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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Elia Kazan's "Panic in the
Streets" (1950) is a serviceable thriller that
starts off with a strong and evocative film noir
style, but then degenerates into a rank detective
thriller with a shotgun finish. It stars Richard
Widmark as Lt. Commander Dr. Clinton Reed, a
casual sort of family man who finds himself in the
middle of a potential biological epidemic when an
infected body washes on shore. The couple of
bullet holes that in fact killed the man lead Reed
to deduce that, at the very least, the murderers
themselves are infected with the deadly virus.
Meanwhile, back in a seedy forgotten quarter of
the city, the two men responsible for the murder,
Blackie (Jack Palance) and his goony henchman,
Raymond Finch (Zero Mostel) are plotting their
escape over the Mexican border. Blackie is the
last to lose his cool, but eventually he does in
atypical vintage Hollywood "crime must pay" style
-- leaving the viewer with no doubt that "Panic In
The Streets" is just a metaphor for an impending
disaster that never comes.
Under the original title of "Outbreak"
screenwriters, Edna and Edward Anhalt and Daniel
Fuchs deliver a string of Maguffins that become
tiresome before the final reel is through. There's
the potential for city wide plague that never
infects any more than four people; the alarmist
way that Lt. Dr. Reed delivers his grave address
to a suspecting city council, which disappears
into quiet compliance after some initial and
quickly forgotten angst; and finally; the
heterosexual All-American goodie-two-shoes couple
of Widmark and Barbara Bel Geddes (Nancy Reed) --
inexplicably inserted into the program and
breaking the tense frenetic pace of the film with
quiet moments involving their son. Upon its
initial release, "Panic in the Streets" was not
well received by either audiences or critics. That
is has at last found a place among cinephiles is
fitting, for the film does have its artistic
merits. But it does not represent either the best
or even the very good of film noir, as Fox's foray
into developing a collection of such titles
suggests.
Fox's DVD presents a reasonably good looking
transfer. The black and white picture elements
are, on the whole, clean. Whites are generally
very bright and blacks are deep and solid.
Occasionally there is an excess of film dirt,
grain and scratches, but these do not terribly
distract. A minor amount of edge enhancement is
also noticeable. The audio is mono and adequately
presented. There are moments when it does sound a
tad strident but this is to be expected for a film
of this vintage with minimal restoration done.
Extras are an audio commentary that will put one
to sleep and a theatrical trailer. |
