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Licensor Information
20th Century Fox
Directed by: Nicholas Ray
Though ignored at the time of its release, Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life is now recognized as one of the great American films of the 1950s. When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father (James Mason, in one of his most indelible roles) is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction, he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug, resulting in his transformation into a psychotic and ultimately violent household despot. This Eisenhower-era throat-grabber, shot in expressive CinemaScope, is an excoriating take on the nuclear family. That it came in the day of Father Knows Best makes it all the more shocking—and wildly entertaining.
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Release Information:
Technical Specifications
Format:
Blu-ray
Disc:
BD-50 (1 Disc)
Total: 1 Disc
Regions:
A (Blu-ray)
Aspect Ratio:
2.55:1
Audio Options:
English PCM Mono 1.0
Resolution:
1080p/24
Subtitles:
English
Supplements
Types of Supplements Included: Audio Commentary, Interview, Video Essay, Theatrical Trailer, Booklet
- Audio commentary featuring critic Geoff Andrew (The Films of Nicholas Ray)
- Profile of Nicholas Ray (1977), a half-hour television interview with the director
- New video appreciation of Bigger Than Life with author Jonathan Lethem (Chronic City)
- New video interview with Susan Ray, widow of the director and editor of I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies
- Theatrical trailer
- A booklet featuring a new essay by critic and video maker B. Kite
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Supplements
Artwork
Release Credits
Producer: Curtis Tsui
Artwork: F. Ron Miller
Release Notes on Restoration
Bigger Than Life
Bigger Than Life is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format. For this new high-definition digital transfer, the original 35mm camera negative was scanned at 4K resolution on an Oxberry 6400 Liquid Gate scanner and color graded and restored at 2K resolution. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using the DaVinci Revival system and Pixel Farm’s PFClean system. Arri’s Relativity system was used for light grain reduction.
The monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original 35mm magnetic audio track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated AudioCube’s integrated workstation.
The monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original 35mm magnetic audio track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated AudioCube’s integrated workstation.