The Snake Pit

For other uses, see Snake pit (disambiguation).

The Snake Pit
Directed by	Anatole Litvak
Screenplay by	Millen Brand Arthur Laurents (uncredited) Frank Partos
Produced by	Robert Bassler Anatole Litvak Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring	Olivia de Havilland Mark Stevens Leo Genn Celeste Holm
Cinematography	Leo Tover
Edited by	Dorothy Spencer
Music by	Alfred Newman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	November 4, 1948
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$4.1 million (US/Canada rentals)

The Snake Pit is a 1948 American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and stars Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Beulah Bondi, and Lee Patrick. Based on Mary Jane Ward's 1946 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum and cannot remember how she got there.

The novel was adapted for the screen by Millen Brand, Arthur Laurents (uncredited) and Frank Partos.

Plot

Virginia Cunningham (Olivia de Havilland) is an apparently schizophrenic inmate at a mental institution called the Juniper Hill State Hospital. She hears voices and seems so out of touch with reality that she doesn’t recognize her husband Robert (Mark Stevens).

Dr. “Kik” (Leo Genn) works with her, and flashbacks show how Virginia and Robert met a few years earlier in Chicago. He worked for a publisher who rejected her writing, and they bumped into each other again in the cafeteria. Occasionally she continued to drop by the cafeteria so they get to know each other.

Despite their blossoming romance, Virginia eventually abruptly leaves town without explanation. Robert moves to New York and bumps into her again at the Philharmonic. After she provides a loose excuse for her absence and departure, they pick up where they left off, though she remains evasive and avoids his desire for marriage. Eventually, Virginia brings up the possibility of marriage. They marry on May 7, but Virginia acts erratically again. She can’t sleep and loses touch with reality, as she feels it is November and snaps when Robert corrects her. The rest of the film follows her therapy. Dr. Kik puts her through shock treatment and other forms of treatment including hypnotherapy. Dr. Kik wants to get to the “causes of her unconscious rejection.” The film includes many flashbacks, including her earlier failed engagement to Gordon (Leif Erickson) as well as childhood concerns. The film shows her progress and what happens to her along the way.

The mental hospital is organized on a spectrum of "levels." The better a patient gets, the lower level she is able to achieve. Virginia moves to the lowest level (One), but there she encounters Nurse Davis (Helen Craig) who is the only cruel nurse in the hospital. Jealous of Dr. Kik's professional interest in Virginia, and in her eyes excessive concern, Nurse Davis is so severe with Virginia that she goads her into an outburst which results in her being expelled from first level in a straight jacket.

Despite this setback, Dr Kik's care continues to improve Virginia's mental state. Over time, Virginia gains insight and self-understanding, and is able to leave the hospital. The film also depicts the bureaucratic regimentation of the institution, the staff — some brutal and ignorant, some kindhearted — and relationships between patients, from which Virginia learns as much as she does in therapy.

Cast

Actor/Actress	Character
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
Celia Lovsky	Gertrude
Frank Conroy	Dr. Jonathan Gifford
Minna Gombell	Miss Hart
Betsy Blair	Hester

Production

Gene Tierney was the first choice to play Virginia Stuart Cunningham, but was replaced by Olivia de Havilland when Tierney became pregnant.

Director Anatole Litvak insisted upon three months of grueling research. He demanded that the entire cast and crew accompany him to various mental institutions and to lectures by leading psychiatrists. He did not have to convince Olivia de Havilland who threw herself into the research with an intensity that surprised even those who knew her well. She watched carefully each of the procedures then in vogue, including hydrotherapy and electric shock treatments. When permitted, she sat in on long individual therapy sessions. She attended social functions, including dinners and dances with the patients. In fact, when, after the film's release, columnist Florabel Muir questioned in print whether any mental institution actually "allowed contact dances among violent inmates," she was surprised by a telephone call from de Havilland, who assured her she had attended several such dances herself. Much of the film was filmed in the Camarillo State Mental Hospital in California.

Reception

The critics were generally kind, with Louella Parsons declaring: "It is the most courageous subject ever attempted on the screen". Walter Winchell wrote: "Its seething quality gets inside of you." On the other hand, Herman F. Weinberg, a noted psychiatrist, was unimpressed. He wrote, "A film of superficial veracity that requires a bigger man than Litvak; a good film with bad things in it."

The film has come under fire from some women's rights authors for a seeming misportrayal of Virginia's difficulties and the implication that accepting a subservient role as a wife and mother is part of her "cure". Other film analysts view it as successful in conveying Ward's view of the uncertainties of post-WWII life and women's roles.

Censorship

The British censor required a foreword added to the movie that explained to the audience that everyone in the movie was an actor — and that conditions in British hospitals were unlike those portrayed in the film.

Awards

It won the Academy Award for Best Sound Recording (Thomas T. Moulton), and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Olivia de Havilland), Best Director, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay.

The film also won the International Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1949, where it was cited for "a daring inquiry in a clinical case dramatically performed."

Impact

The film led to changes in the conditions of mental institutions in the United States. In 1949, Herb Stein of Daily Variety wrote "Wisconsin is the seventh state to institute reforms in its mental hospitals as a result of The Snake Pit.

Publicity releases from 20th Century Fox claimed that twenty-six of the then forty-eight states had enacted reform legislation because of the movie. This is a very difficult claim to verify because few of the bills introduced, regulations changed or funding increases implemented specifically mentioned The Snake Pit as a motivating factor.

Other adaptations

The Snake Pit was dramatized as an hour-long radio play on the April 10, 1950 broadcast of Lux Radio Theater, with de Havilland reprising her film role.

See also

• Mental illness in films

External links

• The Snake Pit at IMDb
• The Snake Pit at the TCM Movie Database
• The Snake Pit at AllMovie
• Review of The Snake Pit at TVGuide.com