The Snake Pit
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The Snake Pit

Year:
Duration:
108 min
Genres:
Drama
IMDB rate:
7.7
Director:
Anatole Litvak
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 1948-11-13
Filming Locations: Stage 2, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA
Cast
Actor
Character
Olivia de Havilland
Virginia Stuart Cunningham
Mark Stevens
Robert Cunningham
Leo Genn
Dr. Mark Kik
Celeste Holm
Grace
Glenn Langan
Dr. 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
June Storey
Miss Bixby
Lora Lee Michel
Virginia - Age 6
Damian O'Flynn
Mr. Stuart
Ann Doran
Valerie
Esther Somers
Nurse Vance
Jacqueline deWit
Celia Sommerville
Betsy Blair
Hester
Lela Bliss
Miss Greene
Queenie Smith
Lola
Virginia Brissac
Miss Seiffert
Grayce Hampton
Inmate Countess
Dorothy Neumann
Champion - Miss Neumann
Jan Clayton
Singing Inmate
Victoria Albright
Virginia - Age 2 (uncredited)
Jean Andren
Nurse (uncredited)
Sylvia Andrew
Patient (uncredited)
Phil Arnold
Bald Man (uncredited)
Polly Bailey
Patient (uncredited)
Vangie Beilby
Patient (uncredited)
George Beranger
Bit Role (uncredited)
Marie Blake
Patient Awaiting Staff (uncredited)
Margaret Brayton
Staff Room Nurse (uncredited)
Bobby Burns
Inmate at Dance Social (uncredited)
Cliff Clark
Shooting Gallery Proprietor (uncredited)
Angela Clarke
Greek Patient (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford
Nurse (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins
Attendant (uncredited)
James Conaty
Opera Attendant (uncredited)
Harold Cornsweet
Bit Role (uncredited)
Ashley Cowan
Tommy (uncredited)
Irene Dehn
Nurse (uncredited)
Janna DeLoos
Stenographer Nurse (uncredited)
Forrest Dickson
Counterwoman (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)
Edna Holland
Elderly Nurse (uncredited)
Jimmie Horan
Inmate at Dance Social (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)
Mae Marsh
Tommy's Mother (uncredited)
Marion Marshall
Young Girl (uncredited)
Mira McKinney
Patient (uncredited)
Doro Merande
Inmate, First Lady of the Land (uncredited)
Jerry Miley
Bit Role (uncredited)
Belle Mitchell
Inmate (uncredited)
Eula Morgan
Attendant (uncredited)
Harry Hays Morgan
Doctor (uncredited)
Frances Morris
Patient (uncredited)
Mary Newton
Patient (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)
Ann Staunton
Nurse (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)
Did you know?
Trivia
The title stems from an ancient practice of dealing with the mentally ill where they were thrown into a pit of snakes. The theory was that something like that would make a normal person insane, therefore it must work in reverse.
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Much of the film was shot in actual wards at Camarillo State Mental Hospital in California.
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The portrait on the wall in Dr. Kik's office is of Sigmund Freud. Although his influence has waned somewhat with the rise of neurological and biological research, during the filming of this movie Freud's theories were by far the most prevalent and influential of any psychiatrist, particularly in America. Thus, it was fashionable and quite common for psychiatrists to have either a portrait, picture or sometimes even a bust of Freud in their office.
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Goofs
After the young Virginia smashes the head of the soldier doll (that reminds her of her father)into several pieces, she is later seen carrying the unbroken doll on the night of her father's death. The intact doll again appears in the apartment that she lives in as an adult.
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Quotes
Miss Greene: You get off the rug, Virginia Cunningham! Come on! Come on! Get off of there! I've told you a dozen times we do not walk on our rug.
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Virginia Stuart Cunningham: [sighs] It's funny.
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Robert Cunningham: Tell me what have you been doing all these months?
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Faq
Q
Any recommendations for other movies like 'The Snake Pit'?
A
Two other movies set in the mid-20th century, when mental hospitals were still considered 'snake pits' and when psychoanalysis, as opposed to ECT and psychosurgery, was just emerging as a viable treatment, include Shutter Island (2010) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Q
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
A
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for The Snake Pit can be found here.
Q
Did the electroshock treatments depicted in this film really work or were they just primitive treatments a step up from real snake pits?
A
As barbaric as it may seem, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) does work, particularly in cases of severe depression. ECT works by stimulating the brain, releasing the same types of neurotransmitters that are released when a patient takes antidepressant medication. ECT is still used nowadays, usually on patients who don't respond to medication or who need immediate treatment. However, patients are now anesthetized and given drugs that prevent them from undergoing convulsions. ECT is a far less barbaric and frightening procedure than it was in the 1940s and 50s.
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Photos from cast
Bobby Barber
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