Panic in the Streets (1950)

My Review

“Panic in the Street” is a thriller movie about the government authorities’ discovery of a man infected with pneumonic plague, and only 48 hours before the public must be informed of the situation. Then there will be panic in the streets! Director Elia Kazan put together a fun melodramatic thriller. Credit goes to the average screenplay by Richard Murphy and Daniel Fuchs, with the story by Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt. The Anhalt’s won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.

The stars of the show are Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance, Zero Mostel, Alexis Minotis, Dan Riss, Guy Thonajan, Tommy Cooke, Pat Walshe, and child star Tommy Rettig. This was the feature film debut for Palance and Rettig, and the second film appearance for Mostel. Barbara Bel Geddes would go on to fame and fortune in her future television role as Miss Elly Ewing, the matriarch of the Ewing family on CBS’s “Dallas” (1978-1990).

The watchable black-and-white movie “Panic in the Streets” broke even at the box office for producer Sol Siegel and 20th Century Fox. It was filmed entirely on location in New Orleans, Louisiana.