IMDb > The Snake Pit (1948)

The Snake Pit (1948) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   1,631 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Frank Partos (screenplay) and
Millen Brand (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Snake Pit on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
13 November 1948 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Married and in Love . . . with a Man She Didn't Know or Want!
Plot:
Virginia Cunningham finds herself in a state insane asylum...and can't remember how she got there. In flashback... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations more
NewsDesk:
Actress Betsy Blair Dies
 (From WENN. 19 March 2009, 9:10 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
ANOTHER OUTSTANDING FOX CLASSIC DVD more (44 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Olivia de Havilland ... Virginia Stuart Cunningham
Mark Stevens ... Robert Cunningham
Leo Genn ... Doctor Mark Kik
Celeste Holm ... Grace
Glenn Langan ... Doctor Terry
Helen Craig ... Nurse Davis
Leif Erickson ... Gordon
Beulah Bondi ... Mrs. Greer
Lee Patrick ... Asylum Inmate
Howard Freeman ... Dr. Curtis
Natalie Schafer ... Mrs. Stuart
Ruth Donnelly ... Ruth
Katherine Locke ... Margaret
Frank Conroy ... Dr. Jonathan Gifford
Minna Gombell ... Miss Hart
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Additional Details

Runtime:
108 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The title stems from an ancient practice of dealing with the mentally ill where they were thrown into a pit of snakes. The theory was that something like that would make a normal person insane, therefore it must work in reverse. more
Quotes:
Celia Sommerville: And we're so crowded already. I just don't know where it's all gonna end!
Virginia Stuart Cunningham: 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.
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Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Some Sunday Morning more

FAQ

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23 out of 28 people found the following comment useful.
ANOTHER OUTSTANDING FOX CLASSIC DVD, 3 June 2004
9/10
Author: blue-7 from Salt Lake City, Utah

With their June 2004 release of THE SNAKE PIT on DVD, 20th Century Fox has added another winner to the "Studio Classics" series. Number 19 (20 if you count F. W. Murnau's SUNRISE)proves to be another example of the strong, dramatic material that Fox often put out under the helm of Darryl F. Zanuck during the 1940s. GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT, ALL ABOUT EVEN, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, THE OX-BOW INCIDENT and THE GRAPES OF WRATH are six examples of Fox quality drama that have previously received the "Studio Classic" treatment.

THE SNAKE PIT (1948) tells the story of a young woman suffering from a nervous breakdown, her confinement in a mental institution of the day, and her struggle for recovery through the efforts of a caring doctor (Leo Genn) and loving husband (Mark Stevens). Olivia de Havilland as the mentally ill woman, gives one of the finest performances of her career. If she hadn't received the Academy Award two years previously (1946)for TO EACH HIS OWN, she most likely would have taken the 1948 Best Actress Oscar over Jane Wyman fine performance as JOHNNY BELINDA. I would say that THE SNAKE PIT along with her performance in William Wyler's (1949) film, THE HEIRESS (for which she won a second Oscar), represent the two finest performances of her entire career. Anatole Livak's strong direction brings to life an outstanding screenplay. The film was certainly worthy of the six Academy Award nominations that it received, including one for Best Picture. If you enjoy strong drama with outstanding performances, then you will want to include THE SNAKE PIT in your DVD collection.

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why was Olivia robbed? darlakarla
Dr. Kik.... jackwhitekicksass
Notes on THE SNAKE PIT JSlack3
'Goin' Home'-Trivia glmather1
Words to song "Going Home" lady_stogie
Name of the classic piece that was played grasshopper54
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