The Elephant Man is one of those movies that I somehow missed seeing growing up but heard the story many times. I finally saw it and was completely surprised that it was directed by David Lynch. The first scene is all Lynch—a melange of Joseph Merrick’s mother and a surly elephant doing some sort of dance macabre.
The DVD commentary revealed another interesting tidbit: Mel Brooks was one of the executive producers but kept his name off the opening film titles for fear that his name might imply the film’s a comedy. In the end, no one could mistake the sadness and beauty of the film for humor.
