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Bigger Than Life

Year:

1956

Duration:

95 min | 91 min (FMC Library Print)

Genres:

Drama

IMDB rate:

7.6

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Awards:

1 nomination

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1956-08-02

Filming Locations: Beverly Hilton Hotel - 9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, California, USA

Cast

Actor

Character

Sid Melton

Bigger Than Life

James Mason

Ed Avery

Barbara Rush

Lou Avery

Walter Matthau

Wally Gibbs

Robert F. Simon

Dr. Norton (as Robert Simon)

Christopher Olsen

Richie Avery

Roland Winters

Dr. Ruric

Rusty Lane

Bob LaPorte

Rachel Stephens

Nurse

Kipp Hamilton

Pat Wade

Dee Aaker

Joe (uncredited)

David Bedell

X-Ray Doctor (uncredited)

Gail Bonney

Mother at PTA Meeting (uncredited)

Harold Bostwick

Gentleman (uncredited)

Mary Carroll

Mother at PTA Meeting (uncredited)

Virginia Carroll

Mrs. Jones (uncredited)

Mary Carver

Saleslady (uncredited)

Betty Caulfield

Mrs. LaPorte (uncredited)

Lewis Charles

Dr. MacLennan (uncredited)

George Chester

Janitor (uncredited)

Richard Collier

Andy - the Milkman (uncredited)

Fred Dale

Male Nurse (uncredited)

Nan Dolan

Dr. Norton's Nurse (uncredited)

Alex Frazer

Clergyman (uncredited)

Grace Hayle

Mother at PTA Meeting (uncredited)

Bill Jones

Mr. Byron (uncredited)

Colin Kenny

Churchgoer (uncredited)

Wilbur Mack

Churchgoer (uncredited)

Eve March

Mother at PTA MEETING (uncredited)

Thomas Martin

Cab Dispatcher (uncredited)

Portland Mason

Nancy (uncredited)

Natalie Masters

Mrs. Tyndal (uncredited)

Jerry Mathers

Freddie (uncredited)

Mary McAdoo

Mrs. Edwards (uncredited)

Renny McEvoy

Mr. Jones (uncredited)

Joseph Mell

Frank - the Cab Dispatcher (uncredited)

Joe Merritt

Husband (uncredited)

John Monaghan

Sam - the Cabby (uncredited)

Eugenia Paul

Saleslady (uncredited)

Paul Peters

Gentleman (uncredited)

Gladys Richards

Lab Nurse (uncredited)

Mary Margaret Robinson

Child (uncredited)

Gus Schilling

Druggist (uncredited)

Ann Spencer

Nurse (uncredited)

Hal Taggart

Churchgoer (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

Marilyn Monroe, who was friends with Nicholas Ray and shooting Bus Stop (1956) at an adjoining stage at 20th Century Fox, shot a brief cameo as a nurse during a hospital sequence. Her scene was deleted because the studio was afraid that Monroe would use this cameo as the second film she owed under her contract.

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Though only Cyril Hume and Richard Maibaum are credited for the screenplay, the shooting script was entirely re-worked by director Nicholas Ray and star/producer James Mason, who added the first 20 minutes of the film depicting Ed Avery's daily life before being hospitalized. Re-writes by Ray, his friend Gavin Lambert (who at that time was living together with Ray, recently confessing that they were actually lovers) and Clifford Odets went on all through the shooting process.

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The young actor playing a cameo role as a student drawing a picture of a man who is angry with his mother (when Ed briefly covers a class for a co-worker) is Jerry Mathers, who would go on to play Beaver Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver (1957) a few years later.

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Goofs

When Ed has a Barium X-Ray the image of the swallowed fluid is anatomically inaccurate. The fluid falls straight down to an extremely large "stomach" in his groin area.

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37 minutes into the movie, Ed is at the bathroom sink and has just replaced the pill bottle in the medicine cabinet. As he closes the cabinet door, the director and the camera are reflected in the mirror.

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When Ed cuts the telephone cord to the phone his son is using, it created an "off the hook" state on the line, and Lou could not have placed a call with a different phone.

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Quotes

Ed Avery: Childhood is a congenital disease - and the purpose of education is to cure it. We're breeding a race of moral midgets.

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Ed Avery: God was wrong!

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Ed Avery: [of wife Lou] It's a shame that I didn't marry someone who was my intellectual equal.

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Faq

Will Nicholas Ray's 'Bigger Than Life' ever be available on DVD?

This film will be available as part of the Criterion Collection on March 23, 2010.

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