Bringing new meaning to the phrase "No pain,no gain."

Rating: Null/10 (16 July 2009)

The DVD release of this film contains a documentary all about the process of bringing this story to the screen. Here we have "a creature who has love in his heart, but is misunderstood." Okay, that was Gene Wilder describing "Young Frankenstein," but it works here as well. With John Hurt in the title role of John Merrick, The Elephant Man, and Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Frederick Treves, this extraordinary movie endures as one of the most touching films I've ever had the pleasure of watching. It has been speculated that John (Joseph) Merrick suffered from either Neurofibromitoses or Proteus Syndrome. Some have even suggested that he suffered from both conditions at once. In any event, the gentleman who came to be known as The Elephant Man, had a condition that caused his entire body to be covered with numerous bulging tumors which deformed his body and made it difficult for him to walk and speak. As he got older, his condition progressed, and he became known as The Elephant Man because of a particular growth that came down from the roof of his mouth. It was the Victorian Era, and lack of medical knowledge and surgical procedures made it impossible for anyone to really know why John Merrick was so severely deformed, or how to accommodate his unusual condition. What a story! And it's portrayed brilliantly, with performances by Wendy Hiller, Freddie Jones, and Anne Bancroft. There is a note in the web page about continuity; that John Hurt's make-up changes in almost every scene. Kudos to whoever noticed, but considering it took approx. eight hours each time to re-create it, there is still plenty to appreciate! The make-up for this wonderful and difficult (challenging) character was created by artist Christopher Tucker, who obtained special permission from the Royal London Hospital to borrow the actual death mask of the real John Merrick, in order to get the best impression of how the make-up should look. Amazingly, his request was granted, and the mask is the model that was used. Actor John Hurt was required to report to the set at around 4:00am, and later in the day, his co-stars would wait, while Hurt's make-up was still being applied. Hurt's scenes could only be shot on alternate days, because the full make-up was so heavy that Hurt was unable to lie down while wearing it. Hurt's co-stars weren't allowed to see him in full make-up until actual filming began, which generated an unbelievable shock between his fellow actors This film is executive produced by Mel Brooks, which, at the time wasn't made known to most, because of Brooks comic masterpieces like "Young Frankenstein," and "The History of the World." His reputation as a comic genius has remained unscathed, while giving viewers something completely opposite of what we'd expect from a man known for slap-stick. Yes, by the way, this is a true story.