The Elephant Man (film) use of the title. "The Elephant Man" was met with critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 90% rating, based on 42 reviews, with an average score of 8.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "David Lynch's relatively straight second feature finds an admirable synthesis of compassion and restraint in treating its subject, and features outstanding performances by John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins." Vincent Canby wrote: "Mr. Hurt is truly remarkable. It can't be easy to act under such a heavy mask ... the physical production is beautiful, especially Freddie Francis's black-and-white photography." A small number of critics were less
The True History of the Elephant Man and Treves, beautifully written..." Arnold went on to say "This is surely the last word and the true version" of Merrick's story. Writing for "The New York Times", Anatole Broyard called the book "absorbing and well-balanced" and noted that it "corrects earlier versions of Merrick's life". The True History of the Elephant Man The True History of the Elephant Man is a biography of Joseph Merrick written by Michael Howell and Peter Ford. It was published in 1980 in London, by Allison & Busby. It was distributed in the United States by Schocken Books. A second edition was published in