The Elephant Man

Christopher Tucker made the makeup for David Lynch’s film, moulded from casts of Joseph Merrick’s body kept at the Royal London Hospital; Lynch had tried the design himself and failed. Applying it took seven to eight hours a day and removing it two. John Hurt reached the set at five in the morning, could play only from noon to ten at night, and worked alternate days. After day one he said they had finally managed to make him hate acting. Mel Brooks, who backed the production through Brooksfilms, says he wanted black and white to minimise the horrific deformity and catch the feel of Victorian England. Brooks also asked to be left off the credits so audiences would not expect a comedy. Eight Academy Award nominations, no wins: Best Picture, Directing, Actor in a Leading Role, Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium), Art Direction, Costume Design, Film Editing and Music (Original Score). No Makeup category existed that year; after the complaints the Academy created one for the next, first taken by Rick Baker for An American Werewolf in London. A good fit if you watch knowing the black and white was chosen to soften the deformity, not for style. Not for you if you hope the display ends once Merrick reaches the hospital; the looking carries on there.