The Snake Pit

Based on the autobiographical novel by Mary Jane Ward, this stark 1948 drama stars Olivia de Havilland in an unlikely but very effective Oscar-nominated performance as a newlywed who succumbs to creeping psychosis. Committed to a somewhat monstrous, state-run asylum for the insane, de Havilland's character Virginia undergoes months of terror and confusion while her sympathetic psychiatrist (Leo Genn) tries to help her via electroshock therapy, drug-induced hypnosis, and daily talks. Unfortunately, the film becomes a little repetitious and begins to meander halfway through as director Anatole Litvak becomes more interested in presenting every moment of eye-popping hell--admittedly, much of it quite effectively--than in narrative economy (and the script's reductive psychoanalysis, typical of 1940s movies, seems dismissible now). Still, 50-plus years later, the film packs an undeniably powerful punch in certain moments. One of the lesser entries in Fox's spiffy “Studio Classics” line, The Snake Pit boasts a sharp digital transfer and includes an informative if somewhat lethargic and sparse commentary track by film scholar Aubrey Solomon, as well as a handful of archival “Movietone News” clips. A strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)