Review of The Snake Pit (1948) by Mike B — 07 Apr 2004

[font=Arial]How is it possible to create a compelling movie without using graphic violence, special effects, course language or nudity? In the early days of movie making, they relied on - of all things - plot development, characters you cared about and (yikes!) a story line (seriously - you can look it up).

True, many of today's directors are entirely capable of creating a movie based on those three elements ('Sixth Sense', for example), but in the 1930s and 1940s, that was all they could rely upon; special effects were rudimentary at best, and graphic violence, course language and nudity were generally off limits in movie production.

Imagine awaking one day to find yourself in an asylum with no idea how you got there, much less why. That is the premise of 'Snake Pit', with Olivia de Havilland and Mark Stevens, a movie that deals with mental instability with respect and pulls you along for Ms de Havilland's uneasy ride back to normality.

In today's movies, an insane person is either trying to take over the planet, or carries a 24-inch machete. In 1948, an ostensibly insane person carries only vague, convoluted memories of a life she is told she once had.

We follow Ms de Havilland's character, Virginia Stuart, as she attempts to come to grips with her new reality - though whether it is 'reality' is something of which even Virginia is uncertain. She falls in love with the warm-hearted Dr. Mark Kirk (Leo Genn), befriends residents of the asylum, and yet every step of her journey she is teetering on the brink of a breakdown.

There are few movies - now, or in the past - that I found as entirely moving as 'Snake Pit'. I have seen it only once, some years ago, but to this day I recommend it to anyone who wants to see how movies were once made, and how they ought to be made today.[/font].