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The Snake Pit (1948)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
13 November 1948 (USA) moreTagline:
Married and in Love . . . with a Man She Didn't Know or Want!Plot:
Virginia Cunningham finds herself in a state insane asylum...and can't remember how she got there. In flashback... more | add synopsisAwards:
Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations moreUser Comments:
As groundbreaking as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest moreCast
(Complete credited cast)| Olivia de Havilland | ... | Virginia Stuart Cunningham | |
| Mark Stevens | ... | Robert Cunningham | |
| Leo Genn | ... | Doctor Mark Kik | |
| Celeste Holm | ... | Grace | |
| Glenn Langan | ... | Doctor Terry | |
| Helen Craig | ... | Nurse Davis | |
| Leif Erickson | ... | Gordon | |
| Beulah Bondi | ... | Mrs. Greer | |
| Lee Patrick | ... | Asylum Inmate | |
| Howard Freeman | ... | Dr. Curtis | |
| Natalie Schafer | ... | Mrs. Stuart | |
| Ruth Donnelly | ... | Ruth | |
| Katherine Locke | ... | Margaret | |
| Frank Conroy | ... | Dr. Jonathan Gifford | |
| Minna Gombell | ... | Miss Hart |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
108 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
When Virginia and Robert go to the movies in their courtship days, the offscreen fanfare indicates that they are watching a 20th Century Fox film, the same studio that made "The Snake Pit". moreQuotes:
Celia Sommerville: And we're so crowded already. I just don't know where it's all gonna end!Virginia Stuart Cunningham: I'll tell you where it's gonna end, Miss Somerville... When there are more sick ones than well ones, the sick ones will lock the well ones up.
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Soundtrack:
Some Sunday Morning moreFAQ
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The Snake Pit opened to deservedly rave reviews about the subject matter and Olivia DeHavilland's performance. She lost that year in the Oscar Sweepstakes to Jane Wyman's Johnny Belinda. That performance by Wyman was also groundbreaking and probably that and the fact that DeHavilland had won the year before for To Each His Own prevented her from copping the big prize that year. She did get the New York Film Critic's Award for The Snake Pit though.
Seeing her in the Snake Pit and the accolades she got must have been of great satisfaction to Olivia DeHavilland because of the fights she had to get roles other than a crinoline heroine.
In 1948 seeing stuff like electroshock was a real dose of reality to the movie going public. Today it's not used as much, back then it was new and considered a panacea for all that ails you.
I'm surprised that more reviewers haven't compared The Snake Pit to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Both were ground breaking films for their time and Jack Nicholson got his first Oscar for that. I guess the crazy act is always noticed by the Academy.
Leo Genn as Doctor "Kick" had one of the great speaking voices in the world. Besides DeHavilland, he's the best one in this. I can never tire of listening to him.
56 years later this film will still grab you and hold your attention.