Here’s the only color photo of John Hurt in his “John” Merrick makeup on the set of David Lynch‘s The Elephant Man. Pic was taken in 1979 by make-up designer Christopher Tucker. The Paramount film (produced by Mel Brooks!) opened in October 1980. Why haven’t I re-watched it since? Because I was hugely irritated by the sadistic carnival worker (Freddy Jones) who treats Merrick like an animal, and to whom Merrick is strangely (i.e., nonsensically) attached. But I loved the widescreen black-and-white photography by Freddie Francis (Room At The Top, The French Lieutenant’s Woman). I’m therefore thinking about purchasing the Bluray.
