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Bigger Than Life

January 01, 1970

Bigger Than Life is a 1956 American drama film directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Mason, Barbara Rush, and Walter Matthau. Its plot follows an ailing school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control when he misuses cortisone.[2] It is based on a 1955 article by medical writer Berton Roueché in The New Yorker, titled "Ten Feet Tall".[3] In addition to starring in the film, Mason produced it.

Bigger Than Life
Directed byNicholas Ray
Written byCyril Hume
Richard Maibaum
Based on"Ten Feet Tall"
by Berton Roueché
Produced byJames Mason
Starring
CinematographyJoseph MacDonald
Edited byLouis R. Loeffler
Music byDavid Raksin
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • August 2, 1956 (1956-08-02)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million[1]

Though it was a box-office flop upon its initial release,[4] many modern critics hail it as a masterpiece and a brilliant indictment of contemporary attitudes towards mental illness.[5] In 1963, Jean-Luc Godard named it one of the ten best American sound films ever made.[6]

Plot edit

Schoolteacher and family man Ed Avery has been suffering bouts of severe pain and even blackouts. His strange illness begins to concern his wife, Lou. After he collapses at home one night, Ed is hospitalized. When a cab driver visits Ed, Lou—who suspected him of being unfaithful —learns that he works part-time as a dispatcher to help pay their bills. They kiss, and when the doctors expect Lou to leave the room, Ed declares that there are no more secrets.

The diagnosis is polyarteritis nodosa, a rare inflammation of the arteries. Ed probably has only months to live. He agrees to experimental treatment with the hormone cortisone.

Ed makes a remarkable recovery, and begins to spend more time with Lou and their young son, Richie. However, shortly after beginning his cortisone regimen, Ed is subject to turbulent mood swings and begins abusing the pills; he lies to his doctor to obtain more. Though Ed has taken a sabbatical from his teaching position, he remains on the local Parent–Teacher Association board. At one of their meetings, Ed blatantly insults a mother about her child's intelligence, and seems unbothered when his colleague, Wally Gibbs, informs him the woman is the association president.

Later, Wally stops at the Avery home and informs Lou of Ed's extravagant and abrasive behavior. Ed returns in the midst of the conversation, and makes a snide remark implying that Wally is attracted to Lou. When Wally leaves, Ed insults Lou, deeming her intellectually inferior to him and unworthy of their marriage. After consuming another full prescription of cortisone, Ed impersonates a doctor and forges a new prescription at the local pharmacy. Later, while playing football with Richie, Ed grows disproportionately aggressive, pushing the child beyond his limits. The incident disturbs Lou, who observes it from the kitchen window.

Wally later confronts Lou with research suggesting that cortisone can trigger psychosis in some patients when taken in high doses. Ed's mental state further declines, and he continually insults those around him, expressing abject arrogance, grandiosity and anger over minor inconveniences. When Lou attempts to inform Ed that the cortisone may be negatively affecting him, Ed reminds her that his polyarteritis will recur without it, and that he will not survive. That night, Ed forces Richie to stay up late into the night to study mathematics, and verbally abuses the child when he is unable to solve certain problems. At dinner, Ed announces he wishes to divorce Lou.

A desperate Richie raids Ed's medicine cabinet the following day, hoping to steal his father's cortisone pills and dispose of them. When Ed corners Richie in his bedroom, Lou phones Wally for help. To chastise Richie, Ed reads a passage from the Bible recounting the binding of Isaac. When Lou pleads with Ed, Ed states he plans to carry out a murder–suicide, killing her and Richie before ending his own life. In a rage, Ed locks Lou in a coat closet, blares the volume on the family's television set, and goes to Richie's bedroom armed with a blade from a pair of scissors. When Ed arrives at Richie's bedroom he begins to hallucinate, and Richie flees downstairs just as Wally bursts into the house. In a scuffle, Wally manages to beat Ed unconscious. Ed is subsequently hospitalized and heavily sedated. His doctor, Dr. Norton, informs Lou that the cortisone may have resulted in irreversible brain damage, and that he may never return to his prior mental state; despite this, Ed will still require strictly-meted doses of the cortisone to survive. Norton states that, should Ed be able to recall the events of the previous weeks, he may have a chance of mental recovery. Lou and Richie visit Ed in his hospital room. Ed awakens and, though disoriented, soon recognizes them both. Ed, fully able to recall the events, embraces his wife and son.

Cast edit

Production edit

Richard Maibaum wrote the original script with Cyril Hume, which Maibaum thought was "muddied up" by Nicholas Ray. He says Clifford Odets rewrote some scenes.[7]

Reception edit

Bigger Than Life was not a financial success. Mason, who produced the film as well as starring in it, blamed its failure on its use of the relatively new widescreen CinemaScope format.[4] American critics panned the film, considering it melodramatic and heavy-handed.[8] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it tedious, "dismal", and "more pitiful than terrifying to watch".[9]

However, the film was well received by the influential magazine Cahiers du cinéma. Jean-Luc Godard called it one of the ten best American sound films.[6] Likewise, François Truffaut praised the film, noting the "intelligent, subtle" script, the "extraordinary precision" of Mason's performance, and the beauty of the film's CinemaScope photography.[10]

Modern critics have praised Nicholas Ray's use of widescreen cinematography to depict the interior spaces of a family drama, rather than the open vistas typically associated with the format, as well as his use of extreme close-ups in portraying the main character's psychosis and megalomania.[11] The film is recognized for its multi-layered examination of the American nuclear family in the Eisenhower era. While the film can be read as a straightforward exposé on medical malpractice and the overuse of prescription drugs in modern American society,[12] it has also been seen as a critique of consumerism, the traditional family structure, and the claustrophobic conformism of suburban life.[5][13][14] Truffaut saw Ed's drug-influenced speech to the parents of the parent–teacher association as having fascist overtones.[15] The film has also been interpreted as an examination of masculinity and a leftist critique of the low salaries of public school teachers in the United States.[16]

In 1998, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader included the film in his unranked list of the best American films not included on the AFI Top 100.[17]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Solomon 1989, p. 250.
  2. ^ DVD of the Week: Bigger Than Life|The New Yorker
  3. ^ Roueché, Berton (September 10, 1955). "Ten Feet Tall". The New Yorker. pp. 47–77.
  4. ^ a b Cossar 2011, p. 273.
  5. ^ a b Halliwell 2013, pp. 159–162.
  6. ^ a b Marshall, Colin (December 2, 2013). "A Young Jean-Luc Godard Picks the 10 Best American Films Ever Made (1963)". Open Culture.
  7. ^ McGilligan, Patrick (1986). "Richard Maibaum: A Pretense of Seriousness". In Patrick McGilligan (ed.). Backstory: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age. University of California Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780520056893.
  8. ^ Schiebel 2014, p. 183.
  9. ^ Crowther, Bosley (August 3, 1956). "Screen: Tax of Tedium; 'Bigger Than Life' Has Debut at Victoria". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Truffaut 2009, pp. 143–147.
  11. ^ Cossar 2011, pp. 120–123.
  12. ^ Truffaut 2009, pp. 145–146. Truffaut noted Nicholas Ray's low opinion of the medical profession, and of so-called "miracle drugs". His discussion of Bigger Than Life points out the visual similarity between the doctors in the film and "gangsters in crime films".
  13. ^ Basinger 2013, pp. 231–234.
  14. ^ Rosenbaum 1997, pp. 131–133.
  15. ^ Truffaut 2009, pp. 145–146.
  16. ^ Schiebel 2014, p. 182.
  17. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (June 25, 1998). "List-o-Mania: Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love American Movies". Chicago Reader. from the original on April 13, 2020.

Sources edit

  • Schiebel, Will (2014). "Bigger Than Life: Melodrama, Masculinity, and the American Dream". In Rybin, Steven; Schiebel, Will (eds.). Lonely Places, Dangerous Ground: Nicholas Ray in American Cinema. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-438-44981-4.
  • Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-810-84244-1.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
bigger, than, life, 1956, american, drama, film, directed, nicholas, starring, james, mason, barbara, rush, walter, matthau, plot, follows, ailing, school, teacher, family, whose, life, spins, control, when, misuses, cortisone, based, 1955, article, medical, w. Bigger Than Life is a 1956 American drama film directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Mason Barbara Rush and Walter Matthau Its plot follows an ailing school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control when he misuses cortisone 2 It is based on a 1955 article by medical writer Berton Roueche in The New Yorker titled Ten Feet Tall 3 In addition to starring in the film Mason produced it Bigger Than LifeDirected byNicholas RayWritten byCyril HumeRichard MaibaumBased on Ten Feet Tall by Berton RouecheProduced byJames MasonStarringJames Mason Barbara Rush Walter MatthauCinematographyJoseph MacDonaldEdited byLouis R LoefflerMusic byDavid RaksinProductioncompany20th Century FoxDistributed by20th Century FoxRelease dateAugust 2 1956 1956 08 02 Running time95 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 1 million 1 Though it was a box office flop upon its initial release 4 many modern critics hail it as a masterpiece and a brilliant indictment of contemporary attitudes towards mental illness 5 In 1963 Jean Luc Godard named it one of the ten best American sound films ever made 6 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 External linksPlot editSchoolteacher and family man Ed Avery has been suffering bouts of severe pain and even blackouts His strange illness begins to concern his wife Lou After he collapses at home one night Ed is hospitalized When a cab driver visits Ed Lou who suspected him of being unfaithful learns that he works part time as a dispatcher to help pay their bills They kiss and when the doctors expect Lou to leave the room Ed declares that there are no more secrets The diagnosis is polyarteritis nodosa a rare inflammation of the arteries Ed probably has only months to live He agrees to experimental treatment with the hormone cortisone Ed makes a remarkable recovery and begins to spend more time with Lou and their young son Richie However shortly after beginning his cortisone regimen Ed is subject to turbulent mood swings and begins abusing the pills he lies to his doctor to obtain more Though Ed has taken a sabbatical from his teaching position he remains on the local Parent Teacher Association board At one of their meetings Ed blatantly insults a mother about her child s intelligence and seems unbothered when his colleague Wally Gibbs informs him the woman is the association president Later Wally stops at the Avery home and informs Lou of Ed s extravagant and abrasive behavior Ed returns in the midst of the conversation and makes a snide remark implying that Wally is attracted to Lou When Wally leaves Ed insults Lou deeming her intellectually inferior to him and unworthy of their marriage After consuming another full prescription of cortisone Ed impersonates a doctor and forges a new prescription at the local pharmacy Later while playing football with Richie Ed grows disproportionately aggressive pushing the child beyond his limits The incident disturbs Lou who observes it from the kitchen window Wally later confronts Lou with research suggesting that cortisone can trigger psychosis in some patients when taken in high doses Ed s mental state further declines and he continually insults those around him expressing abject arrogance grandiosity and anger over minor inconveniences When Lou attempts to inform Ed that the cortisone may be negatively affecting him Ed reminds her that his polyarteritis will recur without it and that he will not survive That night Ed forces Richie to stay up late into the night to study mathematics and verbally abuses the child when he is unable to solve certain problems At dinner Ed announces he wishes to divorce Lou A desperate Richie raids Ed s medicine cabinet the following day hoping to steal his father s cortisone pills and dispose of them When Ed corners Richie in his bedroom Lou phones Wally for help To chastise Richie Ed reads a passage from the Bible recounting the binding of Isaac When Lou pleads with Ed Ed states he plans to carry out a murder suicide killing her and Richie before ending his own life In a rage Ed locks Lou in a coat closet blares the volume on the family s television set and goes to Richie s bedroom armed with a blade from a pair of scissors When Ed arrives at Richie s bedroom he begins to hallucinate and Richie flees downstairs just as Wally bursts into the house In a scuffle Wally manages to beat Ed unconscious Ed is subsequently hospitalized and heavily sedated His doctor Dr Norton informs Lou that the cortisone may have resulted in irreversible brain damage and that he may never return to his prior mental state despite this Ed will still require strictly meted doses of the cortisone to survive Norton states that should Ed be able to recall the events of the previous weeks he may have a chance of mental recovery Lou and Richie visit Ed in his hospital room Ed awakens and though disoriented soon recognizes them both Ed fully able to recall the events embraces his wife and son Cast editJames Mason as Ed Avery Barbara Rush as Lou Avery Walter Matthau as Wally Gibbs Robert F Simon as Dr Norton Russell Quick as Bully Christopher Olsen as Richie Avery Roland Winters as Dr Ruric Rusty Lane as Bob LaPorte Rachel Stephens as Nurse Kipp Hamilton as Pat WadeProduction editRichard Maibaum wrote the original script with Cyril Hume which Maibaum thought was muddied up by Nicholas Ray He says Clifford Odets rewrote some scenes 7 Reception editBigger Than Life was not a financial success Mason who produced the film as well as starring in it blamed its failure on its use of the relatively new widescreen CinemaScope format 4 American critics panned the film considering it melodramatic and heavy handed 8 Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it tedious dismal and more pitiful than terrifying to watch 9 However the film was well received by the influential magazine Cahiers du cinema Jean Luc Godard called it one of the ten best American sound films 6 Likewise Francois Truffaut praised the film noting the intelligent subtle script the extraordinary precision of Mason s performance and the beauty of the film s CinemaScope photography 10 Modern critics have praised Nicholas Ray s use of widescreen cinematography to depict the interior spaces of a family drama rather than the open vistas typically associated with the format as well as his use of extreme close ups in portraying the main character s psychosis and megalomania 11 The film is recognized for its multi layered examination of the American nuclear family in the Eisenhower era While the film can be read as a straightforward expose on medical malpractice and the overuse of prescription drugs in modern American society 12 it has also been seen as a critique of consumerism the traditional family structure and the claustrophobic conformism of suburban life 5 13 14 Truffaut saw Ed s drug influenced speech to the parents of the parent teacher association as having fascist overtones 15 The film has also been interpreted as an examination of masculinity and a leftist critique of the low salaries of public school teachers in the United States 16 In 1998 Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader included the film in his unranked list of the best American films not included on the AFI Top 100 17 See also editList of American films of 1956 United States in the 1950s Drug addictionReferences edit Solomon 1989 p 250 DVD of the Week Bigger Than Life The New Yorker Roueche Berton September 10 1955 Ten Feet Tall The New Yorker pp 47 77 a b Cossar 2011 p 273 a b Halliwell 2013 pp 159 162 a b Marshall Colin December 2 2013 A Young Jean Luc Godard Picks the 10 Best American Films Ever Made 1963 Open Culture McGilligan Patrick 1986 Richard Maibaum A Pretense of Seriousness In Patrick McGilligan ed Backstory Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood s Golden Age University of California Press p 283 ISBN 9780520056893 Schiebel 2014 p 183 Crowther Bosley August 3 1956 Screen Tax of Tedium Bigger Than Life Has Debut at Victoria The New York Times Truffaut 2009 pp 143 147 Cossar 2011 pp 120 123 Truffaut 2009 pp 145 146 Truffaut noted Nicholas Ray s low opinion of the medical profession and of so called miracle drugs His discussion of Bigger Than Life points out the visual similarity between the doctors in the film and gangsters in crime films Basinger 2013 pp 231 234 Rosenbaum 1997 pp 131 133 Truffaut 2009 pp 145 146 Schiebel 2014 p 182 Rosenbaum Jonathan June 25 1998 List o Mania Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love American Movies Chicago Reader Archived from the original on April 13 2020 Sources editBasinger Jeanine 2013 I Do and I Don t A History of Marriage in the Movies Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 307 96222 5 Cossar Harper 2011 Letterboxed The Evolution of Widescreen Cinema University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0 813 12651 7 Halliwell Martin 2013 Therapeutic Revolutions Medicine Psychiatry and American Culture 1945 1970 Rutgers University Press ISBN 978 0 813 56066 3 Rosenbaum Jonathan 1997 Movies as Politics University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 91810 8 Schiebel Will 2014 Bigger Than Life Melodrama Masculinity and the American Dream In Rybin Steven Schiebel Will eds Lonely Places Dangerous Ground Nicholas Ray in American Cinema SUNY Press ISBN 978 1 438 44981 4 Solomon Aubrey 1989 Twentieth Century Fox A Corporate and Financial History Scarecrow Press ISBN 978 0 810 84244 1 Truffaut Francois 2009 The Films In My Life Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0 786 74972 0 External links editBigger Than Life at IMDb nbsp Bigger Than Life at Rotten Tomatoes Bigger Than Life at AllMovie Bigger Than Life at the TCM Movie Database Bigger Than Life at the American Film Institute Catalog Bigger Than Life Somewhere in Suburbia an essay by B Kite at the Criterion Collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bigger Than Life amp oldid 1199210422, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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