The Snake Pit
Picture: B-
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Film: B-
Anatole Litvak was a great journeyman director who
seamlessly could pull off some of the best documentary, Melodrama and Film Noir
material. In 1948, the same year he
delivered the Noir Classic Sorry, Wrong Number, he pulled together all
three for an important film called The Snake Pit. Based on the Mary Jane Ward sleeper hit
novel, the film was somehow made against the odds at studio major 20th
century-Fox in there too-brief cycle of socially conscious features. What is amazing is that Litvak keeps
remarkably balanced al the aforementioned qualities in a screenplay adaptation
co-written by Frank Partos and Millen Brand, of one woman’s plight with mental
illness.
Olivia de Havilland gives one of the breakthrough female
lead performances in the Classical Hollywood era as Virginia Cunningham, who is
struggling with severe emotional problems, yet as is the case to many who such
things fall upon, does not know it. She
marries Robert (Mark Stevens), only to get worse and worse. She lands up in a mental institute of the
time and it turns out to be a disaster, a living hell. This is smart, not exploitative, has dignity
and is done with such care that the film manages to endure the datedness of its
information and censorship limits by the sheer strength of the enduring
qualities of the exceptional cast and chemistry throughout between all of
them. Having strong female supporting
actresses like Celeste Holm does not hurt and see Natalie (Gilligan’s Island)
Schafer as Virginia’s mother. It may
have dated, but it is actually better than the endless stream of awful
“psychological thrillers” that have all kids of violence, gore, access to the
latest information, and still are not as seriously convincing as this film from
nearly 60 years ago.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image is clearer than expected for
such an older production, with some fine detail when you least expect it. It is more like this than not throughout,
though the grey is a tad odd to me for whatever reason. Much of the camerawork is relatively
standard, but then cinematographer Leo Tover, A.S.C., has a few tricks of its
own and some classics shots that have been influential on films within and outside
of the subject matter are more obvious, the more films you have seen. One of the cleaner transfers of such a film
that even shames anamorphic black and white widescreen films on DVD we have
seen. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is here in
a decently boosted Stereo, as well as an acceptable Mono, plus French &
Spanish Mono. One will have to decide
the preference on their own, but kudos to Alfred Newman’s usually sharp
score. The extras include four
Movietone News segments, one of which is silent, trailers for this and other
Fox Classics on DVD, a stills gallery and an outstanding audio commentary by
well-read and researched film historian and writer Aubrey Solomon that everyone
should hear.
The Melodrama never gets too bad, but hits a few false
notes, while the Noir elements are more obvious on this DVD then they would be
on TV, though it is still not totally a film Noir by any means. Fox went out of their way for this title and
did a fine job. Alfred Hitchcock was still
more on the cutting edge four years earlier with Spellbound, but this
film caused massive reform in institutions that seemed to be cutting costs at
patience’s expense and possibly wanted them to stay ill for profits sake,
something still an issue today. If you
have not seen The Snake Pit, now is your chance. Get this DVD.
- Nicholas Sheffo
