Panic in the Streets
Dir: Elia Kazan
1950
*****
Panic in the Streets is a beautifully shot noir that is the Grandfather of all epidemic movies. It influenced Invasion of the Body Snatchers and many films of that ilk, Alien films, espionage films,  it influenced Outbreak and more recently the rather brilliant Contagion. Its influence is huge. It's still probably the best though, filmed back before modern technology got in the way of telling a good story. The performances are wonderful with a great cast including Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance and Zero Mostel. All are brilliant, it would be unfair to single out one of their performances because they're all great, I guess Jack Palance is probably the most memorable not just because of how chilling it was but because it was his film debut. The script is awesome though, it's very real, never over the top or sentimental. Honestly, I was pretty blown away, I love it!