Review of The Snake Pit (1948) by Devon B — 13 Mar 2010
Few performances have equaled the raw power of Olivia de Havilland's in The Snake Pit. In the film, de Havilland plays Virginia, a young woman who suffers a mental breakdown and is committed to psychiatric hospital.
We follow her treatment, diagnosis, and suffering as she climbs out of and falls back into the snake pit (in ancient times, the film explains, an insane person was lowered into a pit of snakes, the rationale being any sane person would be driven insane by the process, thus the opposite would occur for the insane).
De Havilland is so amazing it's easy to overlook the story (which is quite well-written) or the direction (which is also amazing). In spite of all this, the film only won one oscar, for best sound recording.
In the history of classic film, this one can get lost in the shuffle, and that's a shame.
This review of The Snake Pit (1948) was written by Devon B on 13 Mar 2010.
The Snake Pit has generally received very positive reviews.
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