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The Elephant Man

£85.00

Film

The Elephant Man

Additional information

Year

1980, 2004 Release

Size/Type

Japanese B2 (20" x 28.5")

Condition

Near Mint / Originally rolled (as issued)

Director

David Lynch

Actor/Actress

Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Freddie Jones, John Gielgud, John Hurt, Michael Elphick, Wendy Hiller

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“I am not an animal! I am a human being! I…am…a man !”

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An impressive piece of movie poster artwork for the 2004 Japanese re-release for David Lynch’s Oscar winning masterpiece…“The Elephant Man”. The black & white design of this B2 (to complement the actual movie) depicts The Elephant Man, Joseph ‘John’ Merrick swathed in sack cloth and features silver foil detailing with artwork unique to the Japanese release. A rare poster and particularly sought after. Originally rolled (as issued) this presents and displays to excellent effect and represents a beautiful item of original film memorabilia with striking imagery for one of the finest & thought provoking films ever made.

Trivia: Sir Anthony Hopkins‘ portrayal of Dr. Frederick Treves in this movie, is reportedly what inspired Jonathan Demme to cast him as the evil Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). (Hopkins later said that he felt the sharing-and-caring role of Dr. Frederick Treves a rather dull one.)

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Film Description

The Elephant Man Movie Poster

“A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity.”

It is truly baffling to me that there are people who have seen The Elephant Man who still think that David Lynch is a cold and cruel film-maker. David Lynch is ,in fact, a man of extraordinary gentleness and sensitivity, who cares deeply about the sort of people whom mainstream society stigmatizes as ‘freaks’. Please, watch this film–watch it carefully– and you will see that Lynch’s deepest concern is with how a over-industrialized, rigid, and profoundly hypocritical society crushes its outsiders. It may sound odd, but I really believe that the non-Christian Lynch has, in the person of John Merrick portrayed one of the most profoundly moving “Christ figures’ in all of film. Let me also note how well Lynch( In only his second effort at directing!) handled such legends as Wendy Hiller, John Gielgud and Anthony Hopkins.

Trivia: This movie was Executively Produced by Mel Brooks, who was responsible for hiring Director David Lynch, and obtaining permission to film in black and white. He deliberately left his name off of the credits, as he knew that people would get the wrong idea about the movie, if they saw his name on the movie, given his fame as a satirist.

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria

Mint
A poster that has never been used or displayed and may show the most minor signs of age and wear. The poster should have no holes or tears.

Near Mint
A generally unused poster with fresh, saturated colors. May have minimal tears at folds. Has no significant holes, no paper loss, may have minor tears along edges, may have fine pin holes.

Very Fine
A poster with bright colour and crisp overall appearance. It may have very general signs of use including slight fold separation and fold wear. It may have pin holes or very minor tears. This is the highest grade allowed for a poster that has been restored either on linen or on paper.

Fine
A poster with good colors and overall clean appearance. It may have minor tears small paper loss and minor stains. It may have some fold seperation.

Good
An average poster with overall fresh color. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in an unobtrusive place. May have medium or major restoration.

Fair
A poster with faded colors and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had major restoration.

Poor
A poster that is worn, torn, and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot, and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.

All photographs and images used on our site are photographs of the actual poster/item you are buying, we do not use stock photographs.

Most Popular Poster Types

US Posters

LOBBY CARD
11 x 14″ printed on heavy stock paper. Used as display in theatre lobbies. Originally made in sets of eight. Some sets have a title card, which contains credits and artwork, essentially a mini-poster. The remaining seven cards are coloured photographic credits and poster artwork showing different scenes from the movie.

WINDOW CARD
14 x 22″ printed on heavy stock paper with the top 4-6 inches usually left blank for the local cinema owner to fill in the cinema and the date it was due to play. Largely discontinued during the 1970’s.

HALF SHEET
22 x 28″ printed on heavy stock paper. The image displayed is normally a smaller version of the main poster, although some do have different artworks and sometimes come in two versions.

INSERT
14 x 36″ printed on heavy stock paper. Inserts usually have the same artwork as a one sheet. Popular with collectors since they are smaller and easier to frame. Normally come tri folded or rolled.

STYLE Y/FORTY BY SIXTY
40 x 60″ printed on heavy stock paper. Rare since they were primarily used for major motion pictures only. Designed to be used outside the theatre, on an easel, normally at a drive-in movie theatre.

ONE-SHEET
27 x 41″ printed on paper. This is the most common size of poster, intended to be displayed in a glass “marquee” case. It is the most sought after size by collectors. Since the 1980’s most posters are sent to the theatre rolled and maybe slightly smaller measuring 27″ by 40″ and with the advent of backlit light boxes a growing number of modern movie posters are available double-sided and the more traditional single-sided.

THREE-SHEET
41 x 81″ printed on paper. These were printed on two or three separate sheets designed to overlap, few survive. Used for larger advertising spaces, normally posted on walls, perfect for huge movie theatres the drive-in, where people could see them from a distance. From the 1970’s on, three-sheets were sometimes printed in one piece and issued as “international” versions to be used abroad.

BRITISH Posters

BRITISH QUAD
30 x 40″ Most common poster size used in the UK. British Quads are horizontal and may have different artwork to the US one sheet. Like a US one sheet they normally come in two versions. Like a US one sheet they are usually supplied single-sided or more commonly now as a double sided poster.

BRITISH ONE-SHEET
27 X 40″, printed on paper. Very rarely used size.

ITALIAN Posters

ITALIAN LOCANDINA
13 x 28″ six inches shorter than the US insert, very nice size to frame. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

ITALIAN PHOTOBUSTA
18 x 26″ Glossy, high quality, used as lobby cards in Italy. Size may vary, either vertical or horizontal format. There are also double Photobusta or mini Photobusta.

2-FOGLIO (DUE)
(DUE): 39 x 55″ This is the standard poster size used in Italy. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

4-FOGLIO
(QUATTRO) 55 x 79″ Very large Italian poster printed in two pieces, often contains very beautiful artwork.

FRENCH Posters

FRENCH
47 x 63″ (GRANDE) or 24 x 33″ (PETITE) French movie posters normally come with different artwork to either the US or the UK. Like the Italian’s some of the artwork is extrememly beautiful.