Bigger Than Life

• Drama, Experimental , produced in 1956 USA
• Actors: James Mason, Barbara Rush
• Directed by: Nicholas Ray
• Rating: 7.5 out of 10
• Plot Summary: Unable to pay the bills as a school teacher, Ed Avery (James Mason) has a double life as a taxi dispatcher. He hides this second job from his family, as well as a far graver secret: he's suffering from a painful illness that may claim his life. In a last-ditch effort at survival, Ed begins a regimen of cortisone injections that turn him into a crazed drug addict, tearing his cookie-cutter world apart. Nicholas Ray (REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE) directs this trenchant drama about 1950s suburbia; James Mason has rarely been better--or more intense.