jdb1 wrote:Is this story based on a book, rather than an original screenplay? If so, I'd like to read it, because I wonder what the poor woman's problem really was. That overly simplified reason for her breakdown doesn't hold much water.
The Snake Pit (1948) was based on a novel by
Mary Jane Ward, a novelist
who was hospitalized 4 times for mental issues at Rockland State Hospital, beginning in 1941, but found a way to publish 8 novels, 3 of which concerned mental illness.
Above: The author as she appeared on the back of her original book.
Ms. Ward was a cousin of
Ross Lockridge, Jr. , the suicidal author of "Raintree County", which later made into a movie in '57. Perhaps mental issues ran in the family? You can read more about Lockridge's life and family
here at Raintree County.com.
The Snake Pit is still in print and can be found on the internet, real book stores and libraries. Mary Jane and Ross are seen below in 1946, the year of her book's publication.
Ms. Ward was married to one Edward Quayle, but I've no idea if their union lasted, (if so, the man must have been deeply loving, a saint or oblivious). The author was paid $75k for the rights to the novel, (big change in the late '40s).
Gene Tierney was originally cast, but real life mental issues may have played a role in the casting of Olivia as a substitute.
Some relevant info can be gleaned from a Nov. 11, 2000 NY Times Obit for:
"Dr. Gerard Chrzanowski, a psychoanalyst who colleagues say was the model for the caring psychiatrist in the best-selling 1946 novel "The Snake Pit" and the famous 1948 film based on it, died Nov. 1 at his home in Manhattan. He was 87.
"The Snake Pit," an autobiographical novel by Mary Jane Ward, told of the experiences of a woman in a crowded mental hospital where therapy for schizophrenia included being wrapped in wet, cold sheets, "boiled" in a bathtub and given electric shock treatment. Her few moments of gentle care come when she talks to the psychiatrist she calls "Dr. Kik." In a published essay, Dr. Chrzanowksi named Miss Ward as one of his patients. Because of the difficulty Americans had in saying his name, Dr.Chrzanowski (pronounced shar- NAHF-ski) was called Dr. Kik, according to his colleagues. In her book, Miss Ward described Dr. Kik as having an unpronounceable tangle of consonants in his name and an undefinable European accent.
As for Miss Ward, she suggested in her book that Dr. Kik believed she was in danger of a recurrence of her problem after her release from the mental hospital. She suffered a second breakdown in 1957, and a third in 1969. She died in 1981."
jdb1 wrote:And who wouldn't want the kind and calming Leo Genn as a doctor?
Me. He's too calm, bordering on dullness, and that's saying something for me. You know how I like those dull Englishmen normally!
Besides, I really resented the gist of Olivia's treatment by him, which basically made her fit for doing the dishes, and keeping house, and, maybe keeping
Mark Stevens smiling. I guess that's better than flipping out all the time, but is it living?
