The Snake Pit [PG]

On the surface Mrs. Virginia Cunningham seems quite normal, but when her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic her husband comes to the sad decision to place her in a hospital for treatment. The hospital is overcrowded and both the patients and staff taunt and torture her, constantly threatening that she’ll have to be thrown into ‘the snake pit’ where the most hopeless and serious cases are left to their own wanderings and incoherent babblings. But with the help of the kind Dr. Kik, Virginia might just be able to realign her thinking and get herself well. 

The post-war period of the 1940s was rife with psychological dramas and thrillers exploring the world of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. But unlike the suspenseful thrillers such as Spellbound, The Snake Pit stands as a realist and brutally honest depiction of the treatment of mental illness. 

On the surface Mrs. Virginia Cunningham seems quite normal, but when her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic her husband comes to the sad decision to place her in a hospital for treatment. The hospital is overcrowded and both the patients and staff taunt and torture her, constantly threatening that she’ll have to be thrown into ‘the snake pit’ where the most hopeless and serious cases are left to their own wanderings and incoherent babblings. But with the help of the kind Dr. Kik, Virginia might just be able to realign her thinking and get herself well. 

What’s particularly great about this movie is that it’s a beautiful, balanced story that leans more towards the compelling side with a dramatic story of hope. Where Spellbound used mental illness as a means of covering up a murder mystery, and we all know what happens at the end of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Snake Pit, despite it’s terrifying-sounding name is actually really beautiful in that its story is simple, goes in just enough circles to as to keep the audience intrigued, and finally leads up to a hopeful ending. It’s quite well written, beginning right in the meat of the story, backtracking via flashbacks for the necessary history, and then steadily continuing on like a slow rollercoaster towards the end of the ride, with audiences experiencing all the wonderful peaks and troughs as it goes along. 

Olivia de Havilland stars as Virginia Cunningham and she delivers a wonderful performance. Pretty much anything that Olivia does glitters and here her performance is filled with confusion, desperation, drama, romance, and disorientations, which all work harmoniously to result in a character that we really love, feel for, and root for. Along with Virginia, we love Dr. Kik and we hate those bitchy resentful nurses. 

Starring Mark Stevens, Leo Glenn, Celeste Holm, Glenn Langan, Helen Craig, Leif Erickson, Beulah Bondi, Lee Patrick, Howard Freeman, Natalie Schafer, Ruth Donnelly, Katherine Locke, Frank Connolly, and Minna Gombell, The Snake Pit is a wonderful movie packed with drama, torment, terror, a very dramatic and haunting soundtrack, some great cinematography, romance, and hope. I really loved it, as it treads the line between psychological drama and thriller beautifully. I would definitely recommend it if you’re interested.