5/5 The Starkness Lingers
  by Martin Asiner (Jersey City, NJ)
Watching THE SNAKE PIT is like peeking behind the curtains that are drawn around the cloistered walls of the mentally ill. Not many Americans, then or now, knew much about the treatment of those deemed incapable of living on their own due to mental defect. Director Anatole Litvak not only draws back those stifling curtains but does so in a way that asks of the reader to judge what can be fruitfully done to heal those with severe psychological trauma. THE SNAKE PIT poses many questions but provides no solid answers, except perhaps to suggest that an infinity of patience might be more useful than any current method of addressing the patient's mental infirmities.

Olivia de Haviland is Virginia Cunningham, a woman who on the surface seems to have it all: a loving husband, a comfortable level of economic security, and a bright future. But early on, we begin to notice peculiarities in Virginia's behavior; she acts increasingly irrational and at time does not know who her husband Robert (Mark Stevens) is. She is confined to a state institution where she is merely one of many females who have similar and frequently more corrosive disabilities. The viewer tends to focus on Virginia's plight, mostly because Miss de Haviland has given here the performance of a lifetime. Virginia alternates between acute lucidity and a stifling psychosis that pulls her ever downward into a tightly coiled spiral of despair. Her husband tries mightily to understand but all he can do is be there on the offchance that a continuity of support might help. Virginia is under the care of one of the noblest of Hollywood's cinematic psychiatrists, Doctor Kik (Leo Genn). The film mentions more than a few times that there is precious little that anyone can do to help. There are simply too many who need help and too few dollars to provide that help. The scenes behind the curtain are often painful to watch. The most commented upon ones involve those that utilize electric shock treatment. Even if the contemporary audience believed in the efficacy of such treatment, the stark image of Virginia biting a tongue depressor is gut wrenching. Yet there are other less dramatic but more poignent scenes which unfortunately suggest that part of the problem is less of a lack of money and more of a lack of human compassion. Virginia is being interviewed by a panel of doctors, one of whom persists in wagging his fingers in her face as he exhorts her to answer an unwanted question. It is only later that we learn that she bites at that errant finger. There are numerous scenes of unpleasantries that ring so true that we could not fault ourselves to think that things have not changed all that much for the better. Nurse Davis (Helen Craig) is surely an ancestor of Nurse Wratched from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, both of whom in different films stagger their audiences with a callous disregard for their patients. Slowly we begin to learn of the genesis of Virginia's ailment. This is an impressive accomplishment since she is the only patient in the sanitarium who evinces even a modicum of improvement. The ending (which I shall not reveal here) is yet uplifting enough to imply that despite the utter starkness and regimentation of a typical sanitarium, there is always the possibility of a meaningful cessation of dementia provided that there are decent and caring folk involved. Nurses Davis and Wratched put aside, THE SNAKE PIT is a visceral descent into a world of madness from which few return yet those precious few remind us that we in the audience may squirm in our seats as we feel uncomfortably close to the precipice from which these few had earlier and tragically tumbled into.

3/5 de Havilland is Superb
  by C Wahlman (Merrillville, IN)
I would recommend this film for classic film fans only--and even then, I was disappointed.

The film opens in an amazing scene: the beautiful, yet tormented looking, Virginia seems to awaken from some sleep or haze on a park bench. She hears a voice. She is not quite sure where she is, or what she is doing...The mystery of it all draws you into this truly amazing story.

We learn where Virginia is, but not why she is there just yet. She is in a state mental hospital. Via a flashback of her husband's recount of their relationship we learn why he put her here.

Then the movie turns into a psychoanalyst-lover's dream. A little too textbook for my taste: everything is linked to a traumatic childhood, unreasonable guilt, and a lack of love. Transference and hysterical bouts sensationalize this tale a bit, too.

I will say that the film's treatment of state hospitals was not a damning one. It just put it out there; in no way did I get the sense that this was to condemn the establishment. This is merely the way it was--and this is truly fascinating.

The end is as sappy as you can get: the heart tugging rendition of "Goin' Home" where everyone joins in, Virginia's recovery and her determination to take care of herself now that Dr. Kik gave her the tools, and even her ability to get through to Hester (who seems catatonic at times, yet also a bit of a strangler). Isn't it touching?

This film was very good and interesting in some aspects, but lousy in others. I love Olivia, and it isn't her fault for the lulls. It is an interesting movie that should be seen, but I do not know how often I will return to it.


4/5 Movie: SnakePit
  by M. W. LIPTON (Carlsbad, CA)
I saw this movie in the early 60's and was amazed at it's intensity! Unbelievable film so far ahead of its time in 1948.

3/5 Welcome to hell!
  by ADRIENNE MILLER (TENNESSEE)
The Snake Pit starring Olivia de Havilland is a seething and shocking film of its time. de Havilland carries this film from beginning to end, she brings kindness but built-up tension to the film. Her character suffers from mental illness and the title says it all, I wouldn't want to go down in the snake pit either! Creepy but profound film, give it a chance.

5/5 Great for Psych. class !
  by E. Prindle (San Antonio, Texas)
A great movie for your high school psychology class. Lots of Freud stuff along with Erickson and Maslow. Kids even liked it !