X
- 1948
- Approved
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 48 m
- 1948
- Approved
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 48 m
Directed By: Anatole Litvak
Written By: Frank Partos, Millen Brand, Mary Jane Ward, Arthur Laurents
- 1948
- Approved
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 48 m
- 1948
- Approved
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 48 m
The Snake Pit
76
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Directed By: Anatole Litvak
Written By: Frank Partos, Millen Brand, Mary Jane Ward, Arthur Laurents
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
76
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
76
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Certainly The Snake Pit will go down in Hollywood annals as one of the must unusual subjects ever attempted, and what is more to the point, successfully accomplished. It is bold and original — a defiant answer to those who say that our American motion picture creators cannot evolve a mature dramatic subject.
The Snake Pit is a standout among class melodramas. Based on Mary Jane Ward's novel, picture probes into the processes of mental illness with a razor-sharp forthrightness, giving an open-handed display of the make-up of bodies without minds and the treatments used to restore intelligence.
Historically important Hollywood expose of the grim conditions in America's mental institutions and an influential plea for more sympathetic treatment of the mentally sick. Olivia de Havilland is harrowingly good as a deranged, incarcerated middle-class housewife; British actor Leo Genn is convincing if a trifle glib as a pipe-smoking shrink. [18 Jul 1999, p.10]
This remains one of the best screen explorations of mental illness and its treatment.
This grim drama packs a punch.
As Virginia grapples with her inner demons, as well as a memory loss that leaves her disoriented and unsure of who she can trust, The Snake Pit periodically transcends its archaic psychological trappings to become an empathic examination of a woman battling both the internal and external forces that seek to fully erase her sense of self.
Overrated at the time as a piece of mature and realistic cinema with a strong social conscience, this now works best as lurid melodrama.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
Venice Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
