Panic in the Streets (1950)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Starring Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas and Jack Palance
96 minutes
What a movie!
The movie starts off with a wild-sounding score with the opening titles. Singing trumpets, the orchestra sounding like a train and a piano playing in a “boogie woogie” style (note the transition of music after the end of the credits).
The movie opens with a bunch of thugs/criminals playing cards with a foreigner who doesn’t seem to be in the best of shape. I thought he might have been drunk. He leaves the group of gamblers and they follow him for his money.
The foreigner stumbles through the streets and across rail-tracks (he almost get run over by a train... this must’ve taken a few takes) until he’s confronted by the thugs. After a brief fight, one of the bad guys, Blakie, (Jack Palance) shoots him dead.
The next day the body turns up in the ocean and is sent to the coroners but the head coroner notices somethings unusual about the body. They give a call to a public health doctor (Lt. Cmdr Clinton Reed) who diagnosed the dead body as having... bubonic plague.
To ensure that there isn’t “panic in the streets” Lt. Cmdr. Reed works closely with the police officer Cpt. Tom Warren (Paul Douglas) to find the killers, who are carrying the disease. It’s just a matter of time before this disease spreads all over the city and the country and they have to work together to get the situation under control. The press is curious and the people around them (cops and mayor) are not giving their full support.
There’s lots to like about this film. Richard Widmark does a great job as the “heroic” doctor that’s got a family but not quite enough money in the bank account. His exchanges with the cop, Cpt. Warren, can be tense. Widmark is insistent and slowly convinces the cop to get busy with the situation through the middle of the movie.
This film seems to be Jack Palance’s debut. His presence is noticed as he towers over everyone. He’s grim, fierce and a genuine psychopath in this film.
A lot of the film is shot on location. There are lots of long takes, so the actors can act it out. I especially liked the shot of the dock when Widmark goes onto a boat to get a lead from a woman who has information. It gives the movie a lot more realism. Also, the whole ending of the film is well done being shot in a warehouse and along the docks.
Speaking of realism, many of the cast members seem to be “regular” folks. This can be noticed on the ship where there are people with tattoos and in the bars where the people don’t look like “typical” Hollywood extras. There are a few real Chinese actors (extras) and they speak with heavily accented Chinese.
Since it’s a movie from 1950, I suppose they had to balance things by including several long scenes with his wife. She’s a caring type and the dialogues help give her husband’s character depth.
I enjoyed this movie and found it entertaining enough. 4 stars out of 5.
For more information about this movie, please click here.
