Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life

Want it kinda a flop at the time tho?

And why is it laughed at now? Is it considered too earnest, too heavy handed, what? I'm not a film critic/cinephile and maybe I'm a simpleton but I found it immensely powerful (just finished watching it tho so maybe I'll be less impressed once it sinks in)

we laugh at what we do not fully comprehend. james mason going literally insane elicits nervous giggling because hey - this isn't supposed to happen, right - what even is this happening - it isn't really happening. modern audiences unable to countenance such audacious character development

idk i'm being v trenchant there

a certain smug sector at NYC rep houses laughs at everything made before 1975

few Ray films were massive hits in their day (Rebel Without a Cause and, ah, King of Kings exceptions), so contemporary audiences had trouble with their sudden tonal shifts too

Xp The not supposed to happen factor, that respectable professional family men are meant to hold their shit together, and the impossibility of that facade and the dissonance it creates, that's kinda the lynchpin of the movie for me. The impossibility and damage of the patriarchy and the powerlessness of all those involved, including the patrician, piles up on top of each other until all that's left is a fantasy of a happy ending. Cortisone is almost a macguffin.

Myopic smugness is never a good look. Bad show NYC.

seen any Sirk films? You'll like him too.

No, not at all. And this is my first ray so I'm up for seeing more of him. What would you recommend?

All That Heaven Allows, touching on similar themes, and Imitation of Life. Hell, watch'em all!

Thanks, I'll check em out.

Wondering when it will be time to watch this again.

this was as breathless and hysterical as Fuller's Shock Corridor, but I liked it more

Wondering when it will be time to watch this again.

Trout Fishing in America.

“Can you tell me one thing that was said or done by anyone here tonight that was funny, startling, imaginative?”

Music by David Raksin!

“Third string sub to hero in twenty seconds. Real last minute stuff!”

Barbara Rush was married to Jeffrey Hunter for five years.

Marilyn Monroe was supposed to have a cameo but she got nervous and they couldn’t get a good take so they gave up on the idea.

Cool retro graphic around minute 26 of a timeline of PAIN vs. CORTISONE levels.

“Hand me the yogurt, the black strap molasses and the brewer’s yeast.”

Apparently a reference to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5OGcLluydc

One of Walter Matthau’s earliest film roles, if not his debut.

“Oh Ed, this is so expensive. I buy my things at Madame A’s frock shop.”

“Oh, I’ve used up all the hot water. That half-pint heater really has to be babied.”

Great movie

I just read something that said James Mason, who also produced, had originally wanted a more documentary-like treatment and felt that what was done sensationalized and cheapened the material. He also felt his accent wasn’t right. On the other hand, even though he, like pretty much every one else who had crossed paths with Nicholas Ray, thought the director was difficult, he also thought he was a great talent and considered working with him again.

“One more kettle will do.”
“You’re not in the hospital now!”

At some point early on the studio wanted Richard Widmark in the lead(!)

Actor who played the son, Christopher Olsen, was also Doris Day’s son in The Man Who Knew Too Much.

“Every year, whole forests are cut down to supply the paper for these grotesque daubs. And we coo over them as though they were Van Goghs…or Rembrandts.”

Widmark would've pulled it off imo

Yeah, probably:

Still, I love Mason’s performance in this.

“And furthermore, this isn’t the first time you’ve gone out your way to annoy me with your jingle-jangle in, jingle-jangle out. Why do you do it?”

There’s some kind of pomposity that Mason is able to portray like nobody else.

It was all just a kooky, Cortisone-induced dream!

A HANDFUL OF HOPE THAT BECAME A FISTFUL OF HELL!

lol @ Mason thinking Ray was the director for a documentarian's approach

Yes, exactly.

And, yeah, Widmark could've pulled it off. James Stewart too.

I’m getting most of this stuff from Patrick McGilligan’s Nicholas Ray bio. Not sure what else is out there. Also learned a tiny bit about the cinematographer, who I hadn’t been aware of before but has worked on some well-known pictures that I like.

Joseph MacDonald: My Darling Clementine, Viva Zapata!, Niagara, Broken Lance.

Pickup on South Street too!

Guess we're the only ones up early after a few hours' sleep.

Yes. Exactly.

Hope I don’t have a psychotic break due to the sleep deprivation like you-know-who in the movie.

People in the UK watching the World Cup but brain can’t quite do it this early.

Maybe will take a break from this thread for a bit to catch a few more winks but also want to mention that there was a Clifford Odets involvement in this film that needs to be discussed.