DramaMystery

The Snake Pit

- Married and in love... with a man she didn't know or want!

Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict events in Virginia's life that may have contributed to her instability.

Release Date : 1948-11-04

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : 20th Century Fox

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Virginia Stuart Cunningham

Original Name : Olivia de Havilland

Gender : Female

Character Name : Robert Cunningham

Original Name : Mark Stevens

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor Mark H. Van Kensdelaerik (Dr. "Kik")

Original Name : Leo Genn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Grace

Original Name : Celeste Holm

Gender : Female

Character Name : Doctor Terry

Original Name : Glenn Langan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nurse Davis

Original Name : Helen Craig

Gender : Female

Character Name : Gordon

Original Name : Leif Erickson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Greer

Original Name : Beulah Bondi

Gender : Female

Character Name : Asylum Inmate

Original Name : Lee Patrick

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dr. Curtis

Original Name : Howard Freeman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Stuart

Original Name : Natalie Schafer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Ruth

Original Name : Ruth Donnelly

Gender : Female

Character Name : Margaret

Original Name : Katherine Locke

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dr. Jonathan Gifford

Original Name : Frank Conroy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Miss Hart

Original Name : Minna Gombell

Gender : Female

Character Name : Miss Bixby

Original Name : June Storey

Gender : Female

Character Name : Virginia - Age 6

Original Name : Lora Lee Michel

Gender : Female

Character Name : Mr. Stuart

Original Name : Damian O'Flynn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Valerie

Original Name : Ann Doran

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nurse Vance

Original Name : Esther Somers

Gender : Female

Character Name : Celia Sommerville

Original Name : Jacqueline deWit

Gender : Female

Character Name : Hester

Original Name : Betsy Blair

Gender : Female

Character Name : Miss Greene

Original Name : Lela Bliss

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lola

Original Name : Queenie Smith

Gender : Female

Character Name : Miss Seiffert

Original Name : Virginia Brissac

Gender : Female

Character Name : Inmate Countess

Original Name : Grayce Hampton

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nurse Jones

Original Name : Mary Treen

Gender : Female

Character Name : Champion - Miss Neumann

Original Name : Dorothy Neumann

Gender : Female

Character Name : Singing Inmate

Original Name : Jan Clayton

Gender : Female

Character Name : Asylum Patient (uncredited)

Original Name : Marie Blake

Gender : Female

Character Name : Asylum Patient (uncredited)

Original Name : Victoria Horne

Gender : Female

Character Name : Asylum Patient (uncredited)

Original Name : Doro Merande

Gender : Female

Character Name : Asylum Patient (uncredited)

Original Name : Barbara Pepper

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nurse (uncredited)

Original Name : Wanda Perry

Gender : Female

Character Name : Virginia - Age 2 (uncredited)

Original Name : Vicky Albright

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nurse (uncredited)

Original Name : Jean Andren

Gender : Female

Character Name : Patient (uncredited)

Original Name : Sylvia Andrew

Gender : Male

Character Name : Greek Patient (uncredited)

Original Name : Angela Clarke

Gender : Female

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

I'll tell you where it's gonna end, Miss Somerville... When there are more sick ones than well ones, the sick ones will lock the well ones up. The Snake Pit is directed by Anatole Litvak and adapted to screenplay by Frank Partos, Millen Brand and Arthur Laurents from the novel written by Mary Jane Ward. It stars Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Glenn Langan, Helen Craig, Leif Erickson and Beulah Bondi. Music is by Alfred Newman and cinematography by Leo Tover. Olivia de Havilland plays Virginia Stuart Cunningham, and film chronicles Virgina's time and treatment in the Juniper Hill Mental Institution. "It was strange, here I was among all those people, and at the same time I felt as if I were looking at them from some place far away, the whole place seemed to me like a deep hole and the people down in it like strange animals, like... like snakes, and I've been thrown into it... yes... as though... as though I were in a snake pit..." It's still today one of the most potent and important screen explorations of mental illness and its treatment. Backed by an astonishing performance by de Havilland, Litvak and an initially sceptical Darryl F. Zanuck (20th Century Fox supremo), led the way in bringing to the masses the subject and to treat it with stark realism. Quite often it's harrowing as entertainment, with Virgina's fractured mind laid bare under duress of treatments now seen as antiquated. It's true enough to say that some of the story features simplistic motives and means, these come as a product of the time the picture was made. But with Litvak (Sorry, Wrong Number) and his principal crew members researching the subject thoroughly, the end result is an incredible blend of dramatic heartfelt suspense and rays of humanistic hope. As Virginia weaves her way through this maze of psychological discord, with flashbacks constantly adding layers to the character's make up, Litvak presents a fascinating portrait of asylum life and the people who resided there, both as patients and staff. Some scenes are brilliantly crafted, either as visual expansions of the story or as shards of light in a dark world. One sequence sees Litvak track "dancing" silhouettes on a wall, and to then do a pull away shot upwards to reveal Virginia in the snake pit, the impact is stark in its magnificence. Another sequence takes place at a dance for the patients, where a rendition of Antonín Dvorák's "Goin' Home" turns into something quite beautiful, a unison of profound optimism that strikes the heart like the calm after a storm. Leo Tover's (The Day The Earth Stood Still) crisp black and white photography is perfectly in sync with the material, and Newman's (Wuthering Heights) magnificent score bounces around the institution like a spectral observer. With de Havilland doing her tour de force, it could be easy to forget the great work of Genn and Stevens, the former is a bastion of assured calmness as Dr. Mark Kik, the latter as Virgina's husband Robert underplays it to perfection and he gives us a character to root for wholesale. It has to be viewed in the context of the era it was made, but its influence on future movies and awareness of mental health treatments in the real world should not be understated. A brilliant production that demands to be seen. 9/10