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The Snake Pit | Year: 1948 Classification: Drama Directed: - Anatole Litvak Actors/Actresses: - Olivia de Havilland - Mark Stevens INSIDE "THE SNAKE PIT"...... Once powerful shocker is dated now but still retains the unpleasantness and emotional tugs that must have riveted audiences in 1948. Olivia de Havilland gives an Oscar nominated performance as Virginia, a woman confined to a state mental hospital after a mental breakdown. As she struggles to understand what happened to her and regain her sanity through the kindliness and patience of a very understanding doctor, we are treated to the horrors and inhumanity of a state hospital circa 1948. Hissably horrible nurses, shock treatments, poor food, overcrowding, ice baths and finally "the snake pit"---you name it and Virginia goes through it. Luckily, she has a very loving husband who waits for her to "come home". de Havilland is excellent and if the film (and performances) seems dated, this was 1948 and mental illness was a new frontier being brought out into the open and frankly explored by Hollywood. It's possible to imagine a state hospital being this horrific in the late 40's. Supporting cast is fine but Celeste Holm is wasted in a small part as a fellow patient and disappears altogether. The finale, set at a dance for the patients, features the old tearjerker "Goin' Home" (which, incidentally, is about dying) done to effectively emotional heights about finally being released and "going home". This film is a classic of it's kind and is given a beautiful DVD treatment and I very much recommend it for movie buffs and fans of de Havilland. I still find parts of it intense and disturbing, so if it still has that effect after all these years I can only imagine what it must have been like in 1948. Olivia de Havilland is Amazing The Snake Pit was released at a time (late Forties) when Hollywood was taking a more serious look at important issues. This film deals with mental illness and mental institutions, and does so in a direct and honest way. Olivia de Havilland stars as a wife / aspiring writer whose husband, Mark Stevens, has to commit her to an institution when her irrational behaviour becomes too much to deal with. In the institution, she fights to regain her mental health with the assistance of a kind doctor, Leo Genn. But it's not easy, and the film shows the setbacks she faces, not to mention the horrors of life in an asylum. She is subjected to electroshock treatments, cruel nurses, and patients even more disturbed than she is, all in conditions that could hardly foster improved mental health. It truly resembles a snake pit, particularly in one memorable shot taken above the bizarre goings-on below. Although the honest presentation of the subject matter is important, the real strength in the movie lies in de Havilland's performance. She's incredible in a role that showcases her dramatic ability to it's full extent. She manages not to go over the top, which would have been easy to do given the subject matter, and she makes the character believable and sympathetic. The film and de Havilland's performance should be seen. AVERAGE TRANSFER - STARK DEPICTION OF MENTAL ILLNESS Anatole Litvak's "The Snake Pit" charts the atypical view of psychoanalysis prevalent in most classic films - a.k.a - everything is linked to one's childhood trauma, repression and guilt. That shortcoming aside, "The Snake Pit" is a stark, often disturbing, melodrama about life inside a mental asylum. It charts the dementia of Virginia (Olivia de Havilland), a woman suffering from an emerging psychosis. De Havilland certainly delivers a stellar and shockingly dramatic performance in this apocalyptic vision of insanity under horrendous conditions. Leo Genn plays the sympathetic psychiatrist to whom Virginia's mental health is entrusted. Although it is through his care and patience that Virginia's psychosis is finally laid to rest, the film remains a sobering and critical view of the inner mental anguish that, more often than not, is incurable and debilitating. <BR>THE TRANSFER: Troublesome. The gray scale is presented at a well balanced level. Blacks are generally solid. But age related artifacts are sometimes glaringly present. Film grain, as well as edge enhancement and pixelization are present for an image quality that is rarely smooth and only moderately easy on the eyes. The audio has been cleaned up and is nicely presented.<BR>EXTRAS: Fox Studio Line is about as skimpy on extras as is the rest of their output of classic films on DVD. One wonders why the distinction is made between "Studio" titles and just regular releases. Here we get a sparse audio commentary, some stills and theatrical trailers. Big deal!<BR>Bottom Line: I recommend this film for its performances. The DVD is not up to reference quality or anywhere near what it should be looking like. Buy The Snake Pit at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Snake Pit Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Snake Pit This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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