NR | 1 h 48 min | Drama | 1948
Writer Mary Jane Ward’s brief hospitalization following a nervous breakdown inspired her novel “The Snake Pit,” in which she provoked widespread introspection by likening harsh conditions in mental hospitals to zoos or prisons. Producer-director Anatole Litvak’s film, based on Ward’s book, went further, inspiring reform of America’s mental health system. Some 26 states legislated to infuse more empathy into understaffed, underfunded hospitals.
