Bigger Than Life (1956) on Netflix
Ed Avery, a schoolteacher and family man, suffers bouts of severe pain and blackouts. Doctors find a rare inflammation of his arteries, and he agrees to experimental cortisone treatment.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb7.4/109,076 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
Ed Avery teaches school and takes on extra dispatching work to cover the family's bills, a job he keeps from his wife Lou. Spells of severe pain and blackouts finally land him in the hospital, where doctors diagnose polyarteritis nodosa, an inflammation of the arteries, and give him only months to live. Ed accepts an experimental course of cortisone and recovers well enough to spend time again with Lou and their son Richie. Before long he is taking more of the drug than his prescription allows and lying to his doctor to obtain refills. His moods turn turbulent, and while he has taken a leave from teaching he stays on the local Parent-Teacher Association board.
Cast
- Betty Caulfieldas Mrs. LaPorte (uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Bigger Than Life (1956)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- James Mason, who starred in Bigger Than Life, also produced it and blamed the film's failure on its use of the relatively new widescreen CinemaScope format.
- Richard Maibaum wrote the original script with Cyril Hume, but thought it was "muddied up" by director Nicholas Ray, and says Clifford Odets rewrote some scenes.
- Bigger Than Life is based on a 1955 article by medical writer Berton Roueché in The New Yorker, titled "Ten Feet Tall".
