Beautiful In and Out of The Zone

In a darkened hospital room, a lone woman sits. Her head is wrapped entirely in bandages. The reason? Ms. Janet Tyler is an outcast! For, you see, Janet Tyler is deformed!

She has just endured yet another treatment, her eleventh and final one allowed by the state, in order to correct this hideous deformity. Ms. Tyler, or as she is labeled by the impersonal " Patient 307 , " is hoping that this final procedure will cure her of her { As Doctor Doom would say -- } " Accursed Ugliness !!"

We hear the urgency in Janet Tyler's voice. This treatment MUST work, for she is now out of options !! On televisions throughout the hospital , the voice of the Leader of the State can be heard . He speaks of " Glorious conformity " in a loud raucous voice .Finally , it is time to remove the bandages .The camera takes us INSIDE the bandages, so that we may see them being removed as Ms . Tyler would see them. { This was accomplished by placing the camera into a fishbowl , and wrapping the gauze around that .} The tension builds as each strand is slowly unwound . Finally , the bandages are removed , and Ms. Tyler's face is revealed to us for the very first time. Ms. Tyler's face is that of an extremely beautiful woman !! It is then , that the doctor and his staff recoil in horror !! The procedure has bee yet another FAILURE !!

As the lights are turned up, we can finally see the horrid , misshapen , asymmetrical faces of the others . They look like something out of a NIGHTMARE !! Crying and hysterical, Ms. Janet Tyler races from the room. She goes running down several hallways in a blind , unreasoning panic !! Finally , by sheer chance, she runs into a room where she comes face to face with another " Hideous Freak " He is one Walter Smith, a man who is in charge of a village full of outcasts in the North . He has come for Ms. Tyler . Gently , he assures her that she will come to have a sense of community ; a sense of BELONGING !! He promises that she will find love, and be loved . He then advises her to remember the old saying -- " Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder ." Serling's closing narration underscores the point of the whole episode.

"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 there among the stars . Beauty is in the eye of the beholder -- lesson to be learned ... in The Twilight Zone. The Eye of the Beholder is indisputably one of the FINEST in the series. Serling's original title was " A Private World Of Darkness. " " Eye Of The Beholder " is a much more fitting title, as it better fits the tone of the episode. The episodes greatness is thanks to many different factors. Rod Serling's script is strong, yet sensitive. The film direction of the director, Douglas Heyes is also a contributing factor. As is the superb delivery of all of the actors . They were helped immeasurably by George Clemen's camera work, William Tuttle's make - up artistry, and the moody score for this episode. It was done by Bernard Herrmann.

In Serling's original script, the doctors and nurses were presented as unsympathetic, but director Heyes felt differently. So much so that when he did the auditions for the actors, he kept his BACK to them until he heard their voices. This was so Heyes could cast actors with the " most sympathetic voices that I could hear. " The only major role to be cast was that of Janet Tyler herself. It was decided to hire TWO actresses for the role. One, a good actress, who could play the role, and who's voice did not sound like that of a young beautiful girl. Her voice was more that of a strong, harsh, realistic woman that would help make the unveiling that much more of a surprise.This version of Janet Tyler was played by stage and television actress Maxine Stuart. And the beautiful young lady chosen to play Janet Tyler AFTER the reveal? She was a young , and then unknown , actress named -- Donna Douglas!

Donna Douglas died on January 1, 2015 at the age of Eighty - One . She was the first celebrity death of the New Year. Donna Douglas is of course best know for her portrayal of Elly May Clampett on the long running series The Beverly Hillbillies. Donna Douglas was also a real estate agent, a gospel singer, an inspirational speaker, and an author. What most people did not realize at the time, was that the young lady playing the eternally unwed Elly May Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies had been married and divorced (And mother to a young son named Danny Bourgeois , born in 1954) long before the series had began.

The Beverly Hillbillies was an integral part of my childhood. I would come home from school , and watch all of those fine old 1960's comedies. It is sad that we keep losing all of those familiar faces. R.I.P. Donna Douglas -- September 26, 1933 - January 1 , 2015.