Panic in the Streets (1950)

A doctor and a policeman in New Orleans have only 48 hours to locate a killer infected with pneumonic plague.

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Richard Murphy (screenplay), Daniel Fuchs (adaptation),

Stars:

Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Widmark	...	Lt. Cmdr. Clinton 'Clint' Reed M.D.
Paul Douglas	...	Capt. Tom Warren
Barbara Bel Geddes	...	Nancy Reed
Jack Palance	...	Blackie (as Walter Jack Palance)
Zero Mostel	...	Raymond Fitch
Dan Riss	...	Neff - Newspaper Reporter
Tommy Cook	...	Vince Poldi - Younger Brother

Storyline

When a body is found in the New Orleans docks, it's pretty obvious that he died from gun shot wounds. The police surgeon notices that the man is also displaying other symptoms and Lt. Commander Clint Reed, a doctor with the U.S. Public Health Service, diagnoses a highly contagious disease, pneumonic plague. He tries to convince local officials to find everyone who may have been in contact with the dead man. The Mayor supports his efforts but many, including the police, are doubtful. Reed wants to avoid publicity so as not to panic the public. They have little information to go on - they don't know the dead man's identity - and Reed estimates they have 48 hours before disease begins to spread. With police Capt. Tom Warren going through the motions, Reed sets out to find the killers.

---

Plot Keywords:

plague | doctor | disease | illegal immigrant | epidemic | 

---

Taglines:

THE SCREEN'S GREATEST EXCITEMENT OF THE YEAR! (original print ad - all caps)

---

Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin Greek

Release Date:

12 June 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Outbreak

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 5, 1951 with Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas reprising their film roles.

---

Goofs

In an early scene when Dr. Reed (Richard Widmark) is shown painting with his son, he flicks excess paint off the brush, and then sits on the same spot where the paint would have landed, but when he gets up there's no paint on his pants.

---

Quotes

Raymond Fitch: Oh, yeah. I went to see my mother-in-law. She was wrestling semifinals...

---

Connections

Referenced in The New Temperatures Rising Show: Panic in the Sheets (1973)

---

Soundtracks

"Piccinina"
(uncredited)
Music by Eldo Di Lazzaro and Mario Panzeri

User Reviews

Whatever Its Label, It's Still Interesting

This is listed as a "film noir," a gangster film and I suppose it, is but it plays more like just a straight drama. It's the story of an immigrant who is infected with the pneuomic plague (but "bubonic," as listed on the back of the VHS cover) and the race to discover all the people he had come in contact with, including a criminal (Jack Palance) and his gang.

The great black-and-white cinematography helps put it in the film-noir category, I imagine, but the story still takes precedence over the stark photography here. The angular-faced Palance, listed as "Walter Jack Palance" in here, always makes for a good villain and Zero Mostel was an interesting part of his group.

Richard Widmark played an normal intense role, except this time as a good guy, and Barbara Bel Geddes was her normal wholesome character. Despite third billing, she didn't have as many lines as I would have preferred to hear. Frankly, I prefer Widmark as the crazy-type villain. He spends much of the time in this film as a frustrated doctor, yelling at the cop Paul Douglas. That gets tiresome after awhile.

It's a grim story: not a whole lot of laughs here, but it's entertaining and moves fast......and the ending chase scene is a knockout! A good addition to anyone's collection of classic films, whatever you want to label it.