The Snake Pit
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Actor: Celeste Holm, Glenn Langan, Leo Genn, Mark Stevens, Olivia de HavillandBrand: DEHAVILLAND,OLIVIA
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of The Snake Pit
DVD Review: Effective Portrait of mental hospital care
Summary: 4 Stars
The Snake Pit is a marvelous peek at mental health care in the late 40s. We're shown treatment in a large mental hospital in New York (although filming was done at Camarillo State Hospital in California), and various treatment modalities such as electric shock therapy, drug induced hypnosis, psychotherapy, and hydrotherapy. We also get to see the problem of increased admissions and the pressure on the therapists to move away from labor intensive methods (psychotherapy) to less labor intensive methods (shock therapy) to deal with the ever increasing admissions. The crowded conditions and poor food shown on screen were accurate portrayals of the problems that mental hospitals faced in those days.
While we watch Psychiatrist Mark Kik (Leo Genn) help his patient Virginia (Olivia de Havilland) discover the cause of her problem, a portrait of Sigmund Freud shares the screen with Genn. Yet Genn's treatment is not Freudian analysis, but rather a modified form of client centered therapy that was increasingly popular in the 40s and 50s.
The film was nominated for 7 academy awards, winning only 1 (Best Sound). It won the International Prize at Venice and Olivia deHavilland won Best Actress by the National Board of Review, the New York Film Criticis, and the Venice Film festival. deHavilland is truly remarkable in this film, as she was in so many films, such as "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), "GWTW" (1939), and "The Heiress" (1949), for which she won her second academy award (her first was in 1947 for "To Each How Own"). While she made 9 films with Errol Flynn between 1938 and 1943, it's her work outside Flynn for which she received the most accolades.
Leo Genn does a terrific job as the understanding Psychiatrist (An ironic footnote is the fact that the real-life psychiatrist on whom the film is based committed suicide). Leo Genn is best remembered for his role as Petronius in "Quo Vadis" (1951) for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor. He had brief but effective roles in "Moby Dick" (1956) and "The Longest Day" (1962). His voice was so strong and resonant that he often did narration for films (e.g., Khartoum) and was the voice of the royal coronation in 1937 and 1953.
Beulah Bondi puts in a short but effective role as a wealthy inmate of the asylum. Bondi was nominated twice for Best Supporting Actress ("Of Human Hearts" in 1938 and "The Gorgeous Hussy" in 1936) and won an Emmy in 1977. She is best remembered for playing Granny in 1948s "So Dear to My Heart."
The film was based on a 1945 autobiographical account of a woman who spent 8 months in Rockland (NY) State Hospital. Director Anatole Litvak purchased the rights for $75,000 but could not find any studio to produce the film, until Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century Fox took the chance. Zanuck prided himself as a champion of social issues (e.g., "The Grapes of Wrath", "Gentlemen's Agreement") and was happy to focus on mental illness, which was a popular subject in the mid 40s as the treatment of "shell shocked" solders returning from WW2 was very much in the news. In fact, the screenplay for "Snake Pit" was written by Arthur Laurent whose 1946 play "Home of the Brave" was turned into the excellent 1948 film starring James Edwards, produced by Stanley Kramer,under the direction of Zanuck.
Zanuck was fascinated by psychoanalysis and was a patient himself. Indeed, many of the participants in the film were part of the burgeoning analysis business as it was emerging in the mid to late 40s. Both Olivia deHaviland and co-star Celeste Holm had been analyzed. Director Anatole Litvak was also heavily involved in the movement.
The film was not only a critical and commercial success, it helped launch reform campaigns in 26 states. Its popularity led to a one hour radio show on the Lux Radio Theater in 1950, with de Havilland appearing. Other films about mental hospitals include Hitchcock's 1945 thriller "Spellbound","David and Lisa" (1962), "Marat/Sade" (1967), and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). Other films about treatment for mental illness at that time include "Home of the Brave" (1948) and "The Three Faces of Eve" (1957).
Description of The Snake Pit
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 1-JUN-2004
Media Type: DVD
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