I have to disagree with the 1001 text’s contention that James Mason, who also produced, is “perfectly cast” in Nicholas Ray’s Bigger than Life (1956). The problem is that though Mason still had some of his greatest roles ahead of him, he had already established himself, or his characters I should say, as unworthy of trust, from the audience or otherwise. Such things tend to happen when you play Brutus in Julius Cesar (1953). Thus, when Mason’s seemingly good-natured school teacher and suburban father Ed Avery goes mad after an experimental medical treatment, you kind of see it coming. It’s also a little difficult to believe that Avery, carrying every bit of Mason’s distinguished British way with words and speech, was, for however brief a moment, a football star.
Things are good for Avery when we meet him, but he has the concerns of any father. Is his son watching too much TV (an issue Ray notes in 1956!)? Will he be able to pay for the water heater to be fixed? Will he and his wife, Lou (Barbara Rush), ever be able to take that dream vacation? In between his worries he finds the time to work as a cab dispatcher a few days a week, to help make ends meet. He’s afraid his wife will find out about this, but it doesn’t seem to matter any more when his absolute worst fears are confirmed. He may not be around for his wife or his son for much longer after he’s diagnosed with a fatal circulatory disease. But there is hope in the form of the “miracle drug” Cortisone.
After adhering to a regimen of the drug for only a few days he feels better than he has in years. He finally feels up to a game of catch with the pigskin in his yard with his son. And all of those worries he’s held on to for so long have begun to fade away as well, gone the way of the chronic pain. When he begins to buy lavish presents for his family they initially dismiss the actions as the result of a new lease on life. However, when his energy subsides only in the form a dramatic mood swings it becomes clear that the drug is to blame. Secretly, Avery does all that he can to keep the high times rolling. He pops the prescription pills two and three at a time.
Changes in his behavior prompt an emotional disconnect with his wife and strained relations with his colleagues at school, especially after he unleashes a tirade on the state of education to the PTA: “Childhood is a congenital disease, and the purpose of education is to cure it. We're breeding a race of moral midgets.” The brunt of his abuse is directed toward his young son. The boy is denied his meals until he completes tasks from Avery’s new educational regimen. Feeling larger than life, Avery encourages the boy to reach the maximum of human potential, declaring to Lou that it would be easier had he married his intellectual equal. In desperation she asks Ed to stop taking the drugs after a friend (Walter Matthau) reveals their causal function. But without the pills, there would be no more Ed. The film reaches its climax after a Sunday sermon on Abraham. Convinced that he knows better than God, Ed decides to sacrifice his son a la Isaac to relieve him of the inhumanities of the world.
Ray was riding a wave of success (Johnny Guitar; 1954, #114, Rebel without a Cause; 1955) when he directed Bigger than Life. Personally, he’d also begun to come to terms with his homosexuality, openly inviting his lover onto the set of this film. Here he drew on his alternative values again to make another critique of the developing middle class ideal in the United States
That Mason, an established star, was producing as well as headlining likely contributed to this cinemascope production style, and it just doesn’t have the punch of the Ray of Rebel, with its edgy script and burgeoning talent. This film has some wonderfully crafted moments and images, but I never felt that the script, the star, and the director melded in the way that makes a picture magical. With the collection of talent here I still spent much of this film wondering what a different combination would have yielded. Gary Cooper as the lead might have made for a truly shocking character, or Sirk in the director’s chair might have helmed this project with more confidence. In the end, that confidence is what this picture lacks. Its cookie-cutter happy ending proves that though it had the courage to peer into the dark places of the soul, it lacked the chutzpah to reside there.
Language: English
Runtime: 95 Minutes
Available through Netflix.com
Grade: 1.5 Hats Off
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