PANIC in the STREETS Semi-Noir, Fox Noir series #03

INTRODUCTION

Released to the Screen: June 12, 1950
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Running Time: 96 Minutes (USA)
Color (No), Aspect Ratio 1.37:1, Sound - Monophonic
Studio/Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
Writers - Screenplay Richard Murphy Adaptation Daniel Fuchs

--SYNOPSIS

Opening scenes: In a room, above a cabaret, a window opens and a man in shirt and tie leans out to get a fresh breath. He is not feeling well. Viewed from indoors , he turns and staggers back to a card table where he was one of a group of men playing cards, not high stakes, just a little fun. “Can't play no more”, mutters the one player as he picks up his coat. Sit down, you can't quit now. “Gotta Quit - cold, cold , I'm sick..”
Raymond - 'Wasn't so sick that you couldn't walk off the boat and win $190 the first night in the country, Was he Blackie?”
Sick Man - “..., got a headache bad - I gotta go”
Raymond - Grabbing his elbow, “Look Buddy, Blackie don't like nobody to walk out of a game .”
Blackie stays behind when the gang goes out to bring back the winnings; checks the hands that were thrown down and finds the departed winner has been marking the cards. Angry at being cheated; Blackie joins the chase. He is packing and angry.
After a short chase, the staggering man is cornered and turns to face his tormentors - he kicks the one, steps out to get the other, then Blackie plugs him twice. The two thugs get the money and hand it to Blackie, who pockets it and nods. The thugs pick up the corpse and...

Next morning (an amazingly contrasting daylight scene) a boy comes running down a dock on the river; leading two cops to a body laying on some flotsam. A crowd is watching as two other cops examine the body. “Call a Meat Wagon!”

It arrives at the Coroner's Office, a gurney is unloaded while the Coroner prepares to do his thing. A little banter about a lunch date with a friend, gloves and lab bib on and ready; “Maybe 30, 40 minutes.”, then turns to the examination room. The driver and cops leave, in the background, another cop brings a woman in to I.D. another corpse, the friend then leaves, the Coroner turns to his work and scowls a bit. His assistant (played by Kazan) walks in with a blank toe tag; he is ordered to get away from the corpse...

Dr. Reed is in his front yard with his son, painting a drawer from a dresser. The boy is kibitzing, winds up with the brush. Wife calls from the house. Telephone, calling Dr. Reed. “Something Funny about a body.” He tells the caller to hold everyone who has come into contact with the body. Something is up for sure. Reed dresses in a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. Spousal unit banter. He leaves.

At the Coroner Office, an Ensign shows Dr. Reed a slide of sputum from the corpse. And one of the bullets recovered. (The 'coroner's assistant' looks on from the distant doorway.) Reed orders the body be cremated immediately. Then, he orders everyone who had contact with Kolchak (the corpse) to wait in a room next door. Everyone is to get an inoculation of Streptomyicin. The Ensign prepares the syringe, no gloves, no scrubs, no evidence of medical know-how but he is giving the shots. Now Dr. Reed orders everything that touched the corpse to be burned or sterilized. Now, a news reporter walks up as the Ensign is about to start the injections - he is SMOKING! He asks what is in the shots? SERUM.

By now, even the Corpse knows that this is a serious problem but nobody seems to recognize the well-known symptoms* of (_____ Shhhh!_____).

In the following hearing with the politicos, Reed describes a 1924 outbreak of Plague in Los Angeles. Most of the patients died terrible deaths. In response to the Mayor's question, Reed identifies himself as Doctor Reed of the U.S. Public Health Service. The threat of Plague is doubted because of the death by bullets. And the body is cremated. The potential for disaster is worrisome so, in spite of skepticism, the police are set upon the task of finding the man who fired the bullets. The police show a coroner's photo of the body to every known criminal. Finally Reed takes the photos to a shipping crew hiring hall, hoping to identify the ship that brought Kolchak into the country. He offers a $50 reward for information; then goes to a next door bar to await the info. A woman finds Reed and takes him to a fishing vessel out on the riverfront. The owner knows the corpse, brought him into the city from a tramp steamer, The NILE QUEEN. Now, the Navy connection is handy. Reed and his aides are flown out to the NILE QUEEN on a Navy PBY (a two engine seaplane). The captain resists any delays until Reed's group reports infestation of the entire ship. Also, two more cases of Plague are discovered. Everyone is inoculated, the ship is quarantined; then the search moves ashore. A restaurant owner recognizes the photo, lies about it, his wife wants to deny everything - she is cranky, with a bad headache. Of course all of Blackies' gang has been exposed...

And here, my other duties are calling again - I have to leave you with the rest. Have fun watching the denouement. I have planted some notes in the Bibliography following this review.

CAST All Filmographies for roles prior to this film.

Richard Widmark, Dr. Clinton Reed
--- Also, 'Kiss of Death' ('47), Street with No Name ('48), Down to the Sea in Ships ('49)
Paul Douglas, Police Captain Tom Warren
--- Also, 'Letter to Three Wives ('49), 'It Happens Every Spring ('49)', 'Big Lift' ('50)
Jack Palance, “Blackie”, local gangster leader.
--- Film Debut in this movie
Zero Mostel, Raymond Fitch, gangster
--- Also, 'DuBarry was a Lady' ('43)
Elia Kazan - Mortuary Assistant

CRITIQUE

Ever since the Crimean War, efforts to bring cleanliness to field hospitals have saved lives. Not much of what we have learned has reached Hollywood, for which I blame the Director for lousy research.

Dr. Reed gets an 'F' for abysmal obedience to the rules of cleanliness when around nasty things like a corpse; the cause of which condition is 'something strange”. In the coroner's office, nobody even tries except the coroner hisownself. He wears heavy rubber gloves and an apron like those we use when doing Bar-B-Q. If Plague is suspected, everyone should be wearing capes, scrubs and gloves to avoid picking up something bad.

I don't know how many syringes I saw used but the possibility of multiple use, even with a new needle, brings with it a chance of infection. There were a lot of those things around but not enough to do a ship's crew. And Reed always had one ready.

A lot of strings are pulled together and at the end there is a furious chase scene that I could not believe was possible.

Film Noir Score 2 of 4 To Ambivalent Moral Conflict and Sexual Motivation; Fox added Shadows and Crime (See the cover copy.)


DIRECTOR

Elia Kazan
Also, 'Gentleman's Agreement' ('47), 'On The Waterfront' ('51), 'East of Eden' ('55) and 18 other titles.

Academy Awards: Best Story (1950)
--- Nominations
Golden Globes - nil

THE CRITICS WEIGH IN

IMDb 7.4 / 10 1,305 Votes - A relatively higher and meaningful score.
VideoHound - 3 Bones - Good Story, Fine Acting provides decent entertainment return on video investment.
Epinions ( 4.5 ) Stars ( 5 Reviews)


END of REVIEW
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BIBLIOGRAPHY - RESOURCES

The Merck Manual, Seventeenth Edition, 1999 - Pages 1171-2
Plague (aka Bubonic Plague; Pestis; Black Death) “... Plague occurs primarily in wild rodents (eg rats, mice, squirrels, prairie dogs)...” Massive human epidemics have occurred...90% of human plague occurs in the USA southwest.
Plague is transmited from rodent to humans by the bite of an infected flea vector. Human-to-human transmission occurs by inhalaing droplet nuclei through the cough of patients ...
Symptoms and Signs
In bubonic plague, the incubation period is usually 2 to 5 days ... Onset is abrupt and ofen associated with chills, the temperature rises...
Primary pheumonic plague has a 2 to 3 day incubation, followed by abrupt onset of high fever, chills, tachycardia (rapid pulse) and headache, often severe. Cough, not prominent initially, develops withing 20 to 24 hrs.
Diagnosis and Prognosis
... Prior vaccination does not exclude plague...Most untreated patients with pheumonic plague die within 48 hr of symptom onset. ...
Clearly, this is nasty stuff.

COMMENTS
See the BLACKLIST http://www.moderntimes.com/blacklist/

TRIVIA

Kazan directed Zero Mostel in the latter's last movie for 15 years; thanks to Kazan's betrayal of some of the Hollywood folk in front of the HUAC. Some 350 people were blacklisted. Read all about it.

ENJOY
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RECOMMENDED?
(Yes )


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age