“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. Dr. Stewart McIver (Richard Widmark), disillusioned with his narcissistic 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) insists that cotton will suffice for the library's purposes in direct opposition to an overbearing trustee who wants to donate an extravagant set of chintz. Drawn into this stressful entanglement are the patients themselves, especially Steven (John Kerr), an artist saddled with an Oedipus complex and suicidal inclinations. Functioning as a narrative foil, the curtain dilemma evolves from a seemingly perfunctory decision to one of grave consequence.” --Laura Thielen