This portrayal of conditions in a 1948 mental hospital is both interesting and disturbing, and also interesting is the relatively early movie depiction of psychotherapy. Olivia de Haviland put on a really quite brilliant performance as Virginia, a woman institutionalized after suffering a nervous breakdown, who tries to get at the root of her problem through psychotherapy with Dr. Kik, played by Leo Genn, who also put on a completely believable performance in the role. Virginia essentially gets a "tour" of the State Mental Hospital as she moves from ward to ward, from the relatively comfortable Ward 1, from which most patients are expected to be released, to the absolutely horrific Ward 33, which resembles more than anything a group of cages for the truly disturbed. Aside from Kik and his colleague Dr. Terry (Glenn Langan) the staff come across as cold and in many cases uncaring, the most characteristic being Nurse Davis (Helen Craig) and, in perhaps the scene that stands out most to me, Dr. Curtis (Howard Freeman) essentially seeming to be cross-examining her (complete with wagging his finger a couple of inches in front of Virginia's face) at an interview to determine if she's ready to be released. In the movie, one of the reasons Virginia isn't released is that she bit Curtis's wagging finger. If that's a sign of insanity, I must qualify for the designation too because I think in the circumstances I'd have been tempted not just to bite it, but to bite it off! The progression of Virginia's treatment from Dr. Kik is interesting, as is her evolution from helpless patient to a sort of caregiver to her fellow patient, the very disturbed Hester (well portrayed by Betsy Blair). The viewer really is drawn into the story, wanting to know what caused Virginia's breakdown in the first place, and you certainly find yourself rooting for her to get out of this place.
The only sub-par performance I thought was from Mark Stevens as Virginia's husband, Robert. He came across as altogether too unemotional all the way through, including in some of the flashbacks. (I think especially of the scene when he unexpectedly runs into Virginia in New York City after six months with no word from her, and his reaction is a slight smile and "well, hello Virginia." I would have expected a bit more surprise from him.)
Overall, I thought this was a pretty courageous movie, dealing with a subject that in 1948 would still have been relatively taboo, and not afraid to make a statement about the pathetic conditions in the mental hospitals of the day. 7/10
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