Panic in the Streets (1950)

In the labyrinthine underbelly of the New Orleans docks, a body is discovered, the latest casualty of the city's simmering criminal underworld. The victim, a John Doe riddled with bullet wounds, lies cold on the autopsy table of the city's medical examiner. It seems like another routine case, until an insidious killer more lethal than any bullet is found lurking within the corpse: the pneumonic plague. Lt. Commander Clinton Reed, a steadfast doctor with the U.S. Public Health Service, is catapulted into the heart of this unfolding crisis. Reed's chilling diagnosis ignites a race against time, as he battles to convince the city's skeptical authorities of the looming epidemic. He estimates a bleak forty-eight hours before those who made contact with the victim, including his elusive murderers, become infectious carriers, spreading the deadly contagion like wildfire. Frustratingly, the local police, led by the pragmatic Capt. Tom Warren of the NOPD, remain doubtful of the escalating threat. Nonetheless, Warren plods on, following the procedure's well-worn path, his focus firmly on the pursuit of the killers. Meanwhile, Reed, armed with little more than the dead man's anonymous identity and a relentless determination, throws himself into identifying and locating everyone who may have crossed paths with the doomed man. The city's mayor supports Reed's efforts, but the pair are faced with a delicate balancing act. They must avoid inciting panic among the public while marshalling their resources to stave off an uncontrollable outbreak. As the city's authorities scramble to contain both the plague and the news of its existence, the killers, led by the self-interested Blackie, observe the authorities' frenzied efforts to solve the murder with increasing concern. Panic in the Streets unfolds as a tense, pulse-pounding race against time, where every lead followed and every hour that ticks by could mean the difference between containment and chaos, between a city saved and a city lost. In this gripping tale of crime and contagion, the stakes couldn't be higher, as Reed and Warren are pushed to their limits, forced to confront the question of how far they'll go to protect their city from an invisible, deadly enemy.

Panic in the Streets is a crime movie featuring Richard Widmark.

Panic in the Streets is currently streaming on Criterion Channel.

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