Panic in the Streets
1950
Elia Kazan

Panic in the Streets is, like Call Northside 777. one of the Fox Noir films. It is also a film which like Call Northside 777 uses many location shots in New Orleans, and locals as extras to give the film some feel of documentary authenticity

The same year The Killer that Stalked New York also appeared as did So Long at the Fair. Three major plague films all occurred the same year.

Some of the more recent films dealing with plagues are Outbreak (1995) and more recent The Happening (2008). Outbreak deals with a government cover-up of a virulent virus which they have a cure for but won't release when a outbreak of the virus occur in the US. This is because "They want their weapon" as Col. Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman) chants as his mantra though much of the end of the film accompanied by the chorus (oops - I mean Maj. Salt (Cuba Gooding Jr.). The less said the better about The Happening.

Some information about plagues

. Although most people think of The Black Death as a Middle ages thing it is not. There have been several; outbreaks since then The disease is cause by Yersinia pestis, and in the Middle Ages is believed to have caused the death of a quarter to half the population of Europe. It spread from the Gobi desert and got to the Crimea in 1346. It followed the trade routes east and west and reached as far as the Yangtse River in China. In 1347 it reached Constantinople and Alexandria killing literally thousands daily. .

Among things helping the spread of the rat borne disease were the ships coming in from the East to Europe with rate; the fact that sanitation was none to great in the cities where there was also overcrowding and a close proximity of people to one another; and the fact that people believed in witches and witches had "familiars" or animals associated with them which were commonly cats. The cats were, w=for this reason associated with evil and often killed. A decrease in the rat catching cat population lead to an increase in rats.

In addition to the plague, other diseases have ravished the world or at least several continents. One of the most deadly was the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919 which is believed to have infected around 500,000,000 and killed off as many as 100,000,000.people.

Tuberculosis (TB) and polio were present, although some vaccinations for smallpox and diphtheria were around

In recent years a number of sudden outbreaks of disease like Hants, Sin Nombre and Ebola have caused a great deal of worry. The HIV virus which produces AIDS has been especially difficult because of its long incubation period during which time people are asymptomatic and are capable of transmitting the disease. (Ebola for example operates quite fast and people die often before they have a chance to pass it on.

In 1950 there would have been people around who remembered the Spanish Fu outbreak and people who had had family embers who had died from it. This in some way might have been responsible for the three plague films arriving in the same year.

Films like Nosferatu, an early Dracula film, also linked rats and plague, not only to each other but also to vampirism and to some degree Xenophobia – a fear of foreigners. So it is unlikely that the memory of the Spanish Flu would be enough to trigger these films in 1950/

Other plague related and health related events were happening though. One was the formation of WHO, the World Health Organization founded on April 7 1948 as part of the UN. This is only 2 years before the films release.

In addition, on Oct. 19 1943 Albert Shatz at Rutgers isolated streptomycin. By 1947 the first tests for its use against another disease that was epidemic – TB - were carried out, Streptomycin is mentioned in the film as part of the inoculation against plague another major health problem as was polio (which in 1952 would have the Salk vaccine) although it was still 2 years in future when the film appeared..

The 1950's were famous for other things though and critical at the time the Cold War (1947-1991) was rampant and there was a wide spread fear of Communism or "the Red Menace". Especially in the early years. The McCarthy House on UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) was "ferreting out" communists in the government and also in the entertainment industry.

Many people have interpreted the science fiction movies of the 50's as a metaphor for American approaches to dealing with communism. Films looked at how to "handle" communism, often in battles between scientists and the military about the approach to be taken. Films like The Thing show a malevolent and violent alien killing people at a research station at the North Pole while the military battles the lead scientist as to whether to kill it or study it. The military wins out indicating the proper way to handle the menace from without. In The Day the Earth Stood Still the alien is kind of nice and although the military wants to do him in. the scientists don't think that is a good idea, and in the end,. The alien charged with religious symbolism leaves Earth with a plan of a police controlled society in order to have peace – and then departs for parts unknown. Finally the middle ground was reached (and hated by all) in a neat little 3 D film called It Came from Outer Space in which the aliens having flying saucer problems have to land on Earth to repair their ship. The basic idea is the aliens are probably OK but we aren't ready for them and they leave. The Americans look like boring idiots and the film is sort of positive about the aliens but says "not now". The right hated it because it made the Americans look plain dopey and the aliens (read Communists) were probably OK, but we just weren't ready for it. The left hated it because it said the time is not yet ripe. People in the center hated on general principles

This is the first feature film for (William) Jack Palance

The director of Panic in the Streets is Elia Kazan, a famous director who was born in Istanbul to Greek parents, He became a director of plays and films and was a devotee of the Stanslavski method of acting which involves the actor finding something inside himself which produces the actual emotion needed by the character at the moment. This kind of "realistic" acting works well with docu-drama which strives for a realistic presentation of the world. So the merger of Stanislavski acting techniques with the docu drama film making would be in synch.

This film was a turnng point for him in that he said this was the first film where he really felt he was a director. Before making Panic in the Streets Kazan had directed

Pinky, the story of a Black woman who passes for White and Gentlemen's Agreement, a film about anti-Semitism are indications of Kazan's interest in social problems – specifically ethnic ones in these two films but also in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn..

After Panic in the Streets Kazan made

Kazan had been called to testify before the HUAC but unlike many of the Hollywood crowd who refused to talk and wound up black listed, Kazan did talk and may have had a negative position of communism which may have been demonstrated in his talking to McCarthy committee. As a result he was negatively received by the Hollywood liberals. On the Waterfront was made to exonerate himself, indicating that there are times when being an informant is the correct thing to do.

Panic in the Streets is a sufficiently accurate film in terms of the spread of diseases that is it shown by the Center for Disease Control to their new employees. The same can not be said for Outbreak whose opening accuracy zbout going into a hot zome is destroyed by people in air tight suits with no breathing apparatus!

See the article "Threat of Plagues: Panic in the Streets (1950)"

The basic hunt in the film is not criminal, but activities surrounding it are. Like Northside 777 we have to ask is this a crime film? Is it a film about investigations? How is an investigation conducted? How is information gathered?

Both the police and the Health Department are involved here and there is an overlap about public safety. People can be forced to take medication (for TB for example). There are mandatory inoculations and so on.

Some of the problems in the film are based on jurisdictional problems.

The Home Life Of the Invetsigators

Capt/ Warren has no family, PHS has family but absent a lot (father substitute) gentleness with . son and money (doesn't have much. What does film say about money and people who protect?

Are criminal issues handled differently than public health issues?

Something virulent spreading throughout society. Is this an anti Russian communist film of the Cold War?

1. What you can you say about the period in which the film is made:

Some info on medicines, plagues and McCarthyism and the Red Menace (Cold War)
(historical approach)

2. What can you say about the director?

Kazan interested in social issues: Given his flms Pinky, On the Waterfront, America America, Viva Zapata, Kazan could hardly be thought of as right wing, but seems to have had a negative position of communism which may have been demonstrated in his talking to McCarthy committee. Kazan did not apologize but made On the Waterfront to show his potion was correct.
(director's approach)

3. Comparisons with other films of the same types

(genre approach)

4 comparison with other films of the time

See science fiction films of the '50's which dealt with aliens from outer space as metaphors for communism – some pro (The Day the Earth Stood Still) some anti (The Thing from Another World), some lukewarm ("maybe OK but not now") It Came from Outer Space.

(Era approach "Films of the 50's").

PANIC IN THE STREETS

Without knowledge of these things we can only analyze the film in its own terms.

Hermeneutics: Need to break codes in film. Information is coded in many areas

Camera placement and movement

Composition

Groupings of people:

lighting

sound

diegetic/non diegetic
music: sets atmosphere and blues/jazz tone for New Orleans.

editing

Costuming and clothing (sartorial code)

Set design

Breaking codes:

Need to see what codes say:

Names: Always possible to have meaning

Symbolism

The actual script deals with the trajectories of the two men involved, Warren and Reed and their developing relationship as they come to respect one another/ There dedication to duty is showcased by Reed's virtual desertion of his family, and Warren lack of a family (his wife died as the result of a doctor's misdiagnosis.) Both are dedicated conscientious and well meaning. There differences stem from Reed's inability to communicate well without antagonizing people because of his dedication, and the fact that the two men deal with different problems (protection (health) and crime (police)) so there methods of approaching the problem are necessarily different. The fact that in the end when the decision is made to release the information to the press, immediately we learn that one of the officials is about to leave with his kids thereby starting the exodus which Reed fears.

By the end of the film, their friendship and mutual respect has matured and Reed's relationship with his family seems to have strengthened.

An intereating bit in this film is that the audience has information the pursuers do not. The audience is aware that Mrs. Mafaris is ill, which neither Warren nor Reed know.