The Elephant Man
With this poignant second feature, David Lynch brought his atmospheric visual and sonic palette to a notorious true story set in Victorian England. When the London surgeon Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) meets the freak-show performer John Merrick (John Hurt), who has severe skeletal and soft-tissue deformities, he assumes that he must be intellectually disabled as well. As the two men spend more time together, though, Merrick reveals the intelligence, gentle nature, and profound sense of dignity that lie beneath his shocking appearance, and he and Treves develop a friendship. Shot in gorgeous black and white and boasting a stellar supporting cast that includes Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, and Wendy Hiller, The Elephant Man was nominated for eight Academy Awards, cementing Lynch’s reputation as one of American cinema’s most visionary talents.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack
- Director David Lynch and critic Kristine McKenna reading from Room to Dream, a 2018 book they coauthored
- Archival interviews with Lynch, actor John Hurt, producers Mel Brooks and Jonathan Sanger, director of photography Freddie Francis, stills photographer Frank Connor, and makeup artist Christopher Tucker
- Audio recording from 1981 of an interview and Q&A with Lynch at the American Film Institute
- The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed, a 2001 documentary about the film
- Joseph Merrick: The Real Elephant Man, a 2005 program featuring archivist Jonathan Evans
- Trailer and radio spots
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: Excerpts from an interview with Lynch from the 2005 edition of filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley’s book Lynch on Lynch, and an 1886 letter to the editor of the London Times concerning Merrick by Francis Culling Carr Gomm, chairman of the London Hospital
New cover by Drusilla Adeline/Sister Hyde
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack
- Director David Lynch and critic Kristine McKenna reading from Room to Dream, a 2018 book they coauthored
- Archival interviews with Lynch, actor John Hurt, producers Mel Brooks and Jonathan Sanger, director of photography Freddie Francis, stills photographer Frank Connor, and makeup artist Christopher Tucker
- Audio recording from 1981 of an interview and Q&A with Lynch at the American Film Institute
- The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed, a 2001 documentary about the film
- Joseph Merrick: The Real Elephant Man, a 2005 program featuring archivist Jonathan Evans
- Trailer and radio spots
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: Excerpts from an interview with Lynch from the 2005 edition of filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley’s book Lynch on Lynch, and an 1886 letter to the editor of the London Times concerning Merrick by Francis Culling Carr Gomm, chairman of the London Hospital
New cover by Drusilla Adeline/Sister Hyde
Cast
- Anthony Hopkins
- Frederick Treves
- John Hurt
- John Merrick
- Anne Bancroft
- Mrs. Kendal
- John Gielgud
- Carr Gomm
- Wendy Hiller
- Mothershead
- Freddie Jones
- Bytes
- Michael Elphick
- Night porter
- Hannah Gordon
- Mrs. Treves
- Helen Ryan
- Princess Alex
- John Standing
- Fox
- Dexter Fletcher
- Bytes’s boy
- Lesley Dunlop
- Nora
Credits
- Director
- David Lynch
- Produced by
- Jonathan Sanger
- Executive producer
- Stuart Cornfeld
- Screenplay by
- Christopher De Vore
- Screenplay by
- Eric Bergen
- Screenplay by
- David Lynch
- Music by
- John Morris
- Edited by
- Anne V. Coates
- Production designed by
- Stuart Craig
- Director of photography
- Freddie Francis
- In charge of production
- Terence A. Clegg
- Costumes designed by
- Patricia Norris
- Elephant man makeup designed and created by
- Christopher Tucker
- Casting
- Maggie Cartier
- Elephant man makeup applied by
- Wally Schneiderman
- Assistant director
- Anthony Waye
- Art director
- Bob Cartwright
- Sound design
- Alan Splet
- Sound design
- David Lynch
- Special sound effects
- Alan Splet
- Stillsman
- Frank Connor
- Based on “The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences” by
- Sir Frederick Treves
- Based on “The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity” by
- Ashley Montagu
A scene from The Elephant Man
