LeonLouisRicci This is another of those Lost and Forgotten Films from the 1950's. One that was Criticized, Ignored, Dismissed, and Shelved. Better Forgotten because it just didn't fit. It didn't fit the Archetype Nuclear Family, the Safe Suburbs, the Reliability and Security of the Authority Figure (Father/Teacher), the Church, and Last but not Least, Doctors and Miracle Drugs. This was just Anarchy, Subversive, and probably planted here as some sort of Communist Plot to Undermine the Burgeoning Middle Class. Of course it wasn't but was meant to be. A Scathing Story of the Failures and Flaws of all of those things We hold Dear that were about to show the Cracks in the Mirror of Self Righteousness.The Film is Fascinating when thought of in its Time-Place. It didn't hold much back and Proudly, and without Embarrassment, dared to Poke at the Conventions of the Day. It is Easy to Replace just about anything for the Culprit Cortisone (its abuse causes our Protagonist to Implode), it could be anything, but if Director Nick Ray in Hindsight could do it again, the Poison Pill would have gone Unnamed.This is one of those Antithesis Movies that are a Treat to Rediscover and Look at with Jaded Modern Eyes. What is on View here is a Psychotic Break from the Fragile Safety Net of Cultural Conventions and a Searing Look-See in on the Underneath of the Human Condition. Superbly Shot in a Contrasting Wide Screen Claustrophobic Setting, with some Great Acting and a Director who was most Comfortable causing Chaos among the Comfortable.

treeline1 Ed Avery (James Mason) is a typical (though idealized) 1950s husband and father who is facing serious health problem. To save his life, he begins taking the controversial new drug Cortisone which soon brings about a major – and quite shocking – personality transformation.James Mason is superb in this role. At first, he's charming and lovable, but gradually morphs into a horrifying monster. He had me utterly convinced he was really vile and very dangerous. Barbara Rush gives a good performance as the steadfast housewife and mother who loves him, no matter how grotesque he becomes. Walter Matthau is likable in a supporting role as Ed's co-worker. The movie was directed by Nicholas Ray ("Rebel Without a Cause") and had some surprisingly blunt and realistic dialogue for 1956.This story is even more relevant today with so much drug abuse and dependence. Mason's transformation from 'Father Knows Best' to 'Mr. Hyde' is utterly believable and frightening. Good movie.

Rockwell_Cronenberg Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life was released a year after his explosive, sensational Rebel Without A Cause and the two share a lot in common thematically. Both films present a main character who is at a conflict with the state of the world, busting at their seams trying to escape the walls that confine the daily life of the American family. Where Rebel featured James Dean's now iconic symbol of troubled youth Jim Stark, Bigger Than Life gives us James Mason's Ed Avery, the every man father with a beautiful wife and bright-eyed young son.Avery is a schoolteacher who suffers from mysterious and severe physical pains that come at him out of nowhere, a literal symbolism of the ache to escape the confines of the home. There are a lot of subtle devices used throughout the film to further implement this theme, like the family having pictures of exotic locations hung up on the walls to symbolize their desire to get out and away. When his pains cause him to finally collapse in his home he makes the decision to go and see a doctor, where they inform him that he only has a few months to live, but good news comes in the convenience of a new "miracle drug" that is supposed to cure his every ailment. The miracle of it all is that the drug works, he is cured and his pains suffer him no longer, but the ache to escape from the home is turned on it's head as the side effects of the drug produce a psychosis that turn this grinning father into the family's worst nightmare.Based on a "New Yorker" article about a real life case, Ray uses the film mostly in the context of dissecting the American home, but there's also a small dose of condemnation of the medical practice that is intriguing. He has always said that he wished he was able to attack the doctors more directly, but even still he found a way to shed a negative light on them almost literally, shooting them as if they were the villains of the picture and giving an ominous tone to whenever they appear on screen. Still, his focus is certainly on the domestic strife that occurs when Avery's mood is turned and this is where the film shines most resoundingly. In making the transition into psychosis, James Mason's warm, delightful performance becomes appropriately sinister, giving the picture an ominous and intimidating tone.The shot framing and lighting has to be commended a great deal here, with Ray shooting the characters mostly from the ground up, giving a very open and empty feeling to the home above them, along with using shadows in a striking way to create a looming effect that was very impressive. I have to say, it's one of the most well shot films I've seen in quite some time. As Avery's psychosis deepens, he takes the traditional family values of raising a good son and brings them to the extreme, truly becoming the nightmare definition of what the American father archetype is.It's a fascinating study by Ray, with one hell of an ending. Ray uses an interesting technique of blending tones in the final act that I found left a strong impression. A dark, terrifying experience of a father trying to sacrifice his son turns into a rather caricature-esque romp of a fight between him and a co-worker. The ending appears happy at first, but when it sits with you it becomes more chilling than anything else in the picture. The blissful, serene image of the American family coming together again is contrasted with this sensation that the experiences the film put them through could in all likelihood just repeat themselves again the moment the camera stops rolling.

Michael O'Keefe Nicholas Ray directs this gripping and sometimes dark drama about an affable school teacher Ed Avery(James Mason)trying hard to sustain his vision of the classic American dream. Avery is a loving husband and well respected citizen. His wife(Barbara Rush)has no idea that her husband is working a second job at a taxi company to keep their style of living afloat. Mr. Avery's physical and mental stress causes him to collapse; and being treated with experimental doses of the hormone cortisone expounds his problems. The "miracle drug" has side effects that make the mild mannered Avery go on a destructive campaign to destroy his beloved prim suburban lifestyle. The supporting cast features: Walter Matthau, Roland Winters, Rusty Lane and Betty Caulfield. You may also recognize William Schallert and Jerry Mathers.