# Bigger Than Life (1956)

> A life-saving cortisone treatment transforms a gentle schoolteacher into a volatile tyrant within his own home.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/movie/15500

## Facts

- Runtime: 95 min
- Genres: Drama
- Director: Nicholas Ray
- Cast: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon, Christopher Olsen, Roland Winters, Rusty Lane, Rachel Stephens
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049010/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Mood: foreboding, oppressive, psychologically intense, classic cinema night, psychological drama viewing

## Synopsis

A man's miraculous recovery from a terminal illness spirals into a dark descent fueled by addiction.

## Movies like Bigger Than Life

- [The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)](https://ember.film/movie/16211)
- [Angel Face (1953)](https://ember.film/movie/1307)
- [Act of Violence (1949)](https://ember.film/movie/20586)
- [Blackboard Jungle (1955)](https://ember.film/movie/15824)
- [The Tingler (1959)](https://ember.film/movie/16080)
- [A Place in the Sun (1951)](https://ember.film/movie/15240)
- [The Lost Weekend (1945)](https://ember.film/movie/17497)
- [The Bad Seed (1956)](https://ember.film/movie/27207)
- [Come Back, Little Sheba (1953)](https://ember.film/movie/59784)
- [Detective Story (1951)](https://ember.film/movie/12564)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt