There is a scene in The Elephant Man in which an acclaimed British actress comes to visit John Merrick. It is one of the most touching scenes in the film. I donated the services of my Oscar-winning wife, Anne Bancroft, to play the actress who reads Shakespeare with John Hurt as the Elephant Man. Upon first seeing him, the actress is shocked by his disfigured appearance, but quickly and skillfully hides it and takes our breath away when together they read the classic eloquent scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Anne’s performance was absolutely transcendent.
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The first day of shooting with David Lynch was in October 1979 on Butler’s Wharf on the South Bank of the Thames River just east of London’s Tower Bridge. It was a chilly day, and David Lynch had arrived earlier on the set without a coat. I sent somebody to Harrods department store with David’s measurements and bought him a warm, dark blue, brushed woolen English overcoat. He wore it every day—I’m not kidding. Every day! Whether he was indoors or outdoors, every time he directed a scene for The Elephant Man he was wearing that blue coat. I think he might have believed it was some kind of good luck charm.
Many years later in 2013, when I was awarded the American Film Institute’s prestigious Life Achievement Award, among the celebrated filmmakers that honored me that night was David Lynch. When he told the story of how we had met on The Elephant Man he actually brought out onto the stage with him the blue coat that I had bought for him at Harrods, which he had carefully tucked away in his cedar closet all these years. I can’t tell you how touched I was at the sight of that coat.
Some highlights from The Elephant Man that stay with me are, for one, Freddie Francis’s outstanding black-and-white cinematography, and, for another, John Morris’s exceptional score. It’s one of the most moving film scores that you’ll ever hear. He seems to capture the beautiful spirit that lived in the Elephant Man’s soul. I think it was one of John Morris’s best musical achievements.
The Elephant Man premiered on October 2, 1980, and among the wonderful notices it received was a review in The New York Times by one of America’s foremost film critics, Vincent Canby. Let me give you a few excerpts from his insightful review:
The physical production is beautiful, especially Freddie Francis’s black-and-white photography…
The chief of his admirers is the actress, Mrs. Kendal, played in her best grand-lady style by Anne Bancroft, in scenes that are surprisingly affecting…
Mr. Hurt is truly remarkable. It can’t be easy to act under such a heavy mask…
“The Elephant Man,” which opens today at the Coronet, is the first major commercial film to be directed by Mr. Lynch, whose only previous feature is “Eraserhead,” a cult movie I’ve not seen but which, apparently, is also about an outsider. The new film was written by Christopher De Vore and Eric Bergren, with the later participation of Mr. Lynch. It’s a handsome, eerie, disturbing movie…
The Elephant Man went on to capture eight Academy Award nominations: Patricia Norris for Best Costume Design; Stuart Craig, Robert Cartwright, and Hugh Scaife for Best Art Direction; John Morris for Best Original Score; Anne V. Coates for Best Film Editing; Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren, and David Lynch for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; John Hurt for Best Actor in a Leading Role; David Lynch for Best Director, and producers Brooksfilms and Jonathan Sanger for Best Picture. Of course, I was very disappointed that we didn’t win any, but my spirits soared at the BAFTAs （the British Academy Awards） when The Elephant Man took home the prized award for the best film of the year and they also recognized John Hurt as the Best Actor in a Leading Role.
I was so successful at keeping my name off of The Elephant Man credits that to this day people are astonished to learn that my eponymous film company produced it—but I am happy to tell them all about it because I am still so very proud of it.
Chapter 17
History of the World, Part I
Let me tell you how History of the World, Part I, the seventh movie that I wrote and directed, came to be. Because of the sheer genius of Albert Whitlock’s skill at painting cinematic backdrops （which I had just used in High Anxiety）， I began to think I could go anywhere in the world with my movies, all while I stayed right at home. I could tell stories that took place anywhere, in any time period, without ever leaving Hollywood.
Hence, History of the World, Part I was born.
I had always wanted to make a grand movie, a spectacle. I thought that the history of the world would be the perfect vehicle and the most colorful backdrop for this particular endeavor. D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille have always been movie-making giants to me. Griffith’s credits go back to 1908. He was a filmmaking pioneer who made great films like Orphans of the Storm （1921）， Way Down East （1920）， and of course the classic The Birth of a Nation （1915）。 DeMille made big sprawling historical epics like Cleopatra （1934）， The Crusades （1935）， The Plainsman （1936）， Union Pacific （1939）， and The Ten Commandments （1956）。 I think I learned more about the events that shaped the world from watching those movies than I ever did in history classes at school. So somewhere in my mind, History of the World, Part I was a tribute to their cinematic art.