Coming up on Saturday at the Described Movies: The Elephant Man and Chariots of Fire.

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From this Saturday at 12am Eastern, that’s 6pm Saturday in NZ, 4pm in Sydney and 5am in the UK, and repeated every four hours throughout the day, it’s the described movies The Elephant Man from 1980, and Chariots of Fire from 1981.
The Elephant Man is a 1980 British American biographical drama film about Joseph Merrick (John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in late 19th-century London.
The film was directed by David Lynch, produced by Mel Brooks (who was uncredited, to avoid audiences anticipating the film being in the vein of his comedic works, although his company Brooksfilms is in the opening credits) and Jonathan Sanger, and stars John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Michael Elphick, Hannah Gordon, and Freddie Jones.
The Elephant Man is generally regarded as one of Lynch's more accessible and mainstream works, alongside The Straight Story (1999).
The screenplay was adapted by Lynch, Christopher De Vore and Eric Bergren from Frederick Treves 's The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences (1923) and Ashley Montagu 's The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity (1971).
It was shot in black-and-white and featured make-up work by Christopher Tucker.
The Elephant Man was a critical and commercial success with eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor.
After receiving widespread criticism for failing to honour the make-up effects, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was prompted to create the Academy Award for Best Makeup the following year.
The film also won the BAFTA Awards for Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Production Design and was nominated for Golden Globe awards.
It also won a French César Award for Best Foreign Film.
Directed by: David Lynch.
Screenplay by: Christopher De Vore , Eric Bergren, and David Lynch.
Based on: The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences, by Frederick Treves, and The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity , by Ashley Montagu.
Produced by: Jonathan Sanger.
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, Freddie Jones, John Gielgud, and Wendy Hiller.
Cinematography: Freddie Francis.
Edited by: Anne V. Coates.
Music by: John Morris.
Production company: Brooksfilms.
Distributed by: Columbia – EMI – Warner Distributors (United Kingdom), and Paramount Pictures (United States).
Release dates: 3 October 1980 (New York City) , and 10 October 1980 (United States).
File Length: 118 minutes.
Countries: United Kingdom, and United States.
Language: English.
Budget: $5 million.
Box office: $26 million (North America).
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland, and produced by David Puttnam.
It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.
Ben Cross and Ian Charleson star as Abrahams and Liddell, alongside Nigel Havers, Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Brad Davis, and Dennis Christopher in supporting roles.
Kenneth Branagh makes his debut in a minor role.
Chariots of Fire was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score for Vangelis' electronic theme tune.
At the 35th British Academy Film Awards, the film was nominated in eleven categories and won three, including Best Film.
It is ranked 19th in the British Film Institute's list of Top 100 British films.
The film's title was inspired by the line "Bring me my Chariot of fire!" from the William Blake poem adapted into the British hymn and unofficial English anthem "Jerusalem" ; the hymn is heard at the end of the film.
The original phrase "chariot(s) of fire" is from 2 Kings 2:11 and 6:17 in the Bible.
Directed by: Hugh Hudson.
Written by: Colin Welland.
Produced by: David Puttnam.
Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Havers, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Lindsay Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Nigel Davenport, Brad Davis, Peter Egan, John Gielgud, Ian Holm, and Patrick Magee.
Cinematography: David Watkin.
Edited by: Terry Rawlings.
Music by: Vangelis.
Production Companies: Allied Stars Ltd, and Enigma Productions.
Distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Release date: 30 March 1981 (London).
File Length: 118 minutes.
Country: United Kingdom.
Language: English.
Budget: $5.5 million (£3 million).
Box office: $59 million (U.S. and Canada).
Any questions, comments, or ideas for future described movies: e-mail me: anthony at mushroomfm dot com (e-mail address written that way to cut down on
spam)
Enjoy the movies,