Panic In The Streets (1950) HD / Richard Widmark

After brawling over a card game in the wharf area of New Orleans, a man named Kochak (Lewis Charles), suffering visibly from a flu-like illness, is killed by gangster Blackie (Jack Palance) and his two flunkies, Kochak's cousin Poldi (Guy Thomajan) and a man named Fitch (Zero Mostel). They leave the body on the docks, and later when the dead man, who carries no identification, is brought to the morgue, the coroner grows suspicious about the bacteria present in his blood and calls Lieutenant Commander Clinton Reed (Richard Widmark), a doctor and commissioned corps officer of the U.S. Public Health Service. Reed is enjoying a rare day off with his wife Nancy (Barbara Bel Geddes) and their son Tommy (Tommy Rettig), but decides to inspect the body. After careful examination, he determines that Kochak had "pneumonic plague," the pulmonary version of bubonic plague. Reed springs into action, insisting that everyone who came into contact with the body be inoculated. He also orders that the dead man's identity be determined, as well as his comings and goings during the previous few days. Reed meets with people from the mayor's office, the police commissioner and other city officials, but they are skeptical of his claims. Eventually, however, his impassioned pleas convince them that they have forty-eight hours to save New Orleans from the plague. Reed must also convince police Captain Warren (Paul Douglas) and the others that the press must not be notified, because report of a plague would spread mass panic... Directed by Elia Kazan Produced by Sol C. Siegel Screenplay by Richard Murphy Daniel Fuchs Story by Edna Anhalt Edward Anhalt Starring Richard Widmark Paul Douglas Barbara Bel Geddes Jack Palance Zero Mostel Music by Alfred Newman Cinematography Joseph MacDonald Edited by Harmon Jones