Here's the tagline: Suddenly he could see through clothes, flesh... and walls! Riveting, eh? Well, what can you say about the '63 classic, X: THE MAN WITH X-RAY EYES. It's a bona fide cult classic and it's hip to dig these days. Hipsters love nothing more than to quibble about the alternate ending and whether or not Ray Milland, the titular man with X-ray eyes, did it all for the money. The answer: of course he did it for the money.
Think of it as an Oedipus Rex for the mid-Sixties zeitgeist. A brilliant researcher, played by Milland, discovers a compound that when squirted on the eyes allows the person to see through a patient. It's contact lens care sans the contacts. It's X-ray in a bottle. It's out there. Of course, his quest to save humanity from incredible suffering backfires, as it should given that it's a Roger Corman flick.
So, the Man With the X-Ray Eyes accidentally kills a colleague. So he goes on the lam and helps diagnose diseases and ends up losing his mind and having to wear dark glasses to shield his sensitive eyes. Did I mention his eyes have turned completely black? He has a turn as a carnie and a gambler before he sets out into the desert to be alone.
Hey, when you can see through everyone, the fun kind of goes out of having people around. But, as movie logic would have it, Milland stumbles upon a tent revival in the middle of the desert. When he tells the preacher that he is beginning to see through the very fabric of the universe, the preachers quotes Bible scripture: "If thy eye offends thee, pluck it out."
Milland takes the advice to heart in a fit of relief and madness and gouges out his eyes. Pleasant. Of course, but this point in the film he's completely lost his mind. He claims to be able to see through the earth itself. The hipster controversy comes with whether or not the alternate ending had him screaming, "I can still see!" Corman denies that was ever said, but the rumor persists.
Think of it as an Oedipus Rex for the mid-Sixties zeitgeist. A brilliant researcher, played by Milland, discovers a compound that when squirted on the eyes allows the person to see through a patient. It's contact lens care sans the contacts. It's X-ray in a bottle. It's out there. Of course, his quest to save humanity from incredible suffering backfires, as it should given that it's a Roger Corman flick.
So, the Man With the X-Ray Eyes accidentally kills a colleague. So he goes on the lam and helps diagnose diseases and ends up losing his mind and having to wear dark glasses to shield his sensitive eyes. Did I mention his eyes have turned completely black? He has a turn as a carnie and a gambler before he sets out into the desert to be alone.
Hey, when you can see through everyone, the fun kind of goes out of having people around. But, as movie logic would have it, Milland stumbles upon a tent revival in the middle of the desert. When he tells the preacher that he is beginning to see through the very fabric of the universe, the preachers quotes Bible scripture: "If thy eye offends thee, pluck it out."
Milland takes the advice to heart in a fit of relief and madness and gouges out his eyes. Pleasant. Of course, but this point in the film he's completely lost his mind. He claims to be able to see through the earth itself. The hipster controversy comes with whether or not the alternate ending had him screaming, "I can still see!" Corman denies that was ever said, but the rumor persists.
About the Author:
You might not have X-ray drops you can squirt on your eyeballs, but if you're sporting contacts, make sure you have an adequate contact lens care routine or else you'll be screaming like Ray Milland when it comes time to take them out.
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