As I'm writing this review, pretty much the entire world is in some sort of lockdown due to the Covid-19 virus. This modest film-noir classic, that incidentally also turns 70 (!) years old in 2020, also handles with the outbreak of a highly contagious virus - the pneumonic plague - in a big & crowded city. It's downright astonishing to see how very few things have changed in seventy years, in fact. Notably the sequences near the beginning, during which Dr. Reed desperately tries to persuade the local politicians and authorities about the seriousness of the menace while they are minimizing it, is shockingly relevant today! Moreover, numerous aspects in "Panic in the Streets", such as the increasing fear, the concept of contact tracing, the gradual spreading of virus and the feeling of helplessness when the first victims decease, feel frightfully familiar these days.
Purely talking cinematically, "Panic in the Street" is also a very solid, tense and sophisticated film-noir gem, which can - of course - more or less be expected from a director like Elia Kazan, and a cast that includes names like Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas and Jack Palance (in one of his first, but nevertheless most memorable roles). When, in the docks of New Orleans, the corpse of a criminal execution victim is discovered and diagnosed with the pneumonic plague, a manhunt-against-the-clock must urgently be set up. Military Doctor Reed and police Captain Warren have 48hrs. to find the murderers, as they are undoubtedly plague-carriers as well, before they will start infecting new and numerous victims. The performances and atmosphere are great, though admittedly the pacing occasionally slugs and the plot shouldn't have focused so much on the interactions between Dr. Reed and Capt. Douglas. The towering Jack Palance is massively intimidating as the killer with the silly name ("Blackie").
Purely talking cinematically, "Panic in the Street" is also a very solid, tense and sophisticated film-noir gem, which can - of course - more or less be expected from a director like Elia Kazan, and a cast that includes names like Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas and Jack Palance (in one of his first, but nevertheless most memorable roles). When, in the docks of New Orleans, the corpse of a criminal execution victim is discovered and diagnosed with the pneumonic plague, a manhunt-against-the-clock must urgently be set up. Military Doctor Reed and police Captain Warren have 48hrs. to find the murderers, as they are undoubtedly plague-carriers as well, before they will start infecting new and numerous victims. The performances and atmosphere are great, though admittedly the pacing occasionally slugs and the plot shouldn't have focused so much on the interactions between Dr. Reed and Capt. Douglas. The towering Jack Palance is massively intimidating as the killer with the silly name ("Blackie").