The Snake Pit (1948)

(On Cable TV, May 2019) Let’s face it—the 1940s aren’t known as a decade that promoted humane psychiatric treatments in institutional settings, and yet here we have The Snake Pit (adapted from a 1946 autobiographical novel) being an early attempt as a social-issues film decrying the extreme treatments practised at the time. Much of the film focuses on a young schizophrenic woman (Olivia de Havilland in a courageous performance, looking unglamorous and distressed) who finds herself in an insane asylum with no memory of how she got there. The depiction of the conditions at the psychiatric institute for women and the treatment she gets at the institution is far more realistic than you’d expect from a film from the Classic Hollywood era, making the film feel more like a product of the 1960s. Many directing flourishes from Anatole Litvak help unmoor the film from objective reality, taking cues from film noir and impressionistic cinema to portray the detached mind of its protagonist, elements of the environment (such as the titular snake pit, where patients are essentially abandoned without care) and treatments such as electroshock therapy. It’s recognizable as an early social-issues film, arguing for humane treatment. As a time capsule, it’s still compelling—helped along by a sympathetic attitude in portraying, with a certain accuracy, the lengthy and gradual healing process for mental illness rather than an irremediable condition. The Snake Pit’s production history teaches us that great care and research went into the making of the film, and while the result is rarely fun to watch, it does make for absorbing viewing and a product that, thanks to its humanity, stands the test of time.