X: The Man with the X-Ray eyes

[ravenus]

X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes - Roger Corman (1963)

To be sincere I didn't so much expect it to be but this was one AWESOME movie.

Written by Ray Russell, the story centers upon the brilliant if obsessive scientist James Xavier (Ray Milland)who is intent on expanding the range of human vision with his wonder drug 'X'. The extent of James' obsession is revealed in a conversation with his friend Sam.

Sam: "Only the gods see everything"
James: "My friend, I'm closing in on the gods"


James' formula works, giving him the ability to see through people's clothing, their skin and even beyond. But disaster erupts when a cynical committee withdraws his funding and he is returned to routine clinical practice. A heated argument with a colleague over the operating table gives way to a freak mishap in which he causes the death of his friend and our brilliant researcher becomes a man on the run. He spends his time in hiding as a cheap carnival act, only unlike the others, his talent is no sleight of hand, no trick. Found out by his agent Crane (a brilliant, palpably sleazy turn by Don Rickles), he is arm-twisted into becoming a 'healer' for money.

All this while, his eyesight grows painfully more intense, perceiving radiations beyond the pale of the visible spectrum. In place of unaffordable fancy effects (and perhaps all for the better, although it is interesting to fantasize about a more technically accomplished version that would retain the soul of the original movie) the story uses gripping and evocative dialog to convey the frightening distortion of Xavier's vision.

Throughout the narrative there is an air of tragedy and horror. The lead character, thanks to Russell's writing and Milland's performance, has been etched out so well, you empathize at each moment with what he's going through.

The climax is a shocking literal interpretation of the biblical command "If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out"

 

[Foxbat]

It's been quite a few years since I've seen this film but I do remember being impressed by it. Certainly one of Corman's better efforts. Perhaps it's time I hunted down a copy

 

[nemogbr]

Fascinating, Is it out on DVD?

 

[Foxbat]

It's available at Amazon.com for $13.46

 

[zorka]

I was always intrigued by this film but could never fully understand why. I am a mixed Roger Corman fan and given that his films were always made on the cheap, I was skeptical of what attracted me to this film.

One, of course, was Ray Milland, an excellent actor who brought a lot to the film. Despite past writing credits Ray Russell and Robert Dillon (the script was a co-written job that Ravenous didn't mention) really did it right with this particular script. As others have already mentioned it did have some memorable lines.

And the science in it is really quite good which made it even more believable.

 

[ravenus]

...writing credits Ray Russell and Robert Dillon (the script was a co-written job that Ravenous didn't mention)

And the science in it is really quite good which made it even more believable.

Ah yes sorry 'bout that, since it was based on a Russell story I assumed that the bulk of it was his contribution and Dillon was more of a polisher.

As regards the science, well I'm not so sure, i thought it was more of a Ray Bradbury level of SF than anything else.

For instance (***SPOILER WARNING***):

1. I thought the woman was too easily convinced by the monkey experiment. It'd have been more rational for me to think that the monkey had been trained to hit all the three buttons regardless.

2. The phenomenon of Xavier seeing people naked seemd a bit odd to me, since AFAIK, there is no difference in the radiations that are reflected off clothes and skin. X-rays show skeletons because they're reflected off the distinctively denser crystalline bone material.