Unter Geheimbefehl (1950)

Unter Geheimbefehl: Directed by Elia Kazan. With Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance. A doctor and a policeman in New Orleans have only 48 hours to locate a killer infected with pneumonic plague.

“This is listed as a u0026quot;film noir,u0026quot; a gangster film and I suppose it, is but it plays more like just a straight drama. Itu0026#39;s the story of an immigrant who is infected with the pneuomic plague (but u0026quot;bubonic,u0026quot; as listed on the back of the VHS cover) and the race to discover all the people he had come in contact with, including a criminal (Jack Palance) and his gang.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe great black-and-white cinematography helps put it in the film-noir category, I imagine, but the story still takes precedence over the stark photography here. The angular-faced Palance, listed as u0026quot;Walter Jack Palanceu0026quot; in here, always makes for a good villain and Zero Mostel was an interesting part of his group.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRichard Widmark played an normal intense role, except this time as a good guy, and Barbara Bel Geddes was her normal wholesome character. Despite third billing, she didnu0026#39;t have as many lines as I would have preferred to hear. Frankly, I prefer Widmark as the crazy-type villain. He spends much of the time in this film as a frustrated doctor, yelling at the cop Paul Douglas. That gets tiresome after awhile.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s a grim story: not a whole lot of laughs here, but itu0026#39;s entertaining and moves fast……and the ending chase scene is a knockout! A good addition to anyoneu0026#39;s collection of classic films, whatever you want to label it.”