Commentary: 'Panic in the Streets' and 'Contagion': How two viral thrillers speak to the coronavirus moment

Some pandemics have all the bad luck: Everything's going their way, and then a clear-thinking American hero comes along to save the human race.

In Elia Kazan's superb, pungent 1950 thriller, "Panic in the Streets," the U.S. Public Health Service doctor played by Richard Widmark faces a 48-hour deadline to stop the spread of pneumonic plague, bubonic's even more serious relation. He's up against a skeptical police chief; a phalanx of fearful citizens and craven politicians; and a killer, played by Jack Palance (then Walter Jack Palance) in his film debut.

If the plague spreads, Widmark's character warns early on, "the result will be more horrible than any of you can imagine." He also says the thing a lot