Olivia de Havilland enters “The Snake Pit”

The Snake Pit (1948) stars two-time Best Actress winner Olivia de Havilland.

De Havilland is Virginia Cunningham, an aspiring writer and newlywed. Early in their marriage, she begins to wonder about her husband’s love for her. She becomes confused and disorientated, necessitating her commitment to a state mental institution. Her experiences in the institution are harrowing. The movie had a profound impact on the public, and many states reevaluated and changed their treatment of mental patients.

De Havilland heads an impressive cast that also includes Leo Genn as a sympathetic psychiatrist and Mark Stevens as her long-suffering husband. The cast is populated by some of the best-known character actresses of the era, including Beulah Bondi, Ruth Donnelly, and Natalie Schafer. The Snake Pit was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (de Havilland), and Best Director (Anatole Litvak).

The movie is based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Mary Jane Ward. Ward had a nervous breakdown and spent eight months at Rockland State Hospital in Orangeburg, New York. During her care, she was subjected to scalding baths and electroshock therapy, similar to what the Virginia Cunningham character experiences in the film.

Backstory
Director Litvak demanded that all the character actresses in the film be seasoned professionals. He wanted to be sure they could stand up to a talent like de Havilland. There are dozens of recognizable faces in The Snake Pit, making it a classic movie buff’s delight.

Celeste Holm (left) and Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit

Anatol Litvak (1902 – 1974) was a Russian-American film director. He got his start in film in Germany, but as Hitler rose to power, he moved to France and worked in the film industry there. Seeing that the rise of the Nazis wasn’t going to work in his favor, he emigrated to the United States. He had an early success with Mayerling  (1936), leading to a contract to direct at Warner Brothers. There he worked with the studio’s top stars, including Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Paul Muni, Ida Lupino, Charles Boyer, Ann Sheridan, James Cagney, and John Garfield. Some of Livak’s films include Tovarich (1937), The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938), Castle on the Hudson (1940), City for Conquest (1940), and Sorry, Wrong Number (1948).

Olivia de Havilland (1916 – 2020) was a British-American actress and two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner. De Havilland’s career spanned more than five decades. She was one of the leading actresses of the 1940s and was the last major surviving star from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Some of de Havilland’s classic films include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949).

Click HERE to watch the film at the Internet Archive.

Click HERE to join the online discussion on April 21, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an email with a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

The Snake Pit trivia

• Thirteen states amended their laws concerning mental health institutions.
• The book on which the movie was based by Mary Jane Ward was a runaway bestseller.
• Antatole Litvak and Olivia de Havilland visited several mental institutions for three months prior to filming.
• De Havilland won the New York Film Critics award in a unanimous decision. It was the first and only time this has happened.
• Ginger Rogers and Ingrid Bergman supposedly turned down the role of Virginia. Olivia de Havilland was producer Daryl F. Zanuck’s first choice for the role.

Discussion questions

• What did you think of Olivia de Havilland’s performance? Was she convincing and worthy of her Best Actress nomination?
• The supporting cast is uniformly excellent. Did any one performer stand out to you?
• Mark Stevens played de Havilland’s husband; what did you think of his performance?
• British actor Leo Genn played Dr. Kik. Was his performance believable?
• Was there a scene that was especially impactful to you?
• Did anything about the film surprise you?