USA, 1976
90m
35mm film, black and white, 1.85:1
mono [original release], Dolby [re-release], English
An American fantasy film directed by David Lynch.
Plot Summary
In a run-down industrial suburb, Henry Spencer lives in a crumbling, dingy apartment. The woman across the hall make clumsy passes at Henry who is already spoke for – he visits his girlfriend Mary and her family for a disturbing dinner (the chicken seems still to be alive) where he learns that he has fathered a mutant, mewling monstrosity. Seeking emotional solace, he takes comfort in the performances of the disfigured lady in the radiator. But for Henry, things are about to get even worse…
Credits
Crew
Directed by: David Lynch
© MCMLXXVI [1976] David Lynch
David Lynch presents. Produced with the cooperation of The American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film Studies
Produced by: David Lynch
Production Manager: Doreen G. Small
Written by: David Lynch
Assistant to the Director: Catherine Coulson
The Camera and Lighting: Frederick Elmes, Herbert Cardwell
Assistant Camera: Catherine Coulson
Picture Editing: David Lynch
Lady in the Radiator Song Composed and Sung by: Peter Ivers
Pipe Organ by: “Fats” Waller
Location Sound and Re-recording: Alan R. Splet
Sound Editing: Alan R. Splet
Sound Effects: David Lynch, Alan R. Splet
Special Effects Photography: Frederick Elmes
Production Design and Special Effects: David Lynch
Art Directors: Jack Fisk *, Sissy Spacek *
Crew: Jeanne Field, Michael Grody, Stephen Grody, Toby Keeler, Roger Lundy, John Lynch, Dennis Nance, Anatol Pacanowsky, Carol Schreder
Special Thanks to (in alphabetical order): Andre Guttfreund, Ken Fix, Antonio Vellani, David Khasky, David Lunney, Frank Daniel, George Stevens Jr, George T. Hutchison, Jack Fisk, Jim King, Margit Felligi Laszlo, Mars F. Baumgardt, Marvin Goodwin, Mary Fisk, Paul Leimbach, Peggy Lynch, Randy Hart, Richard Einfeld, Roman Harte, Ron Barth, Ron Culbertson, Sarah Pillsbury, Sidney P. Solow, Sissy Spacek
Cast
John Nance [real name: Jack Nance] as Henry Spencer
Charlotte Stewart (Mary X)
Allen Joseph (Bill X)
Jeanne Bates (Mrs X)
Judith Anna Roberts (beautiful girl across the hall)
Laurel Near (lady in the radiator)
V. Phipps-Wilson (landlady)
Jack Fisk (man in the planet)
Jean Lange (grandmother)
Thomas Coulson (the boy)
John Monez (bum)
Darwin Joston (Paul)
Neil Moran (the boss)
Hal Landon Jr (pencil machine operator)
Jennifer Lynch (little girl)
Brad Keeler (little boy)
Peggy Lynch, Doddie Keeler (people digging in the alley)
Gill Dennis (man with cigar)
Toby Keeler (fighting man)
Raymond Walsh (Mr Roundheels)
Alternative Titles
Cabeza borradora – Spain
Eraserhead la mente che cancella – Italy
Glowica scierjaca – Poland
Labyrinth Man – France
No Céu Tudo é Perfeito – Portugal
Links
Extracts included in
I Don’t Know Jack (2002)
Visions of Light (1992)
Wonderland (1999)
References
Periodicals
- Cinefantastique Spring 1978 – illustrated review (by David Bartholomew)
- DeathRay no.21 (October/November 2009) p.139 – illustrated review (TimeTrap: Eraserhead by Jes Bickham and Guy Haley)
- epd Film vol.10 no.10 (1 October 1993) pp.40-41 – review (by Georg Seeßlen)
- New Musical Express 6 October 1979 p.35 – illustrated interview with David Lynch (Twisted visions by Paul Rambali)
- New Statesman 30 March 1979 – review (by John Coleman)
- Newsweek 11 September 1978 p.62 – illustrated article (On the Werewolf Circuit by Jack Kroll)
- Screen International no.346 (5-12 June 1982) p.15-16 – note (Impressive launch for Palace Video)
- The Spectator 15 December 1979 – review (by Peter Ackroyd)
Newspapers
- Daily Mail 3 September 1993 p.42 – review (Mesmeric Maverick by John Marriott)
- Daily Telegraph 3 September 1993 p.16 – review (by Hugo Davenport)
- Daily Telegraph Arts and Books 5 October 2002 p.A12 – illustrated review (by Marc Evans)
- The Evening Standard 29 March 1979 – review (by Alexander Walker)
- Financial Times 30 March 1979 – review (by Nigel Andrews)
- Financial Times 2 September 1993 p.15 – review by Stephen Amidon
- The Guardian 29 March 1979 – illustrated review (Touch not the cot by Derek Malcolm)
- The Guardian Section 2 2 September 1993 p.5 – review (by Derek Malcolm)
- The Guardian Section 2 30 September 1993 pp.6-7 – review (Why Henry is such a horror by Richard Combs)
- Independent on Sunday 5 September 1993 p.17 – review (by Quentin Curtis)
- O Independente, Vida 8 July 1994 – review (by Fernando Caetano)
- The Morning Star 30 March 1979 – review (by Virginia Dignam)
- New Musical Express 26 January 1985 p.18 – illustrated note (Fims on TV by Richard Cook)
- The Observer 1 April 1979 – review (by Philip French)
- San Francisco Examiner 13 April 1978 p.33 – illustrated review (by Walter V. Addiego)
- San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle 8 April 1978 – illustrated article (Surrealistic Nightmares Become a Midnight Movie by Stan Williams)
- The Scotsman 31 March 1979 – review (by Nicholas Wapshott)
- The Soho Weekly News 20 October 1977 – illustrated article (Eraserhead: Is There Life after Birth? by Stephen Saban with Sarah Longacre)
- Sunday Telegraph 1 April 1979 – review (by Tom Hutchinson)
- The Times 23 July 1982 Preview p.IV – review (by Marcel Berlins)
- The Times 19 January 1985 – review (Films on TV)
- The Times 2 September 1993 p.35 – review (by Geoff Brown)
- The Village Voice 7 June 1994 p.62 – illustrated review (A Divide Erased by John D. Thomas)
Books
- 100 American Horror Films by Barry Keith Grant pp.61-62
- 100 Cult Films by Ernest Mathijs & Xavier Mendik pp.82-84 – illustrated review by EM [Ernest Mathijs]
- 500 Essential Cult Movies: The Ultimate Guide by Jennifer Eiss with J.P. Rutter and Steve White p.346 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
- Cult Horror: Dark Fantasy, Horror and Supernatural Movies by Russ Thorne p.106
- Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird and the Wonderful by Danny Peary – review
- Cult Movies: A Hundred Ways to Find the Reel Thing by Danny Peary pp.86-89 – review
- Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death by James Marriott & Kim Newman pp.194-195
- Looking for a New England: Action, Time, Vision: Music, Film and TV 1975-1986 by Simon Matthews pp.43
Other sources
- BFI National Film Theatre programme June 1998 p.16 – illustrated listing
