The Snake Pit (1948)

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Frank Partos (screenplay) and
Millen Brand (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

13 November 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Amnesia | Cigarette Lighter | Flashback Sequence | Force Feeding | Funeral

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Victoria Albright	...	Virginia (age 2) (uncredited)
Jean Andren	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Sylvia Andrew	...	Patient (uncredited)
Phil Arnold	...	Bald Man (uncredited)
Polly Bailey	...	Patient (uncredited)
Bobby Barber	...	Lola's Husband (uncredited)
George Beranger	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Betsy Blair	...	Hester (uncredited)
Marie Blake	...	Patient awaiting staff (uncredited)
Lela Bliss	...	Miss Greene (uncredited)
Margaret Brayton	...	Staff Room Nurse (uncredited)
Virginia Brissac	...	Miss Seiffert (uncredited)
Bobby Burns	...	Inmate at Dance Social (uncredited)
Cliff Clark	...	Shooting Gallery Proprietor (uncredited)
Angela Clarke	...	Greek Patient (uncredited)
Jan Clayton	...	Singing Inmate (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford	...	Nurse (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins	...	Attendant (uncredited)
Harold Cornsweet	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Ashley Cowan	...	Tommy (uncredited)
Irene Dehn	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Janna DeLoos	...	Stenographer Nurse (uncredited)
Jacqueline deWit	...	Celia Sommerville (uncredited)
Forrest Dickson	...	Counterwoman (uncredited)
Ann Doran	...	Valerie (uncredited)
Bill Duray	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Marjorie Eaton	...	Patient (uncredited)
Mary Emery	...	Patient (uncredited)
Ben Erway	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Mabel Forrest	...	Patient (uncredited)
Joel Friedkin	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Geraldine Garrick	...	Patient (uncredited)
Nina Gilbert	...	Patient (uncredited)
Donna Hamilton	...	Patient (uncredited)
Alvin Hammer	...	Patient (uncredited)
Grayce Hampton	...	Inmate Countess (uncredited)
Edna Holland	...	Elderly Nurse (uncredited)
Victoria Horne	...	Ward 33 Inmate (uncredited)
Bee Humphries	...	Emma (uncredited)
Isabel Jewell	...	Ward 33 Inmate (uncredited)
Larry Johns	...	Minister (uncredited)
Tiny Jones	...	Inmate (uncredited)
Geraldine Jordan	...	Patient (uncredited)
Leo Kaye	...	Hospital Attendant (uncredited)
Doris Kemper	...	Patient (uncredited)
Kate Drain Lawson	...	Cafe Cashier (uncredited)
Babe London	...	Attendant (uncredited)
Louise Lorimer	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Celia Lovsky	...	Inmate Gertrude (uncredited)
Ellen Lowe	...	Patient (uncredited)
George Lynn	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Therese Lyon	...	Patient (uncredited)
Patricia Marlowe	...	Practical Nurse (uncredited)
Marion Marshall	...	Young girl (uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Tommy's mother (uncredited)
Mira McKinney	...	Patient (uncredited)
Doro Merande	...	Inmate, First Lady of the Land (uncredited)
Lora Lee Michel	...	Virginia (age 6) (uncredited)
Jerry Miley	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Belle Mitchell	...	Inmate (uncredited)
Eula Morgan	...	Attendant (uncredited)
Harry Hays Morgan	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Frances Morris	...	Patient (uncredited)
Dorothy Neumann	...	Champion, Miss Neumann (uncredited)
Mary Newton	...	Patient (uncredited)
Damian O'Flynn	...	Mr. Stuart (uncredited)
Anne O'Neal	...	Miss Primm, Hospital Dining Room Waitress (uncredited)
Inez Palange	...	Italian Patient (uncredited)
Barbara Pepper	...	Patient (uncredited)
Wanda Perry	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Rose Plumer	...	Inmate (uncredited)
Grace Poggi	...	Asylum Inmate (uncredited)
Louise Robinson	...	Husky Nurse (uncredited)
Carol Savage	...	Maxine (uncredited)
Syd Saylor	...	Inmate wearing visor at dance (uncredited)
Helen Servis	...	Inmate Miss Servis (uncredited)
Lester Sharpe	...	Dr. Sommer (uncredited)
Tamara Shayne	...	Ward 33 Inmate (uncredited)
Sally Shepherd	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Queenie Smith	...	Lola (uncredited)
Esther Somers	...	Nurse Vance (uncredited)
Ann Staunton	...	Nurse (uncredited)
June Storey	...	Miss Bixby (uncredited)
Mary Tarcai	...	Nurse Jenkins (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Laura Treadwell	...	Mother (uncredited)
Mary Treen	...	Nurse Jones (uncredited)
Minerva Urecal	...	Ward 33 Inmate (uncredited)
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Bossy Ward 12 Inmate (uncredited)
Basil Walker	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Ruth Warren	...	Patient (uncredited)
Claire Whitney	...	Inmate (uncredited)
Robert Williams	...	Orderly, Dance Social Emcee (uncredited)
Isabel Withers	...	Nurse Johnson (uncredited)

Directed by
Anatole Litvak

Writing credits
Frank Partos		(screenplay) and
Millen Brand		(screenplay)
Mary Jane Ward		(novel)
Arthur Laurents		uncredited

Produced by
Robert Bassler	....	producer
Anatole Litvak	....	producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman

Cinematography by
Leo Tover		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer

Art Direction by
Lyle R. Wheeler		(as Lyle Wheeler)
Joseph C. Wright

Set Decoration by
Ernest Lansing
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Bonnie Cashin

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Esperanza Corona	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Ernie Parks	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Ben Silvey	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Silver	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Henry Weinberger	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound
Arthur von Kirbach	....	sound (as Arthur L. Kirbach)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Henry Gerzen	....	grip (uncredited)
Roger Shearman	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Anthony Ugrin	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestral arranger (as Edward Powell)
Alfred Newman	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Jerry Bryan	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Fox Video (video)
• Media Cooperation One (MC-One) (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #12490)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The British censor insisted on a foreword explaining that everyone in the film was an actor and that conditions in British mental hospitals were unlike those depicted.

Quotes:

Mrs. Greer: Good afternoon, my dear. I don't think I've had the pleasure of seeing you here before.
Virginia Stuart Cunningham: I'm Virginia Cunningham. I came from Five.
Mrs. Greer: Nobody comes to One from Five. Even I had to spend a few days in Two before coming here. And I, my dear, have money.
Virginia Stuart Cunningham: That must be convenient.
Mrs. Greer: My husband, Mr. Greer, is very wealthy. I have more jewels than I can possibly wear. You, of course, are a charity patient?
Virginia Stuart Cunningham: Oh, no. It so happens that my husband, Mr. Cunningham, is very wealthy. My diamonds simply weigh me down.
Mrs. Greer: I have the Hope Diamond!
Virginia Stuart Cunningham: I have the Hopeless Emerald! It carries the Cunningham curse. You've probably read about it.
Mrs. Greer: Mr. Greer...
Virginia Stuart Cunningham: Your husband?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Georgia Brown

Not An Easy Movie To Sit Through

Yikes, this was interesting but too depressing. I found the first hour just fine, and Olivia de Havilland does a fine job in the lead role, but to me it wore thin after an hour. The fascination of the mentally ill woman began wearing off and it just got to be too depressing to watch for the second hour. It wasn't just that he was mentally disturbed but she was so unhappy and the mental institution wasn't a bunch of laughs, either. There are a lot of unhappy people in this unhappy story. It's not an easy film to sit through.

Mark Stevens plays de Havilland's patient (meaning long-suffering) husband and Leo Genn is pleasant as the caring doctor.

I don't know how accurate this film is of mental hospitals back then but I doubt you would see a doctor, as was pictured here at a review board session, wave a nasty finger in front of a patient's face. That was unrealistic. No doctor would torment a patient like that in front of all of his peers.

In all, too depressing a melodrama for me but I am sure others would find this very entertaining.