Chris fujiwara wrote on turner classic movies that the film is an acid test for auteurists, one of those special films that, while ignored or despised for the most part. What gave him the edge was the ease with which he played characters of both good and evil intent. The complete criterion collection josh 1,226 films. Wind across the everglades is a 1958 film directed by nicholas ray. With bigger than life, rays artistry has arguably reached its highest potential. A superbly shot critique of the suffocating conformity, repression and materialism at the heart of middleclass life, bigger than life is the american beauty of 50s cinema it may not be as well. February 5 first showing of documentary films by the free cinema movement, at the national film theatre, london february 16 carousel is the first film released that was shot in cinemascope 55. Its one of the first films to deal with the problems of prescription drugs. Bigger than life 1956 nicholas ray, james mason, barbara.
James mason starred as an ambitious teacher and parttime taxicab dispatcher who becomes addicted to. The films focus on the classic battle between man and society is quintessential ray and, perhaps more so than any other film of the era, it was and continues to be hollywoods most damaging indictment of. Bigger than life is an american deluxe color cinemascope drama film made in 1956 directed by nicholas ray and starring james mason, who also cowrote and produced the film, about a school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control upon becoming addicted to cortisone. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This cinemascope, colorbydeluxe major studio production appears, at first glance, to be cut from the glossy cloth of douglas sirks contemporary melodramas for universal. Bigger than life 1956 full movie download full hd youtube. A maverick of the 1950s hollywood system, with johnny guitar and rebel without a cause already under his belt earlier in the decade, nicholas rays melodrama bigger than life was perhaps his most structured work when it came out in 1956. Rather, bigger than life is an amazing, often times disturbing critique of social class, conformity, and traditional roles. Bigger than life is far more than a tale of a man turned insane by drugs. Bigger than life is a film filled with such contradictions, such paradoxes and confusions of emotion and reason. I hope amazon runs more special pricings on the criterion movie transfers. Bigger than life 1956 drama james mason, barbara rush, walter matthau bigger than life 1956 drama james mason, barbara rush, walter matthau bigger than life 1956 drama james.
Bigger than life is one of the greatest american films of the 1950s, a high point in the careers of lead actor james mason and nicholas ray. James mason starred as an ambitious teacher and parttime taxicab dispatcher who. Bigger than life full full movie, bigger than life full full movie streaming bigger than life full movie engsub watch bigger than life full english full movie online bigger than life full film online. Bigger than life dvd hillsborough county public library. Bigger than life trailer 1956 the criterion collection. In a sense, one could say the same here for nicholas raya good director who by and large made pretty good films and managed to make one great film. Bigger than life 1956 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Jun 14, 2017 bigger than life is an american deluxe color cinemascope film made in 1956 directed by nicholas ray and starring james mason, who also cowrote and produced the film, about a school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control upon becoming addicted to cortisone. Ray smuggles an absurdist nightmare into an issue movie about drug abuse. In a towering performance, james mason plays a mildmannered schoolteacher running himself ragged to provide for his familys selfdescribed dull suburban lifestyle. A seriously ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a miracle drug that begins to affect his sanity. The films focus on the classic battle between man and society is quintessential ray and, perhaps more so than any other film of the era, it was and continues to be hollywoods most damaging indictment of the socalled american dream. Bigger than life 1956 after schoolteacher ed avery james mason faints and is hospitalized, doctors diagnose him with a fatal arterial illness and tell him he has a few months to live.
Though ignored at the time of its release, nicholas rays bigger than life is now recognized as one of the great american films of the 1950s. Other articles where bigger than life is discussed. Bigger than life is a 1956 melodrama film directed by nicholas ray, starring james mason, barbara rush, christopher olsen and walter matthau in a supporting role. While on the surface bigger than life is a warning about the use of untested and possibly dangerous drugs averys psychosis is brought on by dangerously high dosages of cortisone, still in the experimental stages at the time, whats most memorable about the film is masons superbly modulated performance one of the best of his career, in. Mildmannered schoolteacher masons personality is transformed when the drug he is routinely prescribed turns him into an addicted megalomaniac. Bigger than life 1956 nicholas ray s bigger than life is a significant mid1950s american movie that stretches the boundaries of what we accept as film noir. Bigger than life bluray criterion 507 1956 color 2. Nicholas rays bigger than life is a great american film long esteemed. A seriously ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a miracle drug that begins to. The film costars barbara rush as his wife and walter matthau as his closest friend, a fellow teacher. James mason becomes bigger than life in this 1956 nicholas ray film that also stars barbara rush and walter matthau.
A dynamic actor and performer, mason had a very successful career in the film industry. Chris fujiwara wrote on turner classic movies that the film is an acid test for auteurists, one of those special films. Mason gives a towering performance as ed avery, a happily married schoolteacher who agrees to take a new miracle drug when diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease. Mason plays ed avery, a schoolteacher who also is a parttime cab dispatcher. Bigger than life s more immediate problem at the time lay in its broader plot with a story that brought drug addiction and factbased psychological unhingement into a suburban american setting, it was a daring subject for its time, for which audiences were unprepared in 1956. Bigger than life 1956 cast and crew after schoolteacher ed avery james mason faints and is hospitalized, doctors diagnose him with a fatal arterial illness and tell him he has a few months to. Bigger than life is one of the greatest american films of the 1950s, a high point in the careers of lead actor james mason and nicholas ray mason gives a towering performance as ed avery, a happily married schoolteacher who agrees to take a new miracle drug when diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease. Towards the end of the 1950s, film like bigger than life, north by northest and journey to the center of the earth saw him play a varied variety of roles. Bigger than life philip french sunday 30 november 2003 the observer. Nicholas rays bigger than life never achieved the critical or popular success of his rebel without a cause, released the previous year, but it holds up as an equally powerful look at the dark and troubling underside of life in a normal american family. Bigger than life is a wonderful, haunting, multilayered little movie, rich and rewarding.
James mason is amongst a few actors to have reached the top spot in both the united kingdom and the united states. Starring james mason who also produced in a uncharacteristic yet riveting role, the film was virtually ignored by audiences when it opened, but. Bigger than life 1956 to a savvy contemporary audience. Any claims beyond that, however, are bigger than life. Nicholas rays blazing domestic horror show is a terrifying vision of the allamerican family under siege from within.
He is suffering from severe spasms that are getting worse. Nothing about nicholas rays schizoaddiction film bigger than life should work. To all appearances, james mason has the perfect life. Bigger than life is an american deluxe color cinemascope film made in 1956 directed by nicholas ray and starring james mason, who also cowrote and produced the film, about a school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control upon becoming addicted to cortisone the film costars barbara rush as his wife and walter matthau as his closest friend, a fellow teacher. James mason, a wily, charismatic character actor trapped in the body of a leading man, is amazing in the lead role, subtly taking the movie from the safe territory of suburban melodrama to the dangerous waters of the psychological horror film. James mason biography childhood, life achievements. Bigger than life 1956 letterboxd social film discovery. Its premise a mildmannered professor james mason gets wildly addicted to cortisone, to the point that he thinks hes abraham and that its his godgiven mandate to slay his son is totally ludicrous, its performances teeter on the edge of high camp, its script. The film is based on an article for the new yorker called ten feet tall, by the famous medical writer berton roueche note. Original release trailer for the film bigger than life 1956, directed by nicholas ray. A subversive suburban surprise directed by nicholas ray, the 1956 film bigger than life stars james mason as a schoolteacher. The film costars barbara rush as his wife and walter matthau as. When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father james mason, in one of his most indelible roles is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction, he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug, resulting in his.
He learns that he has a terminal illness that perhaps can be cured with a steroid, cortisone. See it and i guarantee that youll never be able to look at a frosty glass of milk the same way again. The story of the handful of hope that became a fistful of hell bigger than life is an american film made in 1956 directed by nicholas ray and starring james mason, who also cowrote and produced the film, about a school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control upon becoming addicted to cortisone. Ray was fired from the film before production was finished, and several scenes were completed by screenwriter budd schulberg, who also supervised the editing. Ed avery is a mildmannered but overworked teacher who is prescribed a new wonder drug to help manage a medical condition and finds that it all but cures him. Bigger than life is an american deluxe color cinemascope drama film made in 1956 directed by nicholas ray and starring james mason, who also cowrote. Watch bigger than life full movie in hd visit movie 26036 a seriously ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a \ bigger than life. Bigger than life isnt a cautionary lesson in the perils of miracle drugs, even if its genesis was a new yorker article about a real life case of cortisone abuse. Interestingly, artistically skilled as he was, mason played them all with perfection. Nicholas rays bigger than life is now recognized as one of the great american films of the 1950s.
Bigger than lifes more immediate problem at the time lay in its broader plot with a story that brought drug addiction and factbased psychological unhingement into a suburban american setting, it was a daring subject for its time, for which audiences were unprepared in 1956. Director ray concentrates on the trappings of suburbia that stand around his central character and also contribute to the breakdown. Bigger than life 1956 james mason in bigger than life 1956 christopher olsen in bigger than life. Bigger than life 1956 drama james mason, barbara rush. Bigger than life may have been marketed as a social problem picture in 1956, but in 2008 it looks like nothing less than an outandout horror film. When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father james mason, in one of his most indelible roles is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction.
Released in the summer of 1956, director nicholas rays bigger than life represents one polar extreme on a truly schizophrenic slate of hollywood fare. Released in 1956 it seems that bigger than lifes subject matter of mental illness and drug addiction was considered to be too controversial for its time and as a result of that this eyeopening film was initially a boxoffice failure. Bigger than life is no exception, based as it is upon a controversial medical article by berton roueche entitled ten feet tall published in the new yorker in late 1955 the script was subsequently worked on by numerous uncredited writers including clifford odets, ray, star james mason, and novelist and film critic, gavin lambert. The following is an overview of 1956 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
258 681 318 841 543 829 800 227 152 889 961 1336 1336 118 1394 1364 259 1153 862 504 1058 1205 1452 29 503 636 500 1362 1135 1347 456 49 392 749