The Snake Pit (1948) 7.5
A detailed chronicle of a woman during her stay in a mental institution. Director:Anatole Litvak |
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The Snake Pit (1948) 7.5
A detailed chronicle of a woman during her stay in a mental institution. Director:Anatole Litvak |
|
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Olivia de Havilland | ... | ||
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Mark Stevens | ... |
Robert Cunningham
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| Leo Genn | ... |
Dr. Mark Kik
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| Celeste Holm | ... |
Grace
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Glenn Langan | ... |
Dr. Terry
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Helen Craig | ... |
Nurse Davis
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| Leif Erickson | ... |
Gordon
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| Beulah Bondi | ... |
Mrs. Greer
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Lee Patrick | ... |
Asylum Inmate
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| Howard Freeman | ... |
Dr. Curtis
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| Natalie Schafer | ... |
Mrs. Stuart
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Ruth Donnelly | ... |
Ruth
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Katherine Locke | ... |
Margaret
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Frank Conroy | ... |
Dr. Jonathan Gifford
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Minna Gombell | ... |
Miss Hart
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Virginia Cunningham finds herself in a state insane asylum...and can't remember how she got there. In flashback, her husband Robert relates their courtship, marriage, and her developing symptoms. The asylum staff are not demonized, but fear, ignorance and regimentation keep Virginia in a state of misery, as pipesmoking Dr. Mark Kik struggles through wheels within wheels to find the root of her problem. Then a relapse plunges Virginia back into the harrowing 'Snake Pit'... Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Considered brutal and scary in the day of its initial release, "The Snake Pit" was a ground-breaking film with its look into the horrors of a mental institution. Giving the film its vibrancy and life is the elegant Olivia De Havilland. This fine actress goes to town in this fascinating portrait of a young woman, Virginia Stuart, who, soon after marriage to the handsome Robert Cunningham (Mark Stevens) , descends into a world of paranoia and insanity. He takes her to an institution, but conditions there are foreign to Virginia. This Hollywoodization of life in a mental hospital, though tame compared to reality, still packs a punch. We follow this delusional woman as she tries to come to grips with where she is, falls in love with her kind-hearted doctor, Mark Kirk (Leo Genn), befriends other patients, and tries to hide out in the hospital. Celeste Holm has a minor, but welcome role as Grace, a fellow patient who takes a liking to and protects the confused Virginia.
What a score for the lovely De Havilland! She really gets to show her stuff in this emotional role, and got an Oscar-nomination for her efforts. And kudos to director Anatole Litvak for a wonderful, but hard-to-take visit into a woman's not-all-there mind and her institutionalized world.