Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 5-March-06
Spoiler Rating: High

Panic in the Streets (1950)

Not being a fan of remakes, I'm more surprised than disappointed to find that an updated "Panic in the Streets" isn't on any studio's roster (at least according to Internet resources). This noirish thriller by Elia Kazan speaks directly to today's concerns, namely the threat of a global epidemic and the idea of New Orleans in crisis, and its underpinning of cops + bad guys + Everyman hero is a formula that never goes out of style.

If the movie were to be remade, however, it might warrant a new name. Kazan's picture doesn't include a single moment of panic in any street, road, or byway, and in fact the main characters are bent on keeping it so. Chief among them is Dr. Clint Reed, an officer with the U.S. Public Health Service who's summoned to inspect an unidentified corpse pulled from the harbor. (The good doctor is played by Richard Widmark, who puts me in mind of an overexcited Daniel Craig.) After seeing the body, he immediately raises the alarm of pneumonic plague, a highly contagious relation of bubonic plague, and sets in motion a dramatic chain of events. For the unfortunate specimen died of gunshot wounds before the disease could carry him away, which means that while he and everyone he knew must be identified posthaste, at least one potential carrier — the killer — won't want to be found.

Although the mayor and police commissioner have doubts about Clint's warnings of gloom and doom, they assign a burly captain (Paul Douglas) to identify both victim and murderer within 48 hours (the plague's incubation period and about the time it takes for a suspicious reporter to demand that the emergency go public). Douglas' hard-boiled police officer makes a fine counterpoint to the zealous doctor, but the most striking player is the hoodlum brought to life by Jack Palance. It takes more than a panther's body and crooked face to generate such creepy magnetism; Palance's charisma derives from an unfussy acting style which makes savagery seem disturbingly real. It fits the man who holds the future of New Orleans (maybe the country, maybe the world) in his hands and only cares about keeping himself on top.

The contrast between doctor, cop, and killer is defined by Clint's role as the underdog, which unfolds in a handful of scenes about his personal life. Even though he enjoys a solid relationship with a lovely wife (Barbara Bel Geddes), he's constantly made to feel like a deficient father, provider, and member of the community. (His son looks up to a neighbor more than him, he can't pay the grocer's bill, he's not respected like other doctors with a private practice.) This adds a nice touch to the action of the film, when the little guy ends up saving countless lives without thanks or recognition. The merits of "Panic in the Streets" shouldn't go so unnoticed, even if it never gets remade.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.