Panic in the Streets

Synopsis

When an illegal immigrant murdered on the docks of New Orleans is discovered by an autopsy to be carrying deadly pneumonic plague, an exhausted U.S. Public Health Service doctor and a skeptical police captain have forty-eight hours to track down the killers and prevent a catastrophic citywide epidemic without inciting public mass panic. Elia Kazan's Academy Award-winning breathless, on-location docu-noir masterpiece starring Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, and Jack Palance in his ferocious film debut.