David Lynch/Elephant Man in Shad Thames SE1

Shad Thames/Butlers Wharf has been used in so many films, evoking as it does to this day the lost world of dockside London with its warehouses and narrow streets.

It was memorably used in 'The Elephant Man' (1980),  starring John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins and directed by David Lynch, who was hired for the job by producer Mel Brooks.

David Lynch on set with John Hurt

As Mel Brooks recalled in his book 'All About Me': “The first day of shooting with David Lynch was in October 1979 on Butler’s Wharf on the South Bank of the Thames River just east of London’s Tower Bridge. It was a chilly day, and David Lynch had arrived earlier on the set without a coat. I sent somebody to Harrods department store with David’s measurements and bought him a warm, dark blue, brushed woolen English overcoat. He wore it every day — I’m not kidding. Every day! Whether he was indoors or outdoors, every time he directed a scene for The Elephant Man he was wearing that blue coat. I think he might have believed it was some kind of good luck charm.

Many years later in 2013, when I was awarded the American Film Institute’s prestigious Life Achievement Award, among the celebrated filmmakers that honored me that night was David Lynch. When he told the story of how we had met on The Elephant Man he actually brought out onto the stage with him the blue coat that I had bought for him at Harrods, which he had carefully tucked away in his cedar closet all these years. I can’t tell you how touched I was at the sight of that coat.” 

Anthony Hopkins

Update 22 Jan 2024 - I originally thought that the Anthony Hopkins picture above was in Shad Thames but it has been pointed out that it is probably Wapping High Street across the river. It seems that both streets were used in the film. According to  'Making the Elephant Man: a producer's memoir' by Jonathan Sanger (2016): 'Wapping High Street was a long cobblestoned road filled with wharves that dated to around the time of our story. It was right next to the famous Tower Bridge. The wharves were soon to be gutted and refurbished into high end condominiums but we still had enough time to capture them in their 19th century squalor. Shad Thames was also close to the river but on the opposite side from Wapping and also consisted of a series of cobblestoned alleys and dead ends that had not yet been prettified. We decided to center our opening sequences around these streets'

  Reelstreets has also identified some scenes being filmed in Clink Street SE1, round the back of Southwark Cathedral. And Vanessa Woolf has said that she believes the production used the Jacob Street film studios SE1, a little further along the river from Butlers Wharf.

A scene in Clink Street, according to Reelstreets

Wonder if Lynch crossed paths with film maker Derek Jarman at this time? The latter was living in Butlers Wharf in 1979.