Science on Screen: Panic in the Streets (1950)

Free and open to the public

Elia Kazan’s New Orleans-shot Panic in the Streets captures the intensity of finding Patient Zero at the emergence of an epidemic. Dr. Clint Reed (Richard Widmark) is called in to supervise an autopsy of what is believed to be a homicide victim. When he discovers that the unknown man died of pneumonic plague, Dr. Reed embarks on a race against the clock to uncover the source of the disease before it begins to spread. With the help of Captain Tom Warren, Dr. Reed traces the unnamed man’s path through the streets of New Orleans in search of answers. Featuring a mostly New Orleans-based cast, this Oscar-winning thriller remains relevant in its urgency about the frenetic spread of disease.

Dr. Lina Moses, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University,  is an epidemiologist and disease ecologist. Her primary interest is the control of viral zoonoses transmitted from small mammals. Moses utilizes methods from epidemiology and ecology to understand the interface of human, animal and pathogen. In addition to observational and quasi-experimental field studies, she is interested implementing human and animal surveillance for zoonoses at the community level. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop interventions to respond quickly to and reduce primary animal-to-human transmission of pathogens.

Science on Screen® at Shotgun Cinema is made possible through a grant from the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.