Movies - TV
The 15 Best John Hurt Films, Ranked
By NICK BARTLETT
15. Hellboy
As the occult expert who first discovers Hellboy, Professor "Broom" Bruttenholm (John Hurt) becomes a surrogate father for the demon child and brings a level of gravitas to the often outlandish plot turns, grounding the film in reality. It's a relatively small but pivotal role, and there is a basic humanity to Hurt's performance that is quite touching.
14. A Man For All...
Richard Riche — Hurt's first major film role — is a thin-skinned, petty, and mercurial person who gives false testimony that seals Sir Thomas More's fate in "A Man for All Seasons." Hurt doesn't make Riche sympathetic; he makes him human and fills him with unattractive traits that viewers can recognize in themselves and thus feel pity for his character.
13. 44 Inch Chest
It isn’t a particularly great film, but the interplay between the five principal actors is dynamite, and the quick-fire dialogue as they pile abuse on the poor wretch they plan on killing is equal parts funny and disturbing. As the foul-mouthed Old Man Peanut, Hurt has the most fun as he spews vile profanities while clinging to an absolute, puritanical morality.
12. Watership Down
Hurt gives a wonderfully soft and gentle vocal performance as Hazel, the leader of a group of rabbits, but there's a steely determination beneath it that is perfect for the natural leader who quietly inspires loyalty in his followers. It's a great turn, and it's impossible to make it through the final scene without welling up.
11. The Proposition
Hurt appears in only two scenes in the incredibly bleak poetic Western "The Proposition," but they're all he needs for his bounty hunter to make an indelible impression. Hurt indulges in singing and reciting poetry and makes his character, Jellon Lamb — a theatrical, verbose, racist drunk — charming.