Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Panic In The Streets

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Panic In The Streets



    Released by: Fox
    Released on:

    Director: Elia Kazan

    Cast: Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Jack Palance, Barbara Bel Geddes

    Year: 1950

    Purchase From Amazon


    The Movie:


    Directed by Elia Kazan and released in 1950, Panic In The Streets begins when the cops find a dead body stashed amongst the debris of the docks in New Orleans. Though the cops figure the victim died from the gunshot wounds on his body, a public health official named Lieutenant. Commander Clint Reed (Richard Widmark) thinks that there might be something more to it, given that the body shows some odd symptoms. When it turns out that the body is contaminated with the pneumonic plague, he and New Orleans Police Department Captain Tom Warren (Paul Douglas) butt heads over how best to handle this. Reed knows that if they don't figure out who came in contact with the man and quarantine them soon, that the city will soon fall pretty to an outbreak of the plague that could result in the deaths of thousands of people and that if they don't do this immediately, it will soon be impossible to control.


    So the hunt is on through the Eastern European immigrant community of New Orleans, as Reed and Warren try to track down the man's killer, a thug named Blackie (Jack Palance) and his lackie, Raymond (Zero Mostel). Reed and Warren soon find out, however, that the immigrants like to keep themselves and don't like cops and government officials snooping around in their business. Time soon starts to run out, with countless lives hanging in the balance.


    Beautifully shot in stark black and white by cinematographer Joseph MacDonald and set to a great score by composer Alfred Newman, Kazan's film does a great job of taking us on a tour of the seedy side of the New Orleans of the day. From the piers to the dive bars to the dingy apartments to the grubby, shadowy back alleys the location photography makes the city as much a character in the movie as any of the humans on screen. The fact that nobody in the movie actually sounds like they're from Louisiana is almost a moot point, the movie is so beautiful and mysterious looking that you can easily get wrapped up in the tense, humid atmosphere and overlook casting details like that.


    The leads, however, all turn in great work. Widmark is excellent as the increasingly determined man out to save the day and his back and forth with curmudgeonly Douglas is believable and adds some interesting depth to their respective characters. A young Jack Palance, looking almost skeletal in his feature film debut, is wonderfully slippery as the murderous Blackie while Mostel steals most of the scenes he appears in playing the equally slimy Raymond. The lovely Barbara Bel Geddes has a small supporting role as Warren's wife, Nancy, but isn't given a whole lot to do outside of act supportive and add a bit of emotional attachment for the audience to feel for. It's not deep, but it works and she looks great.


    The film is brisk, paced and edited in such a way as to hit the ground running, though the suspense stays with the film right through to the end. The concept of the immigrant community not wanting to deal with the cops adds some interesting twists to the story and remains something used in entertainment to this day (think Breaking Bad where the Mexicans simply will not deal with the police). It adds a layer of secrecy to things and helps ensure that the script doesn't show its hand too early. All in all, a great mix of noir styling, action set pieces and thick tension shot with care and performed by a game cast make this one well worth revisiting.


    Video/Audio/Extras:


    Panic In The Streets looks very nice on Blu-ray from Fox, framed properly at 1.33.1 and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. It's hard not to notice considerably improved detail and texture that this high definition presentation offers over the DVD. There's a very nice, natural amount of film grain evident throughout but nothing in the way of serious print damage to note - this looks very good. Fine detail is strong not just in facial close ups but throughout the movie, you'll notice it in the faces of the cast but also in the sets and costumes - check out the wood grain in the scene that takes place under the pier towards the end of the movie. Shadow detail looks excellent, black levels are nice and strong and never murky while the whites and grays remain consistent, never overblown or washed out. There's no evidence of noise reduction or edge enhancement here, and it's really hard to imagine the movie looking a whole lot better than it does on this disc.


    The default audio track for the feature is an English language DTS-HD Mono mix, though Dolby Digital Mono tracks are offered in French and Spanish with subtitles provided in English SDH, Dutch, French and Spanish. The tense score sounds great here while dialogue is nice and natural sounding. There are no problems to note with any hiss or distortion and the levels are properly balanced throughout. Though the mix shows the limitations of the original audio you certainly can't fault it for that - this is a nice mix, it sounds very good considering the age of the film.


    Carried over from the previous DVD release is the informative audio commentary from
    film historians Alain Silver and James Ursini. They do a great job of discussing the history of the picture and the cast and crew who made it, but also make some interesting observations about the state of the country at the time the movie was made and how some of that seeps into the picture. We also get a very good forty-four minute TV special that details Jack Palance's life entitled From Grit To Grace. It's basically a 'Biography' style piece that follows his life from the early days in Pennsylvania to his work as one of Hollywood's greatest character actors. Richard Widmark also gets some attention here with a similar forty-four minute profile entitled Strength Of Character. Aside from that, look for a trailer for the feature, static menus and chapter selection.

    The Final Word:


    Panic In The Streets is an excellent movie. While in many ways it is a product of the era in which it was made, it still remains a tense and intelligent thriller with the ability to keep you riveted to the action. Fox's Blu-ray release presents the film in great shape and with some choice extras too. Just a really great release overall.


    Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!



















      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Through The Looking Glass (Mélusine) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mélusine
      Released on: October 29th, 2024.
      Director: Jonas Middleton
      Cast: Jamie Gillis, Catherine Burgess, Kim Pope, Terri Hall, Roger Caine
      Year: 1976
      Purchase From Amazon

      Through The Looking Glass – Movie Review:

      Director Jonas Middleton’s 1976 film, Through The Looking Glass, is an unusual but effective mix of hardcore pornography and moody, at times almost surrealist, supernatural horror that introduces us to
      ...
      11-06-2024, 06:48 PM
    • I Am A Nymphomaniac/I Am Frigid... Why? (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: November 12th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pécas
      Cast: Sandra Julien, Janine Raynaud, Michel Lemoine, Yves Vincent, Marie-Georges Pascal, Jean-Luc Terrade, Anne Kerylen
      Year: 1970/1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      I Am A Nymphomaniac/I Am Frigid... Why? – Movie Review:

      Mondo Macabro offers up a Blu-ray double feature containing two softcore epics from director Max Pécas.

      I Am A Nymphomania
      ...
      11-06-2024, 06:45 PM
    • Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: September 9th, 2021.
      Director: Philippe Mora
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Annie McEnroe, Sybil Danning, Judd Omen, Reb Brown
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf – Movie Review:

      There are good sequels, there are bad sequels, and then there is The Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf, which is a sequel that more or less exists on its own planet. When the movie,
      ...
      10-29-2024, 02:23 PM
    • Daiei Gothic (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: October 29th, 2023.
      Director: Kenji Misumi, Satsuo Yamamoto, Tokuzo Tanaka
      Cast: Shigeru Amachi, Noriko Kitazawa, Kôjirô Hongô, Miyoko Akaza, Shiho Fujimura, Akira Ishihama
      Year: 1959/1968/1968
      Purchase From Amazon

      Daiei Gothic – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films brings together a trio of ghost stories produced by Japan’s Daiei Studios in their aptly titled Daiei Gothic boxed set Blu-ray collection.
      ...
      10-29-2024, 02:15 PM
    • Addams Family Values (Paramount) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Paramount
      Released on: October 29th, 2024.
      Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
      Cast: Joan Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci
      Year: 1993
      Purchase From Amazon

      Addams Family Values – Movie Review:

      Director Barry Sonnenfeld and the key cast members from the 1991 Addams Family movie returned in 1993's Addams Family Values. The story this time around, Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica
      ...
      10-29-2024, 02:11 PM
    • Trick ‘r Treat (Arrow Video) UHD Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Arrow Video
      Released on: October 29th, 2024.
      Director: Michael Dougherty
      Cast: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Lauren Lee Smith, Leslie Bibb, Tahmoh Penkiett, Dylan Baker
      Year: 2009
      Purchase From Amazon

      Trick ‘r Treat – Movie Review:

      There was a time not all that long ago where horror anthologies were a pretty regular theatrical occurrence, but it’s seemed as of late that those days were long behind us – enter first time
      ...
      10-22-2024, 05:48 PM
    Working...
    X