David Lynch

The Elephant Man

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.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1980
  • 123 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 2.35:1
  • English
  • Spine #1051

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

Purchase Options

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

The Elephant Man
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