Film Noir on The Incredible Two-Headed Podcast: Panic in the Streets (1950) and The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)

Aaron Lowe, host of The Incredible Two-Headed Podcast, invited me back to discuss more film noir as part of his series “Summer in the Shadows.” We discussed two films: Panic in the Streets, starring Richard Widmark, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Paul Douglas, and The Killer That Stalked New York, starring Evelyn Keyes.

◊ Click here for our discussion about the two films (Episode 41).

The subject of each film is an epidemic, which is a noir topic at any time but especially so when we are living through the COVID-19 epidemic right now. Pneumonic plague, a pulmonary form of bubonic plague, is the subject of Panic in the Streets. The Killer That Stalked New York is a fictional account of the 1947 smallpox outbreak in New York City and the efforts to slow the spread of the disease.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was a child during the 1947 smallpox outbreak in New York City. In this YouTube video posted on March 18, 2021, Dr. Fauci talks to Seth Meyers on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Among many other topics, Dr. Fauci describes his childhood in Brooklyn, New York, which reminded me of the fictional George Bailey’s childhood in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)!

I have written about Panic in the Streets and The Killer That Stalked New York for my blog before. Each title in the following list is a link to my blog articles about the films.

◊ Panic in the Streets (1950)

◊ The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)

◊ Both logos from the podcast are graphics created by Amber Keplinger, on Twitter @AmberGir.

◊ Click here for the home page for The Incredible Two-Headed Podcast, where you will find a complete list of Aaron’s podcasts.

I guess it should be obvious that I thoroughly enjoy talking film noir, and it was great fun to rejoin Aaron on his podcast. With any luck, I’ll be making future guest appearances on The Incredible Two-Headed Podcast.