a severely disfigured face and has been placed in the state-run hospital in hopes of having massive reconstructive surgery. As a result of the procedure Miss Tyler’s face will remain under the bandages until the end of the story and as for the hospital staff, their likenesses will also remain a mystery. Their faces will remain cloaked in shadows or hidden behind various objects and will be revealed at the same time as Miss Tyler’s. Miss Tyler desperately desires a solution to her problem. This is her eleventh treatment, the maximum number allowed by the state.
If it proves a failure then she will be sent to a state-mandated segregation camp for people with similar deformities. She tells the doctor that if the treatment has failed again then she wants to be exterminated.
She does not desire to live in a segregation camp. The doctor informs her that while this practice is not totally unheard of he doubts that her request will be granted. Back in room 307, Miss Tyler pleads for the bandages to be removed.
The doctor finally agrees to remove them. Layer by layer, the bandages are lifted. As the final layer is removed screams fill the room. Underneath the bandages is a young woman with full head of blonde hair, penetrating eyes, and a soft face. We get a glimpse of the hospital staff: they all have grotesque pig-like faces with snarling snouts and deep, sunken eyes. Miss Tyler needs no mirror to understand her situation. The operation has failed.
She jumps out of her chair and runs screaming down the hallway. On large television monitors placed throughout the hospital a fiery political figure referred to as “The Leader” speaks of a superior race that can only function properly if everyone is made of the same formula. Miss Tyler runs into a room and finds a man waiting there. He lacks the snout and the sunken, dead eyes that the rest of the hospital staff possess.
Instead he looks more like her. She recoils in horror and with nowhere left to go, sinks down into a corner and covers her eyes. The doctor enters the room.
He informs Miss Tyler that the man’s name is Walter and he is a representative of the segregation camp where she is going to live. Walter tells her that she no longer needs to be ashamed of her appearance, no longer needs to hide her face from the rest of the world. Where she is going there will be people who look just as she does. He takes her hands and gently leads her out of the room. She begins to relax and the two of them stroll, hand in hand, slowly down the hallway, past the crowd of onlookers, toward a new beginning. “Now the questions that come to mind. Where is this place and when is it?
What kind of a 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 among the stars, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lesson to be learnedin The Twilight Zone.' When Buck Houghton first received this script he was reportedly terrified at trying to pull off a twenty-four minute episode where the audience does not get to see any of the character’s faces until the very end. His first choice to direct such an arduously technical episode was Douglas Heyes. In order to keep the viewers from immediately suspecting that something is wrong (i.e. “Hey, why aren’t they showing anyone’s face?”) Heyes keeps the action constantly moving, not in a frenetic way but there is always motion of either the actors or the camera. For instance, in the scene where the doctor walks from the shadows into the light and begins to look directly at the camera his face is briefly hidden behind a nurse, who is standing right in front of him at precisely the right moment, before he turns his back to the audience.
The dark and shadowy atmosphere of the set played a large role in hiding the character’s faces. In other episodes this may seem like an intrusion that the audience would pick up on immediately but as this story exists in a world not of our own, the dark, grim set doesn’t seem entirely out of place. The audience doesn’t notice the character’s images being withheld from them because for a large chunk of the episode the camera is centered on Janet Tyler. The sequence of the unveiling is particularly impressive as it is shot from Tyler’s point of view so the audience gets to experience the bandages being lifted, layer by layer, from her face. To accomplish this Heyes had director of photography George T.
Clemens place the camera inside a fish tank and had the bandages wrapped tightly around the outside of the tank. It’s an unusual technique and an effective one. For The Twilight Zone, Tuttle was typically asked to create a single makeup ('Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, “ 'Hocus Pocus and Frisby') or a handful of effects ('The After Hours,' 'The Masks') but for 'Eye of the Beholder' Tuttle was faced with having to apply his grotesque makeup design on a dozen actors or actresses. Though time was not a problem, production manager Ralph W. Nelson was able to secure a longer preparation time for 'Eye of the Beholder,' expense would become an issue during the initial stages of developing the makeup. Director Douglas Heyes immediately recognized this problem and approached Tuttle about developing a more streamlined, and thus more cost efficient, method of achieving the makeup effects. Tuttle's typical method of developing his makeup was to take a plaster cast of the all the actors’ faces upon which the makeup would need to be applied.
This is a highly efficient way to develop a makeup which perfectly fits the features of individual actors’ faces and is most often used to create a unique makeup which can be molded to the needs and capabilities of the show and the actors. Tuttle would use this method to great effect four years later, working with director George Pal, writer Charles Beaumont, and actor Tony Randall, for 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, for which he would win a special Academy Award (an annual Academy Award for special effects makeup, under the umbrella of 'Best Makeup and Hairstyling' would not come into existence until 1981). Fortunately, such an individualized method for the makeup design would not be needed for 'Eye of the Beholder' since the purpose of the method, and the theme of the entire episode, was uniformity. Still, Heyes wanted the actors’ natural features to somewhat show through the makeup and also for the actors to be able to perform comfortably through the makeup once their appearances are revealed onscreen and spoken dialogue is required. The solution was found in foam rubber latex appliances which could be applied to the actors’ faces in a uniform manner.
Forming a cast of each of the twelve actors’ faces was out of the question and Tuttle only formed three casts upon which to mold the appliances. Upon careful observation these three designs can be seen in the final cut of the episode to be two 'male' models and one 'female' model, though at one point in the show an actress is seen to be wearing a 'male' model of the makeup, undoubtedly to distort the perception of the viewer, something director Heyes and photographer George Clemens were constantly trying to do on 'Eye of the Beholder.'
Heyes had experience with art direction and animation prior to his career as a director and worked hands on in developing the makeup effects alongside Tuttle, on both a design and crafting level. Tuttle had recently created the terrifying Morlocks for George Pal's The Time Machine (1960) and a lot of that makeup design made it into 'Eye of the Beholder.' It was Heyes who suggested that Tuttle use the leftover appliances from The Time Machine to develop something similar for the grotesque effects needed for 'Eye of the Beholder.' The differences in the two 'male' models of the makeup are two-fold. The first is the brow piece. The first model, the one worn by William Gordon as the Doctor, included a much accentuated brow piece, applied thinly at the hairline and gaining thickness above the eyes, creating a jutting bone structure above the eyebrows.
The second design, worn by the male nurses, did not feature as pronounced a brow. One nostril on each of the pig-shaped noses applied to the actors flared chiefly in one direction.
This varied between the two 'male' designs. The 'female' design was more streamlined with a more upturned nose that did not extended out from the face as much as the counterpart designs and featured virtually no brow piece though two layers of makeup, for consistency, can be discerned on the foreheads of the actresses. The final interesting aspect of the makeup was that actress Maxine Stuart, Janet Tyler under the bandages, recalls having a plaster cast made of her face. This was used to create a gauze bandage appliance that could be slipped over Stuart's face like a mask instead of wrapping the actress anew each day of shooting. Not only would the latter method be time consuming and very uncomfortable for the actress but would also lend itself to an aesthetic inconsistency. Tuttle crafted a foam rubber mask from the mold of Stuart's face which would then be wrapped in gauze for ease of application. Stuart’s chin and neck were wrapped in gauze each day of shooting since they were not covered by the appliance.
When watching the episode, the viewer can easily see where the appliance ends above Stuart's chin. In addition to the technical challenges that this episode offered, Douglas Heyes also knew that the story would be carried largely by the voices of the actors because it is all the audience has with which to associate themselves.
As he told Marc Scott Zicree, author of The Twilight Zone Companion (1982), to cast this episode he had the actors audition with his back to them so that he would hear what the audience would hear. He felt that the voices should be sympathetic both to sway the audience from deciphering the twist but also so that they would form an emotional connection to the characters. In contrast, he felt that Miss Tyler's voice should be fairly coarse and textured, one that displayed a depth of character. The result of this unusual casting process was a stellar cast with a leading lady that basically carried most of the episode herself. A former radio actress, Maxine Stuart’s performance here is exceptional considering she must make the audience sympathize with Janet Tyler without using any facial expressions. This was an enormous responsibility because the story hinges on how much the audience cares for Tyler, how much they want to see the treatment turn out a successful one.
If they do not sympathize with her then the entire episode falls apart. Stuart accomplishes this brilliantly with simple voice intonations and hand gestures, remaining melancholy but hopeful for most of her performance but exploding into a helpless rage when the script calls for it.
Equally as important to Stuart’s performance as Janet Tyler is that of the Doctor played William D. Since the Doctor is emotionally torn between his humanitarianism and his obligation as a state employee this has to be reflected in the actor’s voice. Gordon accomplishes this convincingly and the scene in which he discusses his thoughts with the head nurse is one of the most poignant in the episode.
The final major cast member of the episode is Donna Douglas who portrays Janet Tyler after the bandages have been removed. While Maxine Stuart was an ideal choice to voice the faceless Tyler, the producers felt that Janet Tyler should be breathtakingly beautiful in comparison to the grotesque image of the pig people. Stuart plays Tyler up until the removal of the bandages but once they are taken off Douglas takes over as Tyler for the remainder of the episode. Douglas has only a few lines after the bandages have been removed. There are contradictory accounts as to whose voice is heard when Douglas speaks. Stuart recorded a voiceover to sync her voice to Douglas’s facial movements so that the audience would not suspect that two different actresses were playing the same role.
According to Stuart it is her voice that is used in the final cut of the episode. Heyes and Douglas, however, both contest that Douglas was on the set during the entire production and learned Stuart’s intonations well enough to recite her few lines believably and that it is her voice that is heard in the last scene of the episode. Either way both performances are convincing and important to the story. For those who have seen this episode in syndication you might have seen the version entitled “The Private World of Darkness.” Serling’s original title was “Eye of the Beholder” and its meaning was the basic moral lesson to be taken from the story. When it first aired on CBS on November 11, 1960 it ran under this title. Shortly after, however, Serling and Cayuga Productions received a letter from Stuart Reynolds, a television producer for General Electric Theater which ran on CBS from 1953 to 1962, stating that in October of 1953 General Electric Theater aired an episode written by Hannah Grad Goodman titled “The Eye of the Beholder.” Reynolds was now trying to market this production as an educational film to be used in schools and in a roundabout way he threatened to sue Serling if he did not change the name of his Twilight Zone episode. Not wanting to pick an unneeded fight Serling and the producers decided to change to the name.
When the episode was next broadcast in 1962 it bore the name “The Private World of Darkness.” Since then it has been released commercially under both names but usually the syndicated version runs under the title “The Private World of Darkness” simply because when it first aired in syndication it bore this name. Regardless, most people know it under the name that Serling originally intended. As mentioned this is one of the signature episodes of the series. Whenever there is a reference to The Twilight Zone this is one of a handful of episodes that is mentioned. As for the filmmakers, both Rod Serling and Douglas Heyes both consider this one of their best efforts on the program. Serling would later recycle this same theme on Night Gallery in the episode “The Different Ones” where a deformed teenage boy is sent by a totalitarian society concerned with conformity to live on another planet. When he arrives he discovers that it is to be an exchange as a creature from this new planet, a seemingly attractive human man, is being sent to Earth.
To the teenager’s surprise the people from his new home look much like he does and all is well. It was also remade almost verbatim for the UPN revival series in 2003.
The producers of this series choose not to change anything and both the concept and script and many of the camera shots are duplicated as well as they can be. The end product is simply a diluted version of the original. This episode has also been spoofed on Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons and many other programs. Serling hit upon a theme here that is often spoken of but rarely put into images as clearly as this episode. And thanks to remarkable casting, Douglas Heyes’s painstakingly choreographed camera work, and William Tuttle’s uniquely grotesque artistry, this episode is still a very recognizable stamp on the face of American popular culture. Douglas Heyes was the director responsible for some of the most memorable episodes of the series, including 'The After Hours,' 'The Howling Man' and 'The Invaders.' Heyes wrote and directed the first segment of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, 'The Dead Man' (based on the story by Fritz Leiber), and wrote two additional segments, 'The Housekeeper' and 'Brenda' (based on the story by Margaret St.
Clair) under the pseudonym Matthew Howard. I remember back in the fall of 1979 while attending WCSU in college we used to watch the Twilight Zone on WPIX Channel 11 following Star Trek the Original Series and at that time I only remembered a few episodes as there was no VHS tapes and the ending scared the life out of me! My friends pulled a prank on me on night and wore masks and crept into my room! Geez I was scared! I own the entire series on DVD and I never get tired of that episode. A similar episode without the pig people though which is my all time favorite and IMO is 'Obsolete Man' with the late Burgess Meredith. Another Dystopian tale as to how powerful the State can be as how little value humankind can be if they don't conform entirely with the state!
Now here's an episode worth celebrating. We all think so, and I'm no exception to the rule. To be sure, this is THE perfect episode in all ways of execution.
Dr.Bernardi is one of my favorite TZ characters. All compassion through his own long suffering dealing with Miss Tyler's aesthetic plight.
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But an ultimately promising if momentarily resigned ending for Miss Tyler. She not only will live in a new, accepting world of people sharing her disability, but she actually in making a friend in Walter Smith, may have found a future husband as well!! A proven fact; beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, and always WILL be.
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