Best Picture, Jonathan Sanger
Best Director, David Lynch
Best Actor, John Hurt
Best Adapted Screenplay, Christopher De Vore/Eric Bergren/David Lynch
Best Music - Original Score, John Morris
Best Adapted Screenplay, Christopher De Vore/Eric Bergren/David Lynch
Best Music - Original Score, John Morris
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Stuart Craig/Robert Cartwright/Hugh Scaife
Best Film Editing, Anne V. Coates
Best Costume Design, Patricia Norris
The Elephant Man is inspired by the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John in Treves' memoir), a curiosity of Victorian London who went from the sideshow to stardom when eminent surgeon Frederick Treves took an interest in his unique case and moved him into London Hospital. It is a life that has inspired books, television specials, social studies (Ashley Montagu's, for example), even primetime animation.
And, of course, it has inspired dramatists. Bernard Pomerance's Broadway play debuted in 1979, won three Tony Awards including Best Play, was adapted for a 1982 ABC TV movie, and has been revived on the stage twice more. On stage, the role has been played by David Bowie, Bruce Davison, Mark Hamill, Billy Crudup, and Bradley Cooper, the latter two getting Tony nominations for their efforts. Pomerance was famously peeved about the film The Elephant Man, which had no relation at all to his play and probably hurt the film sales for it. And worse yet, if anyone were to finally adapt Pomerance's Elephant Man for cinemas, you know it would be reported as a remake of this version.
Of course, we today are not imagining a cinematic adaptation of Pomerance's work, but a remake of David Lynch's Oscar-nominated classic. Still. There's precedent for multiple versions of the story. Here's ours.
MRS. MOTHERSHEAD
Matron at London Hospital.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress (Separate Tables)
Wendy Hiller
My Choice: BAFTA Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress (Equus)
It's similar to a role she plays in Call the Midwife, exuding warmth and understanding, but also commanding in her own quiet way.
BYTES
A carny who exhibits Merrick - drunk and abusive, he knows a good cash cow when he sees it. Loosely inspired by the real carnival barker Tom Norman.
Originally played by:
Freddie Jones
My Choice:
Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas, Spectre)
He bears some resemblance to the actual man who inspired Bytes. He's also a great actor that I'd love to see in more things.
FRANCIS CARR-GOMM
Governor of London Hospital, who is at first reluctant about Merrick's stay.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Arthur)
John Gielgud
My Choice: Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actor in a Drama (Wilde), SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Gosford Park)
MADGE KENDAL
A popular actress who befriends Merrick.
Originally played by: Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Actress (The Slender Thread, Prisoner of Second Avenue); Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (The Miracle Worker)
Anne Bancroft
My Choice: Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Synecdoche New York, The Messenger), Academy Award Nominee for Best Actress (In America) and Best Supporting Actress (Sweet and Lowdown), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Control.), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Sweet and Lowdown), SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (In America)
Given her filmography, her various nominations for a wide range of performances, her reputation and respectability - would you not immediately believe her to be the most respected thespian of the Victorian stage as soon as she walks in?
DR. FREDERICK TREVES
Eminent surgeon at London Hospital, he saves Merrick from the carny life, taking him in to live at the hospital - but he begins to fear he is just as much a ringmaster as Bytes.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actor (The Silence of the Lambs)
Anthony Hopkins
My Choice: Hollmann Award/Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (The Revenant)
Tom Hardy (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Mad Max: Fury Road)
He can play the straight man so well (his "saner" brother in Legend was the superior performance)! I'd like to see him do it more!
JOHN MERRICK
The Elephant Man - young, kind, intelligent, but shunned, then celebrated, for an accident of birth.
Originally played by: Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy); Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor (The Elephant Man) and Best Supporting Actor (Midnight Express)
John Hurt
My Choice: Hollmann Award/BAFTA Award/Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (The Social Network), Academy Award/BAFTA Award/Golden Globe/SAG Award Nominee for Best Actor (Hacksaw Ridge), SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (The Social Network)
Andrew Garfield (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Silence)
He's just great.
Who do you see in a new version of The Elephant Man?
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