faithx5's Most Recent Discussions

"This Pride & Prejudice is one of MGM's prestigiest prestige pictures, with solid performances from Garson and Olivier in an adaptation from one of my favorite books, but it suffers a bit from stuffiness and lack of attention to period detail. Pointing out that Austen is Georgian and these costumes and manners are Victorian is nitpicky to a fault, but the entire production is a bit obviously MGM-ized. On the other hand, Bigger Than Life is stuck in its time in terms of having Cortisone be the Big Bad Drug that sends James Mason into hallucinogenic fits of rage, but on a personal and visual level, it retains its power as a portrait of a man destroyed not really by drugs but by the demands of middle-class suburban conformity - a message that became common in the '80s, but was EXTREMELY ahead of its time in 1956. Bigger Than Life wins for taking risks and making good on them."