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This noir suspense was filmed entirely on location in New Orleans, and shot in an improvised semi-documentary style using many local non-actors. Richard Widmark plays a city medical officer, racing against time to stop a plague epidemic of huge proportions. The initial carrier was an illegal alien, who has been murdered by criminals who have themselves contracted the disease. Widmark defies official resistance and immerses himself in the seedy underworld of the New Orleans wharf district, in order to hunt down the killers who are characterised literally as an unhealthy ‘menace to society’. Cast also includes Jack Palance, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes and Zero Mostel. Music by Alfred Newman. The film won an Academy Award for best motion picture story.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
318378
Language
English
Audience classification
PG
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Academy awards (Motion pictures)
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → New Orleans (La.)
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Film noir
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Gangster films
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Suspense
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)