Plague fever, or the city is looking for a carrier A classic of world cinema and rare to praise Stanley Kubrick, the best American director was considered Elia Kazan, who influenced a whole galaxy of great filmmakers by his work. The work of these two outstanding directors united several points: a phenomenal talent in working with actors, the social and social background of most of their films, love for complex subjects and a special commitment to adaptation on the screen of outstanding literary works. Therefore, it is not surprising that at the beginning of his career, which came in the late 1940s, Kazan turned to noir stylistics, in which at that time almost all significant directors tested themselves. And if in his first noir experience (Boomerang 1947) the director criticized the US judicial system, then three years later he managed to create one of the most atypical examples of the direction.
It is known that the heroes of the noirs were mainly petty criminals or police officers far from peace of mind, and the plot often unfolded around a particular criminal episode. Through the efforts of Elia Kazan and the Anhalt spouses, who wrote a series of stories, the audience was shown a fundamentally different hero. It was Clinton Reed, a modest U.S. health official with no weapons and no knowledge of the underbelly of the big city. Clinton lives with a loving wife and young son, sometimes advising police pathologists, and undauntedly dreams of working for a large oil corporation, which, unlike the beggarly state salary, is well paid. One night a man is killed in a New Orleans port. In the morning, traces of pneumonic plague will be found in the corpse of the deceased - a rapidly spreading disease that can instantly cover both New Orleans and the whole country. It is absolutely necessary to find the executioners and everyone with whom the victim may have had contact. Given that the body is cremated, and the poor fellow hardly anyone knew - the task is impossible. Nevertheless, the fierce enthusiasm of the doctor, who seems to be the only one in the city understands the seriousness of the situation, and the bill with the portrait of Ulysses Grant bear fruit, dragging him into a considerable trouble.
If you try to determine the genre of the tape, then the phrase “medical and social detective” comes to mind. The doctor literally puts on his fingers a short course of epidemiology to the die-hard guardians of order and convincingly proves the need for preventive measures. Cognitive. The primary carrier of the infection turned out to be an illegal Portuguese migrant whose petty crime and failure to receive the necessary vaccinations put the well-being of the big city in question. It's instructive. Extrapolating the situation to the whole country, we conclude that uncontrolled immigrants pose a threat to the health of US citizens. And this is hardly any cunning director, because Elia Kazan sincerely fell in love with this country, significantly attached to the development of its culture, but the main roles in the film took actors of Swedish, Polish and Ukrainian origin. Ironic and touching at the same time. In addition, the Greek by origin and Elia Kazantzoglu passport perfectly fits into the theory that this truly American direction has, in fact, European roots of inspiration, and its best samples belong to immigrants from the Old World, well able to adapt to American realities.
The director-virtuoso so famously twists the plot and holds the intrigue that it is not only impossible to assume how the plague panic will end for the heroes and the city, but it becomes completely unimportant that the plot began with boring laboratory tests, accurate microscopes and clean test tubes. Only a beginner, but in the future a great portrait painter of American society Kazan does not ignore even the smallest factors necessary for a balanced life of a big city. Important elements of which are not only conscientious policemen, hardworking citizens, responsible doctors, thinking journalists and moderately ferocious criminals. The director also honors catering establishments, small consumer lending and even demographic issues. Moreover, he does not forget for a minute what is in the genre framework, and all social subtexts, moral and legal dilemmas deftly weaves into the plot canvas. With this, Kazan seems to oppose himself to many colleagues who saw only a beautiful form and a testing ground for visual experiments in noir stylistics. And “Panic in the Streets” with its message, perhaps, came closest to the forefather of all noirs, “M Killer” by the German Fritz Lang, who in the famous film managed not only to tell a fascinating story, but also to subtly capture the future troubles of the German people.
