At a private psychiatric clinic, the daily dramas and interactions between the doctors, nurses, administrators, benefactors and patients are accentuated by the personal and family crises of ... Read allAt a private psychiatric clinic, the daily dramas and interactions between the doctors, nurses, administrators, benefactors and patients are accentuated by the personal and family crises of these individuals.At a private psychiatric clinic, the daily dramas and interactions between the doctors, nurses, administrators, benefactors and patients are accentuated by the personal and family crises of these individuals.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMarks the return of Lillian Gish to MGM after a 22-year absence. The Cobweb was Lauren Bacall first film for MGM.
- GoofsWhen Karen (Gloria Grahame) storms into her bedroom and kicks off her shoes, she apparently launches the first one over the walls of the set, as it shoots straight up toward the supposedly low ceiling but never comes down.
- Quotes
Steven Holte: Artists are better off dead.
Karen McIver: Why?
Steven Holte: People pay more attention to them when they're dead. That's what's so troublesome.
Karen McIver: Is that what you are, a painter?
Steven Holte: They said Van Gogh was crazy because he killed himself. He couldn't sell a painting while he was alive, and now they're worth thirty million dollars. They weren't that bad then and they're not that good now, so who's crazy?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Point Blank (1967)
Minnelli uses a bit of the soundtrack of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, here (the picture that trumped his own Brigadoon at the box office) - in a scene at the movies. Guess he had no hard feelings.
One of Minnelli's interesting misfires. Even though it doesn't really work, I've seen it three or four times.
The acting is good, overall. Richard Widmark (as the director of the clinic) has two leading ladies, Lauren Bacall and Gloria Grahame. This is one of the few times I've ever really seen Grahame miscast. She had a wide range, after all she played everything from Violet Bick in It's A Wonderful Life, to Rosemary Bartlow in The Bad And The Beautiful, to Ado Annie in Oklahoma. But I think you will agree her role defeats her best efforts here. She starts out very well but I'm not sure I always understood where she was coming from as the film wore on. Bacall plays a simple, sensible girl, and does a good job. Lillian Gish plays the unpredictable Miss Inch, Charles Boyer the self-destructing Dr. Devanal, John Kerr the young and artistic Stevie (a role originally announced for James Dean). Oscar Levant is called upon to go outside his usual comfort zone and I'm not sure he makes it. Susan Strasburg is excellent in a small role.
- jhkp
- Sep 15, 2011
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,976,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 14 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1
Contribute to this page
![Lauren Bacall, Charles Boyer, Lillian Gish, Richard Widmark, and Gloria Grahame in The Cobweb (1955)](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMDYwZThmZjctMDEyYS00YzhiLTg3MzktNDJjOWI2ZjdkMjdhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjI4MjA5MzA@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,3,90,133_.jpg)