FAQ for
The Elephant Man (1980) More at IMDbPro »

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For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for The Elephant Man can be found at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080678/parentalguide.

Not exactly. According to the Wikipedia entry on 'The Elephant Man', there are several historical inaccuracies that stand out. First, the events at the railway station happened before Merrick stayed at the hospital. Second, Merrick went to Europe on his own accord and was never kidnapped. Third, Treves never "rescued" Merrick from the completely fictional character of Bytes (who was "seemingly modelled after Robert Newton's characterisation of Bill Sykes in David Lean's 1948 film adaptation of Oliver Twist").

Additionally, in order for Merrick to speak there were several operations to facilitate his ability to talk. Merrick was also quite secure financially from the work he did in the freak shows--he would have been incapable of performing any other work in those days. Finally, his name was not "John" but "Joseph".

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elephant_Man_(film))

I cannot quote anyone as saying that this film is based on any specific account of Joseph Merrick's life; however, I did have the pleasure of reading the account given by the real Dr. Frederick Treves, which is recorded in a book called "The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences" (1923). In comparing the film with Treves's wonderful story of his friend, I noticed that the events in the film match the events in the story almost exactly. This authenticity moved me a great deal because Frederick Treves is the man who cared for Joseph in the hospital, and helped him find some semse of normalcy (not an easy task, considering Merrick's head was as big around as a mans waist). Treves lets us into Merrick's world, the one that no one saw because his appearance was too frightening, and the story almost moved me to tears.

Read it for yourself at:

http://www.archive.org/stream/elephantmanother00trevuoft#page/34/mode/1up