Word: panic
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...believe that it was the beginning of disaster. "We haven't gone over the cliff," said a Washington economist. "We've just hit a bump in the road." Despite the fact they had taken huge paper losses in the last few days, farmers showed no sign of panic. They confidently expected prices to go up again...
...those who have given little thought to such matters, it might have seemed like a good idea to scare the world into being good, or at least sensible. But fear is brother to panic. Fear is an unreliable ally; it can never be depended upon to produce good. . . . Public thinking that is dominated by great fear . . . provides a sorry foundation for the strains we may find it necessary to withstand...
...Panic" is a tale of an unlucky man, who was turned from his one real joy-his love for his wife-when she decided that she decided that she preferred the company of her husband's only friend. This sort of thing is enough to turn any man into at least a mild persimist; here it has made the gentleman in question give up his home and law practice and turn to recording with his camera all the grisly things he can find. At this point, the movie opens, with the arrival of a young woman just out of prison...
There are many things about "Panic" that could have been done equally well in an American production. The basic excellence of this French film lies not in inspiration, not in outstanding acting, not in great tragedy-all things which are occasionally present in Hollywood pictures-but in the realization that while it is pleasant to believe that little people are good and noble, they are usually just little...
...scenes, unpleasant characters, and woeful, middle-aged men are plentiful in American cinema. There is some excellent photography on our screen; there is a little good writing which penetrates the West Coast hierarchy of editorial stupidity. Where "Panic" is exciting is in the mixture of completely repulsive characters with clever situation. You cannot like any of the people of "Panic"; yet the whole production is not only a first-rate thriller but a carefully balanced and superbly executed piece...