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Panic in the Streets

Panic in the Streets

Thriller · Crime · 1950

A medical examiner discovers that an innocent shooting victim in a robbery died of bubonic plague. With only 48 hours to find the killer, who is now a ticking time bomb threatening the entire city, a grisly manhunt through the seamy underworld of the New Orleans Waterfront is underway.

Movie details

Panic in the Streets

“THE SCREEN'S GREATEST EXCITEMENT OF THE YEAR!”

1950 Thriller · Crime 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

A medical examiner discovers that an innocent shooting victim in a robbery died of bubonic plague. With only 48 hours to find the killer, who is now a ticking time bomb threatening the entire city, a grisly manhunt through the seamy underworld of the New Orleans Waterfront is underway.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Panic in the Streets?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Pickup on South Street

Pickup on South Street

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Suddenly

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This Gun for Hire

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D.O.A.

D.O.A.

Mystery · 1949

Frank Bigelow is about to die, and he knows it. The accountant has been poisoned and has only 24 hours before the lethal concoction kills him. Determined to find out who his murderer is, Frank, with the help of his assistant and girlfriend, Paula, begins to trace back over his last steps. As he frantically tries to unravel the mystery behind his own impending demise, his sleuthing leads him to a group of crooked businessmen and another murder.

The Glass Key

The Glass Key

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A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

Cause for Alarm!

Cause for Alarm!

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A bedridden and gravely ill man believes his wife and doctor are conspiring to kill him, and outlines his suspicions in a letter.

The Locket

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Whitney Cameron is in a quandary: he's attracted to his beautiful sister-in-law, Lynn, but also harbors serious suspicions about her. Her husband, Cameron's brother, died under mysterious circumstances, and now that the death of her stepchild, Polly, has been attributed to poisoning, he suspects that Lynn is after his late brother's estate, and killing everyone in her way.

Sorcerer

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Four men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Elia Kazan

Written by

Richard Murphy · Edna Anhalt · Edward Anhalt · John Lee Mahin

Richard Widmark

Richard Widmark

Lt. Cmdr. Clinton 'Clint' Reed M.D.

Paul Douglas

Paul Douglas

Capt. Tom Warren

Barbara Bel Geddes

Barbara Bel Geddes

Nancy Reed

Jack Palance

Jack Palance

Blackie

Zero Mostel

Zero Mostel

Raymond Fitch

Dan Riss

Dan Riss

Neff - Newspaper Reporter

Tommy Cook

Tommy Cook

Vince Poldi - Younger Brother

Court is in session

Put Panic in the Streets on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.