The Elephant Man

Hewing closely to the facts of its bizarre true story, this extraordinarily moving Mel Brooks-produced film features an Academy Award-nominated performance by John Hurt as John Merrick, the victim of a disease that has left him so grotesquely deformed that he's spent most of his life as a carnival show freak. In time, Hurt comes under the care of Dr. Treves (brilliantly played by Anthony Hopkins), who ensconces the "Elephant Man" in a hospital, where he studies him, helps him to overcome a seemingly insurmountable speech impediment, and, for a time anyway, gives back to him his human dignity.