Bigger Than Life (1956)

93% of critics liked it

83% of users liked it

James Mason, Barbara Rush
In theaters Aug 02, 1956
Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.

Movie Info

Cast: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon, Christopher Olsen, Roland Winters, Rusty Lane, Rachel Stephens, Kipp Hamilton, Betty Caulfield
Director: Nicholas Ray
Rated: Unrated
Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min.
Genre: Drama
Theater Release: Aug 02, 1956
DVD Release: Mar 23, 2010
Synopsis: Based on an article in the New Yorker, Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life stars James Mason (who also produced the film) as elementary school teacher Ed Avery, a thoughtful, gentle man, with a loving wife, Lou (Barbara Rush), and a young son, Richie (Christopher Olsen), who loves him. Avery is successful and well liked in his community, but he is over-extended in his pursuit of the American dream -- he secretly works a second job to earn extra money, and doesn't dare break stride, despite the

Critic Reviews

  • David Fear, Time Out New York
    The suits wanted a torn-from-the-headlines melodrama; what they got was the director at his expressionistic best, subverting the suburban fantasy and leaving nothing but tattered gray flannel and scorched earth in his wake. More...
  • Variety Staff, Variety
    James Mason has picked a powerful subject for his first 20th-Fox production and delivers it with quite a bit of dramatic distinction in carrying out the supervisory duties and as the male lead. More...
  • Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
    It's hard to think of another Hollywood picture with more to say about the sheer awfulness of 'normal' American family life during the 50s. More...
  • Bosley Crowther, New York Times
    Those who remember the creeping terror and eeriness of Mr. Roueché's real-life yarn will be sorry to learn that there is little terror or eeriness in the film. More...
  • , Time Out
    This is Rebel Without a Cause for the grown-up world. More...
  • Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl
    ...an amazing critique of conventional 1950s morality... More...
  • Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
    A masterful melodrama whose aesthetic beauty works in service of a stinging social critique. More...
  • Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
    ...is a dark cautionary tale about suburban ennui that feels like an unacknowledged antecedent to the AMC TV series Breaking Bad. More...
  • Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
    The epitome of a social problem film, in which the "crisis of conformism" bursts open in every single tension-producing frame. More...
  • Matthew Sorrento, Film Threat
    [D]rop the 'Reefer' and call this film 'Cortisone Madness.' More...