A 1950 offbeat film noir dealing w/a vitally topical subject as a woman who smuggles diamonds from Cuba unwittingly also brings into New York a contagious case of small pox. Our heroine, played Evelyn Keyes, brings the goods into the US w/the law on her heels but she seems off as a mysterious ailment dogs her. She puts in a call to her deadbeat hubby (who's shacking up w/her sister) who cautions her to stay at a hotel before they can make contact. On her way out of the hotel, she nearly faints on the street & is brought to a local medical clinic where she's given some meds but not before hugging a girl thus starting the domino chain of doom. Equal parts a woman going through the extremes to rid the bad out of her life & a procedural to find patient zero, this film could not be more timely as it depicts the aftereffects of an outbreak & the sane, methodical ways a municipality will go to insure the wellness of all. One only wishes this film was a harbinger for a time that would never be but if you're following the news, you know better. Also starring Dorothy Malone as a nurse, Whit Bissell as Keyes' brother & an uncredited Jim Backus (Thurston Howell the Third himself) as Keyes' old nightclub boss.
Review of The Killer That Stalked New York
