The Snake Pit
Encyclopedia
The Snake Pit is a 1948 American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak
. The film tells the story of a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum and cannot remember how she got there, and stars Olivia de Havilland
, Mark Stevens
, Leo Genn
, Celeste Holm
, Beulah Bondi
, and Lee Patrick
.
The film was adapted by Millen Brand
, Arthur Laurents
(uncredited) and Frank Partos
from the novel by Mary Jane Ward.
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 go ahead and marry on May 7, but Virginia acts erratically again. She can’t sleep and loses touch with reality, as she feels it’s 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.
Of special note, when Virginia realizes that she is recovering, there is a dance social including both male and female patients. Virginia meets and dances with Dr. Kik. We then see and hear a moving rendition of the song "Going Home" (from the second movement of Dvorak's 9th symphony, New World Symphony
) sung by Jan Clayton
, who ironically received no billing despite her stellar performance. The patients stop dancing. Everyone gathers to hear this song with its poignant lyrics including such words as "mother's there 'spectin' me, father's waitin' too." Spontaneously they all begin to sing knowing that many of them will never go home. At the end of the movie, Virginia's husband Robert comes to take her home. As they leave on the Juniper Hill State Hospital bus, we hear the melody again.
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."
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 didn't have to convince Olivia de Havilland
. She threw herself into the research with an intensity that surprised even those who knew her best. 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
.
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.
. 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.
, with de Havilland reprising her film role.
Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
. The film tells the story of a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum and cannot remember how she got there, and stars Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
, Mark Stevens
Mark Stevens (actor)
-Career:Born Richard William Stevens in Cleveland, Ohio, he first studied to become a painter before becoming active in theater work. He then launched a radio career as an announcer in Akron, Ohio....
, Leo Genn
Leo Genn
- Early life :He was born at 144 Kyverdale Road, Stamford Hill, Hackney, London, England to a Jewish family. His father, Woolfe Genn, was a jewellery salesman and the maiden name of his mother, Rachel, was Asserson....
, Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Gentleman's Agreement , as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable and All About Eve...
, Beulah Bondi
Beulah Bondi
Beulah Bondi was an American actress.Bondi began her acting career as a young child in theater, and after establishing herself as a stage actress, she reprised her role in Street Scene for the 1931 film version...
, and Lee Patrick
Lee Patrick (actress)
Lee Patrick was an American theater and film actress.-Early life and education:Born in New York City, Patrick began acting on Broadway in 1924. For more than a decade, she was constantly employed and established herself as a popular actress. She appeared in the original 1929 production of June...
.
The film was adapted by Millen Brand
Millen Brand
Millen Brand was an American writer and poet. His novels Savage Sleep and The Outward Room, which addressed mental health institutions, were bestsellers in the 1960s and 1930s, respectively.-Career:...
, Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents was an American playwright, stage director and screenwriter.After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S...
(uncredited) and Frank Partos
Frank Partos
Frank Partos an American screenwriter, of Hungarian Jewish origin, and an early executive committee member of the Screen Actors Guild, which he helped found.-Career:...
from the novel by Mary Jane Ward.
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 go ahead and marry on May 7, but Virginia acts erratically again. She can’t sleep and loses touch with reality, as she feels it’s 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.
Of special note, when Virginia realizes that she is recovering, there is a dance social including both male and female patients. Virginia meets and dances with Dr. Kik. We then see and hear a moving rendition of the song "Going Home" (from the second movement of Dvorak's 9th symphony, New World Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Dvorák)
The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 , popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire...
) sung by Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton was a film, musical theatre, and television actress.-Career:...
, who ironically received no billing despite her stellar performance. The patients stop dancing. Everyone gathers to hear this song with its poignant lyrics including such words as "mother's there 'spectin' me, father's waitin' too." Spontaneously they all begin to sing knowing that many of them will never go home. At the end of the movie, Virginia's husband Robert comes to take her home. As they leave on the Juniper Hill State Hospital bus, we hear the melody again.
Accolades
It won the Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Sound Recording (Thomas T. Moulton
Thomas T. Moulton
Thomas T. Moulton was an American sound engineer. He won five Academy Awards in the category Sound Recording and was nominated for eleven more in the same category...
), and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Olivia de Havilland), Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
and Best Writing, Screenplay
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
.
The film also won the International Prize at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in 1949, where it was cited for "a daring inquiry in a clinical case dramatically performed."
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Character |
|---|---|
| Olivia de Havilland Olivia de Havilland Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland... |
Virginia Stuart Cunningham |
| Mark Stevens Mark Stevens (actor) -Career:Born Richard William Stevens in Cleveland, Ohio, he first studied to become a painter before becoming active in theater work. He then launched a radio career as an announcer in Akron, Ohio.... |
Robert Cunningham |
| Leo Genn Leo Genn - Early life :He was born at 144 Kyverdale Road, Stamford Hill, Hackney, London, England to a Jewish family. His father, Woolfe Genn, was a jewellery salesman and the maiden name of his mother, Rachel, was Asserson.... |
Doctor Mark Kik |
| Celeste Holm Celeste Holm Celeste Holm is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Gentleman's Agreement , as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable and All About Eve... |
Grace |
| Glenn Langan | Doctor Terry |
| Helen Craig Helen Craig Helen Craig is a British children's book illustrator and author, best known for creating the Angelina Ballerina series of children's books with writer Katharine Holabird.... |
Nurse Davis |
| Leif Erickson Leif Erickson Leif Erickson was an American film and television actor.-Background:Leif Erickson was born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California. His father was commander of a fleet of ships and his mother was a noted newspaperwoman and writer... |
Gordon |
| Beulah Bondi Beulah Bondi Beulah Bondi was an American actress.Bondi began her acting career as a young child in theater, and after establishing herself as a stage actress, she reprised her role in Street Scene for the 1931 film version... |
Mrs. Greer |
| Lee Patrick Lee Patrick (actress) Lee Patrick was an American theater and film actress.-Early life and education:Born in New York City, Patrick began acting on Broadway in 1924. For more than a decade, she was constantly employed and established herself as a popular actress. She appeared in the original 1929 production of June... |
Asylum Inmate |
| Howard Freeman Howard Freeman Howard Freeman was an American stage actor of the early 20th century, and film and television actor of the 1940s through the 1960s.... |
Dr. Curtis |
| Natalie Schafer Natalie Schafer Natalie Schafer was an American actress, best known as Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell on CBS's sitcom Gilligan's Island .-Early life and career:... |
Mrs. Stuart |
| Ruth Donnelly Ruth Donnelly Ruth Donnelly was an American stage and film actress. Her father was the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey.... |
Ruth |
| Katherine Locke Katherine Locke Katherine Locke was a Broadway actress in the late 1930s. She was born in Kalakenchu, Russia and raised in the U.S. She appeared in films in the 1940s and 1950s as a supporting actress... |
Margaret |
| Celia Lovsky Celia Lovsky Celia Lovsky was an Austrian American actress. She was born Cäcilie Lvovsky in Vienna, daughter of Bretislav Lvovsky , a minor Czech opera composer... |
Gertrude |
| Frank Conroy Frank Conroy (actor) Frank Parish Conroy was a British film and stage actor who appeared in many movies, notably The Little Minister, The Ox-Bow Incident, All My Sons, The Threat, The Royal Family of Broadway, The Young Philadelphians and The Day the Earth Stood Still... |
Dr. Jonathan Gifford |
| Minna Gombell Minna Gombell Minna Gombell was an American film actress of the 1930s and 1940s.She had a very successful stage career from 1912 before being signed by Fox film company in the late twenties. Her first film was Doctor's Wives in which she played under the name of Nancy Gardner, a name given to her by Fox... |
Miss Hart |
Production
Gene TierneyGene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
was the first choice to play Virginia Stuart Cunningham, but was replaced by Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
when Tierney became pregnant.
Director Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
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 didn't have to convince Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
. She threw herself into the research with an intensity that surprised even those who knew her best. She watched carefully each of the procedures then in vogue, including hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy, involves the use of water for pain-relief and treating illness. The term hydrotherapy itself is synonymous with the term water cure as it was originally marketed by practitioners and promoters in the 19th century...
and electric shock treatments
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
. 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
Florabel Muir
Florabel Muir was an American reporter and newspaper columnist from the 1920s through the 1950s. She was famous for covering both Hollywood celebrities and underworld gangsters....
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
Camarillo State Mental Hospital
Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a psychiatric hospital for both developmentally disabled and mentally ill patients in Camarillo, California. The hospital closed in 1997. The site has been redeveloped as the California State University, Channel Islands...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Censorship
The British censorCensorship in the United Kingdom
Censorship in the United Kingdom has a long history with variously stringent and lax laws in place at different times. Censorship of motion pictures, video games and Internet sites hosted in the United Kingdom are considered to be among the strictest in the European Union, the strictest being...
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.
Impact
The film led to changes in the conditions of mental institutions in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1949, Herb Stein of Daily Variety wrote "Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
is the seventh state to institute reforms in its mental hospitals as a result of The Snake Pit.
Publicity releases from 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
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.
Adaptations to Other Media
The Snake Pit was dramatized as an hour-long radio play on the April 10, 1950 broadcast of Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
, with de Havilland reprising her film role.