According to articles in the 16 May 1979 Var and 1 Jun 1979 NYT, screenwriters Eric Bergren and Christopher De Vore were introduced to noted anthropologist Ashley Montagu’s 1970 book In Part on the Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity, which framed subject John Merrick’s life in sociological and psychological terms. The men soon optioned the book, and De Vore’s girlfriend, a babysitter for producer Jonathan Sanger, presented Sanger with a script. He, in turn, shared it with actor-producer-director Mel Brooks, whose Crossbow Productions developed the project, which fit with Brooks’s mandate to handle material other than projects in which he was involved as a director or writer.
       Reportedly, Sanger’s involvement in the project predated the opening of playwright Bernard Pomerance’s off-Broadway play The Elephant Man. An article in the 14 Aug 1979 DV stated that Pomerance and producers of the hit play filed a lawsuit against Brooks and Crossbow Productions to prevent Brooks from using the play’s name. According to the complaint, producers Nellie Nugent, Richard Crinkley, Elizabeth I. McCann, and Pomerance claimed that a film with the same name would create confusion among the public, and devalue the rights of their intellectual property. Furthermore, a 22 Aug 1979 LAT item reported that the play’s producers wanted to make a film based on their play, and Brooks’s same-named independent project would make it more difficult. A 12 Sep 1979 Var article stated that Brooks and his corporation, Brooksfilms, filed suit against the play owners for the right to use the title. The argument was that the film was based on Dr. Frederick Treve’s memoirs titled The Elephant Man And Other Reminiscences in the public domain, and to call the film anything else would be a handicap. To complicate matters, Brooks discovered that screenwriter Dan Polier Jr. and Radnitz/Mattel Productions had registered the title with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and it was suggested that a deal was in the works for the rights to the title. Although the details of the lawsuit’s resolution are not known, the film kept its name, and a disclaimer appeared in end credits to clarify that the film was a separate work from the play.
       A 2 Oct 1980 LAHExam article reported that screenwriter-director David Lynch had hoped to follow his debut film Eraserhead (1979, see entry) with his script Ronny Rocket. However, Lynch could not generate any interest in the project, and directing The Elephant Man kept him afloat financially.
       A 28 Oct 1979 LAT article stated that Brooks got rejections from most of the film studios until Paramount Pictures production chief Michael Eisner agreed to distribute the film. To finance the movie, Brooks agreed to do special programming for television network National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in exchange for $4 million.
       According to Brooks, his bid to hire actor Anthony Hopkins for the role of “Dr. Frederick Treves” began with insistent telephone calls everyday to Hopkins’ agent, Tom Chasen. When another picture that Hopkins was going to do with Shirley MacLaine was delayed, Hopkins joined the cast.
       A 21 Mar 1979 Var news item announced that principal photography would begin in Sep 1979 in England, but the date was pushed to 15 Oct 1979, according to a brief in the 7 Jul 1979 Var. A 9 Jul 1979 DV article stated that the movie had a twelve-week schedule.
       The 2 Oct 1980 LAHExam reported that Lynch originally intended to handle makeup until a test was done two days before shooting began, and the decision was made to hire makeup designer Christopher Tucker. Tucker began by studying photographs of the skeleton and death mask of the real John Merrick archived at the London Hospital museum. Tucker noticed that Merrick’s upper palate and jaw were deformed and twisted, making his face totally asymmetrical. Tucker designed an acrylic overdenture, consisting of eight “baby” teeth to replicate Merrick’s mouth. Tucker conjectured that Hurt had much more facial mobility than Merrick, whose deformities made movement of the lower jaw almost impossible. The only person who understood Merrick’s speech was his doctor.
       Articles in the 26 Dec 1979 HR, 28 Sep 1980 LAHExam, and 7 Oct 1980 LAT stated that the application of John Hurt’s makeup was a seven-hour process, beginning at 5:30 a.m., then filming would occur between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. Hurt shaved his head to accommodate the prostheses, which consisted of sixteen individual pieces. Due to the fragility of the makeup, Hurt took naps sitting up, and could not eat once it was applied. During a six-week period, Hurt’s last meal at midmorning consisted of two eggs mixed in orange juice and sipped through a straw. The actor would not eat again until makeup was removed during a ninety-minute session. Afterward, his wife cooked dinner around midnight. Hurt would film his scenes on alternate days due to the constraints imposed by the makeup.
       In a Mar 1981 Millimeter article, director of photography Freddie Francis described that the first day Hurt’s makeup was applied, the actor was scheduled to do tests at 4:00 p.m., but was delayed until 10:00 p.m. When Francis and his crew saw the makeup for the first time, he knew “we had a great movie.”
       According to “The Elephant Man Revealed” segment in the The Elephant Man DVD, at the time the movie was filmed, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences did not give honors for makeup design. Tucker said that after the film was released, makeup artists pointed to his work and lobbied heavily for the creation of an official award for makeup.
       The 9 Jul 1979 DV reported that a decision was made to shoot the film in black and white to be more in keeping with the atmosphere of Victorian England. Millimeter stated that although filming in black and white had long fallen out of fashion, Francis observed that the Victorian era was the dawn of the photographic age, and audiences would “subconsciously accept the atmosphere as original.” Additionally, Francis said he came out of fifteen years of retirement to work on the film. He shot tests on Plus X film, and sent them to three different labs for processing. The company that did the best job would handle the film’s laboratory work. At a later date, Francis learned that Rank Film Laboratories, which was awarded the contract, worked around the clock to clean and reassemble its black and white machines. Talks with Lynch revealed that he expected much of the look of the film to be dark so Francis chose Plus X film stock for its impressive tonal range.
       According to Francis, the production spent five to six weeks filming exteriors, which included about twelve incomplete sequences, before Hurt, in full makeup, was ready to go before cameras.
       The next photographic phase lasted three to four weeks at the soon-to-be demolished Great Eastern Hospital in East London. Around this time, Francis began to experience an assortment of film stock problems that persisted until the end of principal photography. The appearance of white flash marks every few frames and mysterious fogging on the side of the negative necessitated the need for a new film stock. Since Plus X was hard to come by, Eastman Kodak Company wanted Francis to switch to Double X, but Francis refused because partial sequences had already been shot. Although they approached other film manufacturers, none could guarantee to supply the quantity needed. Eventually, Kodak was able to manufacture a new batch of Plus X film, which was faster and needed much less lighting than the original batch. It took Francis and his crew a few days to adjust to the changes.
       Articles in the 6 Oct 1980 DV and HR stated that the picture set opening-day house records at the following venues: $11,189 at the Regent Theatre in Los Angeles, CA; $12,018 at the Coronet Theatre in New York City; $7,064 at San Francisco, CA’s, Royal Theatre; and $4,900 at the Uptown #3 in Toronto, Canada.
       A 28 Dec 1980 LAT news item reported that the film was number three on reviewer Charles Champlin’s Top Ten list.
       The film received the following Academy Award nominations: Actor in a Leading Role (John Hurt), Art Direction, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Music, Best Picture and Writing. The film also received the following Golden Globe nominations: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture–Drama (John Hurt), Best Director – Motion Picture, Best Screenplay – Motion Picture, and Best Motion Picture – Drama.
       The 9 Jul 1979 DV stated that the picture marked Sanger’s feature film debut as producer.

      The following statements appear in end credits: “This has been based upon the true life story of John Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, and not upon the Broadway play of the same title or any other fictional account,” and “Made at Lee International Film Studios, Wembley, Middlesex, England.”