This article examines the intersection of masculinity and performance in
Bigger
Than Life (1956), focusing on British actor James Mason’s portrayal of Ed Avery. The
analysis is structured into three parts. First, it outlines the dominant trends in male
representation in postwar American cinema, particularly the rise of introspective
young men shaped by Method acting (Section Ⅰ). In contrast, middle-aged male
characters, such as Ed, have often been pathologised or overlooked in performance
analyses (Section Ⅱ). To address this gap, the second part draws on Konstantin
Stanislavski’s concept of “the art of representation” to reconsider Ed’s bodily
performance. It demonstrates how Mason’s controlled gestures and mannerisms
construct the image of a reliable father and husband and how their disruption at key moments acquires heightened significance, exposing the performative nature and fragility of this constructed identity (Section Ⅲ, Ⅳ, and Ⅴ). Finally, the study analyses the mirror-shattering scene, where a rupture in these gestures reveals not only the theatricality of Ed’s roles, but also the dissonance between Mason’s star persona, marked by foreignness, intensity, and sadism, and the normative image of an American middle-class patriarch. Situating this dissonance within the material comfort of the 1950s, the article argues that Mason’s performance subtly undermined the era’s ideals of male authority, foregrounding the layered and unstable nature of masculine identity onscreen (Section Ⅵ and Ⅶ).
View full abstract
