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The Elephant Man

Brooksfilms

United States of America

United Kingdom

English

Anthony Hopkins

John Hurt

Anne Bancroft

John Gielgud

Wendy Hiller

Freddie Jones

Michael Elphick

Hannah Gordon

Helen Ryan

John Standing

Dexter Fletcher

Lesley Dunlop

Phoebe Nicholls

Pat Gorman

Claire Davenport

Orla Pederson

Patsy Smart

Frederick Treves

Stromboli

Richard Hunter

James Cormack

Robert Lewis Bush

Roy Evans

Joan Rhodes

Nula Conwell

Tony London

Alfie Curtis

Bernadette Milnes

Brenda Kempner

Carol Harrison

Hugh Manning

Dennis Burgess

Fanny Carby

William Morgan Sheppard

Kathleen Byron

Gerald Case

David Ryall

Deirdre Costello

Pauline Quirke

Kenny Baker

Chris Greener

Marcus Powell

Gilda Cohen

Lesley Scoble

Teri Scoble

Eiji Kusuhara

Robert Day

Patricia Hodge

Tommy Wright

Peter Davidson

John Rapley

Hugh Spight

Teresa Codling

Marion Betzold

Caroline Haigh

Florenzio Morgado

Victor Kravchenko

Beryl Hicks

Michele Amas

Lucie Alford

Penny Wright

Janie Kells

Lydia Lisle

David Lynch

Harry Fielder

Jack Armstrong

Ralph G. Morse

Fred Wood

Adam Caine

Tony Clarkin

Dave Cooper

Chick Fowles

Juba Kennerley

Eric Bergren

Christopher De Vore

Jay McGrath

Henry Roberts

Kevin Schumm

Ian Selby

Guy Standeven

Reg Thomason

Jill Goldston

Norman Gay

Anne V. Coates

Patricia Norris

Freddie Francis

John Morris

Stuart Craig

Jonathan Sanger

Maggie Cartier

Hugh Scaife

Robert Cartwright

Christopher Tucker

Wally Schneiderman

Stuart Cornfeld

Stephanie Kaye

Terry Sharratt

Frank Connor

Terence A. Clegg

Peter Horrocks

Neil Corbould

Garth Inns

Alan Splet

Graham Longhurst

Paul Corbould

Patrick Moore

Anthony Waye

Jack Hayes

Ceri Evans

John Roberts

Robin Gregory

Martin Gutteridge

Roy Larner

Wick Finch

Tiny Nicholls

Terry Wells Sr.

Brian Hathaway

Mel Brooks

Ashley Montagu

_**The ultimate outcast**_

In 1884 London, a doctor (Anthony Hopkins) meets Joseph Merrick, aka The Elephant Man (wrongly called John Merrick in the film) who was being exploited as a freak show attraction. Treves (Hopkins) tries to help Merrick (John Hurt) for the last six years of the latter’s life wherein he becomes cultured, but he inevitably remains an object of curiosity, to high society as well as low society. Anne Bancroft plays a winsome entertainer who is warm toward Merrick.     

Directed by David Lynch and shot in B&W, “The Elephant Man” (1980) is a melancholic biographical movie, and understandably so, but Merrick’s story is worth checking out despite the fact that it inspires pity. It calls into question the concept of beauty: Natural beauty is something one is born with and did nothing to acquire, but so is physical unattractiveness. Then there’s inner beauty. The charismatic actress (Bancroft) displays both. Of course there’s also inner ugliness, like the carnival huckster.  
 
A myth developed about Merrick’s disfigurement that his mother was raped by an elephant, probably started by sideshow hawkers. The opening conveys this in an artistic manner, but it’s not to be taken literally, which is why it’s surreal. Meanwhile the factory scenes with the pipes and corresponding dangers exhibit the reality for workers in Victorian times. 

The score by John Morris is noteworthy with one piece being ripped-off for the moving parts of “Platoon” (1986), e.g. Elias’ melodramatic death scene.   

The film runs 2 hours, 4 minutes, and was shot entirely in London and nearby Shepperton Studios, just west of the city.

GRADE: B

CinemaSerf

Saw this, recently up-converted to 4K at the London Film Festival and, apart from the clear improvements to the quality and detail of the image, I was reminded of just how good it is. Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft play their roles with engaging sincerity - very ably supported by Sir John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller. Prosthetics aside, John Hurt captures both the despair and optimism of Merrick with empathetic style; and Freddie Jones is just downright evil as "Bytes". His son Toby was at the screening and I couldn't help but wonder when he watched this portrayal by his father whether the pride in the performance must have been tempered by a disgust in the character, itself!! This film doesn't seem to do the rounds very often, nowadays, but it holds up very well after almost 40 years and is really a gem.

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The Elephant Man

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Cast

Anthony Hopkins

John Hurt

Anne Bancroft

John Gielgud

Wendy Hiller

Freddie Jones

Michael Elphick

Hannah Gordon

Helen Ryan

John Standing

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