Panic in the Streets showcases Richard Widmark's fine acting skills in a rare early-career ''good guy'' role. However, the forceful and abrasive personality he often shows on screen are still in place as he portrays Dr. Clint Reed, as US Health Official investigating an outbreak of the plague in New Orleans. Released in 1950, this film is marketed as a 'Film Noir' entry, although it only has some of the characteristics of films in that genre.

The film's plot centers around occurrences of the plague in a port area, where sailors and various shady characters come and go with little notice. Jack Palance, in his big screen debut, plays ''Blackie'', as small-time schemer whose cohorts are more afraid of him than they are of catching the plague.

 As the film unfolds Widmark's character Reed is one of the few who takes the plague outbreak seriously. Most others are too caught-up in their own troubles or wrapped up in the local political scene to get involved with the issue. Paul Douglas portrays police Captain Warren, who is one of the few you accompany Reed as he circulates through the city's rough neighborhoods trying to get an I.D. on a plague-infected corpse that he autopsied.

Widmark is excellent as someone vigorously pursuing leads about where the plague outbreak originated. He has a strong screen presence and a take-no-prisoners attitude. His brusque mannerisms are tempered somewhat by his loving wife Nancy (Barbara Bel Geddes) who occasionally chides him for his tough-guy behavior while she mostly tends to the home and their young child.

Jack Palance's rough-edged demeanor seems well-developed already in his film (it's surprising it was his first big screen appearance) and he shows good acting skills as the street smart tough guy. There are quite a few other characters in the movie, but for whatever reason most parts are uncredited according to imdb.com. But Widmark and Palance dominate the film anyway.

As for directing, Elia Kazan skillfully knit together a potentially dull plot by showing various characters doing whatever they thought was in their own best interest, even if a potentially fatal sickness hovered about. He included some scenes involving social commentary too, such as scanning a row of desks in a police station where various people were being vigorously questioned. In every case the citizens were asserting their rights as citizens. It was also interesting to see a film set in a rough port area, where the underclass scraped out a living by any means they could manage.
 
I'm not sure what kind of audience Panic in the Streets appeals to. The topic itself is not terribly compelling, but the acting and gritty realism of life in a port city made the film appealing (at least to me). The black and white film of the era also helps capture a dark and menacing mood that hovered over the whole plague-menaced neighborhood. In any case, despite a few slow moments here and there, the film easily rates as 4 stars and something worth seeing if you enjoy dark, gritty films of the 1940s-50s.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older