IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
Police seek a smuggler while doctors, unaware she's the same person, desperately comb unprotected New York for a smallpox carrier.Police seek a smuggler while doctors, unaware she's the same person, desperately comb unprotected New York for a smallpox carrier.Police seek a smuggler while doctors, unaware she's the same person, desperately comb unprotected New York for a smallpox carrier.
Jim Backus
- Willie Dennis
- (uncredited)
Jay Barney
- Angry Man in Tenement
- (uncredited)
George Baxter
- Drug Company Executive
- (uncredited)
Eumenio Blanco
- Passerby
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEvelyn Keyes, in her autobiography, thought studio head Harry Cohn deliberately cast her in this film as payback for spurning his advances. She sued Cohn and the studio, settled out of court, and was released from her contract.
- GoofsThe story takes place in 1947, but the Mayor of NYC has a 1950 round screen Zenith Television in his office. NYC had television in 1947, but screens were still much smaller.
- ConnectionsReferences Big City (1948)
Featured review
Typical potboiler but with eerie parallels to today...
This film about a woman who returns from Cuba to New York City with both smuggled diamonds and smallpox is a fairly typical film-noirish melodrama of the late 40's/early 50's. Will the police and Health Department officials find her in time to save NYC from an epidemic? The film has all the elements one expects from this type of film: great black and white cinematography, romantic subplots, over-the-top shady characters (one played by Jim Backus, "Mr. Howell" of "Gilligan's Island" fame) and too-good-to-be-true good guys, and great New York locations. It also has a hammy narration and some corny dialogue, but it is a fairly suspenseful and generally fun way to spend 75 minutes.
However, the situation which probably seemed like far-fetched (but plausible) fiction in 1950, seems frighteningly possible today. The anthrax attacks of 2001, the fears of weaponized smallpox being used by terrorists, the concerns about vaccinations and the amount and safety of vaccines, the inability of governmental agencies to work together and share information effectively all come to mind when one watches this film. This gives it a bit more resonance today than other more dated noirish "chase" films of the same era.
Overall, only a pretty good film but definitely worth a watch for the subject matter and its relevance to today's fears about bio-terrorism.
However, the situation which probably seemed like far-fetched (but plausible) fiction in 1950, seems frighteningly possible today. The anthrax attacks of 2001, the fears of weaponized smallpox being used by terrorists, the concerns about vaccinations and the amount and safety of vaccines, the inability of governmental agencies to work together and share information effectively all come to mind when one watches this film. This gives it a bit more resonance today than other more dated noirish "chase" films of the same era.
Overall, only a pretty good film but definitely worth a watch for the subject matter and its relevance to today's fears about bio-terrorism.
helpful•222
- edman59
- May 11, 2004
- How long is The Killer That Stalked New York?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 19 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
By what name was The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) officially released in India in English?
Answer