Bigger Than Life

Bigger Than Life is an American DeLuxe Color CinemaScope film made in 1956 directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Mason, who also cowrote and produced the film, about a school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control upon becoming addicted to cortisone. The film costars Barbara Rush as his wife and Walter Matthau as his closest friend, a fellow teacher. Though it was a boxoffice flop upon its initial release, many modern critics hail it as a masterpiece and brilliant indictment of contemporary attitudes towards mental illness and addiction. In 1963, JeanLuc Godard named it one of the ten best American sound films ever made.

Schoolteacher and family man Ed Avery James Mason, who has been suffering bouts of severe pain and even blackouts, is hospitalized with what is diagnosed as polyarteritis nodosa, a rare inflammation of the arteries. Told by doctors that he probably has only months to live, Ed agrees to an experimental treatment doses of the hormone cortisone.Ed makes a remarkable recovery. He returns home to his wife, Lou Barbara Rush, and their son, Richie Christopher Olsen. He must keep taking cortisone tablets regularly to prevent a recurrence of his illness. But the miracle cure turns into a nightmare when Ed begins to misuse the tablets, causing him to experience wild mood swings and, ultimately, a psychotic episode which threatens the safety of his family. ........

Source: Wikipedia