JohnHowardReid Director Elia Kazan really enjoyed directing the superb thriller, Panic in the Streets (1950) - "It's the first film I regard as really mine. Richard Murphy and I worked on the script every morning and re-wrote every scene to take advantage of the terrific color and photographic richness of New Orleans".But as with "Boomerang", Kazan told me that he was still unhappy with the camerawork: "Visually, it could have been much stronger." However, unlike his comments on many of the players in "Boomerang", Kazan had nothing but praise for his cast in Panic in the Streets: "Dick Widmark was a good friend of mine. I had directed him on the stage. He was typecast as vicious killers at this stage of his movie career, but I changed all that. He played a nice person in Panic, and he was like that in real life. "Then I cast Barbara Bel Geddes. Jack Palance I knew when he was Brando's understudy for A Streetcar Named Desire. This was his first film. I also cast Zero Mostel who had made only one movie before - way back in 1943."

Leofwine_draca PANIC IN THE STREETS is the sort of film that could do with a modern-day remake, because the story is so fantastic and would work in any period. It tells of a dedicated detective who's hot on the trail of a criminal gang who, unbeknownst to themselves, are infected with the deadly bubonic plague virus. The detective must juggle the media - he doesn't want the story to come out due to the panic it'll cause - alongside his frightened wife and pursuit of the gang if he wants to prevent an epidemic.The only thing that works against this film is the obviously low budget, which means it lacks the finesse of, say, a Fritz Lang thriller from the period. It still does the job and ably so, with few slow spots and plenty of interest in the narrative. Richard Widmark proves a workable hero here, but he's outshone by the actors playing the criminal gang. The likes of Zero Mostel are good, but it's Jack Palance (in his debut role) who REALLY shines as the hostile gang leader. Palance is frightening, really frightening, one of those true movie psychos.PANIC IN THE STREETS incorporates plenty of suspense and even a little action into its storyline, particularly as we head towards the climax and the stakes are raised. There's a great, blackly comic set-piece involving the movement of a bedridden guy down a fire escape, plus an all-out chase at the climax which works really well. All in all this is a film noir that's well worth tracking down.

ppilf A very good movie directed by the talented Elia Kazan. There were a few non-professional actors, and a bit of the script and scenes seem a little corny, even amateurish, but overall, the directing, film editing, sound, camera work, and production were great. The overall story itself was also very good, maybe just a tiny bit over the top for film noir. But the acting performances by Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tommy Cook, Zero Mostel, and the other professional actors were all great.Now for the real attraction. I thought Jack Palance was outstanding in this film, which was his feature film debut. Although the character he played ("Blackie") was a very bad (but smart) criminal, and he didn't have a lot of scenes, Palance's acting performance was fantastic. There are several scenes in this movie that are now on my all-time favorites list because of Palance's presence. I liked Palance in the "City Slickers" films, especially the sequel, but I never realized that he was such a talented actor in his early years. This film made me a Jack Palance fan, and I began buying early films that he was in.

Putzberger Elia Kazan's "Panic in the Streets" isn't a masterpiece, but it's an absorbing little thriller which also serves as a nice preview of Kazan's more significant film achievements in the 1950s. In fact, the whole film comes off as a bit of an excuse to scout New Orleans locations for exterior shots to be used in "A Streetcar Named Desire," not to mention a warm-up to the extended justification of informing that is "On the Waterfront" (which is, nonetheless, a masterpiece). You can see the shadowy visual style that Kazan would perfect in "Streetcar and "Waterfront" starting to ripen, and there's even Jack Palance, billed here as "Walter Jack Palance," fresh off replacing Brando in "Streetcar" on Broadway, to cement the film's status as an extended dress rehearsal for the rest of the decade. And in some insanely ironic casting, there's a pre-blacklist Zero Mostel onhand acting for one of HUAC's most notorious informers. But even without its historical significance, "Panic in the Streets" offers plenty of entertainment value.In the film's first few minutes, New Orleans underworld chieftan Palance plugs a sweaty immigrant who tries to duck out of a poker game. The rest of the film involves the New Orleans police and health departments working to track down Palance and anyone else who might have had contact with the foreign-born stiff, who was perspiring thanks to a case of pneumonic plague, in order to prevent an epidemic, not to mention a Panic in the Streets. It could be a dry police procedural, and for the most part is, but there are some nifty noir elements, like the waterfront demimonde which Palance and his henchman Mostel inhabit, and some interesting docudrama-style scenes as the cops and docs explore some of New Orleans' multiple ethnic subcultures as they hunt for sources of infection. Otherwise, there's some modest diversion to be found as Richard Widmark, as the young doctor on the public payroll determined to stop the sickness, and Paul Douglas, as the grizzled old cop (is there any other kind?) assigned to assist Widmark in his quest, develop a grudging respect for each other. Like a good member of the Greatest Generation, Widmark has an understanding wife, played by future "Dallas" doyenne Barbara Bel Geddes, and a cute kid, played by future "Lassie" lad Tommy Rettig. Widmark's domestic bliss is pretty trite, but it's written with a hint of depth and wit so it doesn't ruin the movie so much as reinforce its atmosphere as a slightly-better-than-average TV cop show.