Olivia de Havilland Recommendation #3

The Snake Pit (1948)- 1 hr 48 mins

When Virginia Cunnigham finds herself in a state mental institution, she has no idea how she arrived there or any memory of her past life. Suffering from schizophrenic hallucinations and other unnamed neuroses,Virginia undergoes varied methods of treatment. She suffers some setbacks, at one point descending to the"snakepit"- the lowest level of the institution where patients considered "beyond help” are placed - but she eventually improves as she remembers the events that ultimately brought her there. 

Coming out of the war, mental illness and treatment were still considered taboo, not something to be openly discussed. The Snake Pit helped change that, thanks to its great commercial success. De Havilland was nominated for several awards for her poignant portrayal. It was her own personal experience that helped guide her performance. In 1943 when de Havilland was on suspension and fighting the notorious case against her home studio Warner Brothers, she was free to tour with the USO, visiting hospitalized troops across the country and the South Pacific. She was asked at one of the many hospitals she visited to also visit the patients in the psychiatric ward. From that visit on, she made sure to visit all of the psychiatric wards when permitted. At one such ward, she "met a young woman who was very much like Virginia, about the same age and physical description, as well as being a schizophrenic with guilt problems. ... What struck me most of all was the fact that she was rather likable and appealing. It hadn't occurred to me before that a mental patient could be appealing, and it was that that gave me the key to the performance." * 

Virginia is appealing. De Havilland's makes her both human and personable - at one moment marked by childlike innocence and humor and at the next devastating bewilderment. The soulfulness the audience gets to experience stands in beautiful contrast to the indifferent coldness and detached humanity that marks so much of the cold institution, especially the "snake pit." She both charms and grieves the audience, showing an unusual mastery of her craft.

Availability: Youtube, Googleplay, Vudu, Amazon, DVD, and Blu-ray.

• Purchase DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Snake-Pit-Olivia-Havilland/dp/B0001US78Q

• Purchase Blu-ray: https://www.twilighttimemovies.com/snake-pit-the-blu-ray/ OR https://www.amazon.com/Snake-Pit-Blu-ray-Olivia-Havilland/dp/B07QC973VP