"In institutions where the social order depends on a certain regimentation of routine, an ostensibly trifling incident can assume crisis dimensions and rupture an otherwise controlled system. Such a situation is probed in The Cobweb, Minnelli's melodramatic portrayal of life in a psychiatric clinic. When discussion over the installation of new drapes erupts into a battle of decorating preferences and egos, it becomes difficult to differentiate between staff and patient - so diverse and acute are the neuroses which surface.
"Functioning as a narrative foil, the curtain dilemma draws personal tensions and antagonisms to the forefront. Dr. Stewart McIver (Richard Widmark), disillusioned with his narcissistic, interfering wife (Gloria Grahame) and smitten with the clinic's activities director (Lauren Bacall), also ails from a case of distraught nerves. The spineless director (Charles Boyer) finds amorous interloping more compelling than his administrative responsibilities. The frugal and formidable Miss Inch (Lillian Gish) is a senior staff member who insists that cotton will suffice for the library's purposes. In direct opposition is an overbearing and wealthy clinic trustee who wants to donate an extravagant set of chintz. Drawn into this stressful entanglement are the patients themselves, especially Steven (John Kerr). Saddled with an Oedipus complex and suicidal inclinations, Steven is an artist whose drawings the other patients want to incorporate into the set of curtains they wish to make. As The Cobweb progresses, the issue of choosing draperies evolves from a seemingly perfunctory decision to one of grave consequence."