Synopsis
The Snake Pit (1948) is Anatole Litvak's drama, starring Olivia de Havilland, that you can watch online on iFILM. A young woman comes to inside a mental hospital with no memory of how she got there.
Virginia can't recognize her own husband, can't tell memory from delusion, and flinches at everything around her. Dr. Mark Kik refuses to write her off; he works backward through her past, hunting for the crack that broke her. Around them sit overcrowded wards, too few staff, and the pit itself — the ward where the hopeless are dumped. Flashbacks let the viewer piece her life together alongside the doctor.
For 1948 this was bold filmmaking — one of the first features to show the inside of a psychiatric institution without sugarcoating it, and it nudged several US states to reform their asylums. De Havilland's performance was up for Best Actress and won her the acting prize at Venice, while the film took the Oscar for sound and competed for Best Picture. Tough, honest classic Hollywood for viewers who like their old films with teeth. Stream The Snake Pit (1948) online on iFILM.
Starring
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