Movies about Epidemics / Pandemics

[drmark]

What's So Bad About Feeling Good?

Director Screenwriter Seaton reunited with fellow scripter Robert Pirosh (A Day at the Races {1937}) for a comedy perhaps partially inspired by a certain 1950s British film

Can you tell us please, the "certain 1950s British film" you mention???

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

The World, The Flesh, and The Devil (1959)

While the "pandemic" is caused by radio activity spreading around the world rather than a virus, it is still one of the better pandemic movies.

Last Man On Earth (1964)

Vincent Price is the last man not affected by the pandemic that turns the infected into vampires. Later remade as The Omega Man with Charlie Heston.

The Satan Bug (1965)

One should not genetically tamper with viruses.

Jeremiah (2002-2004)

Ok, this was a TV series not a movie, but it was quite entertaining. Twenty years before the series takes place, a virus escaped from a biological warfare lab that killed almost everyone over the age of puberty. The show is about the children who survived in a world without adults and where civilization had broken down, and of course the constant threat that the virus that had burned itself out twenty years earlier would someday return.

[greta de groat]

Jeremiah (2002-2004)

Ok, this was a TV series not a movie, but it was quite entertaining. Twenty years before the series takes place, a virus escaped from a biological warfare lab that killed almost everyone over the age of puberty. The show is about the children who survived in a world without adults and where civilization had broken down, and of course the constant threat that the virus that had burned itself out twenty years earlier would someday return.

Which sounds like it's taking the idea in the Star Trek episode with Michael J. Pollard that we spoke about earlier. So i guess that one should be included in this thread as well.

greta

[sepiatone]

There is an excellent film based on a Horton Foote play called 1918(1985). It takes place in the waining months of WW1. It was shot in an idyllic old fashioned quaint Texas town for effect but the story is harrowing. American soldiers continue to die needlessly in WW1. Whenever a telegram arrives from the gov´t announcing a soldier killed in France it effects the whole town because everyone knows itś someone they knew. and the Spanish Flu starts to rage across the country effecting everyone ; people young and old are dying like flies and one scene has a woman whose son has just been killed on the battlefield in France. She goes berzerk throughout the town screaming and hollering. It is an unforgettable scene.

[silentfilm]

Not a whole movie, but at the end of the North American version of Laurel & Hardy's Laughing Gravy (1931), landlord Charlie Hall wants to evict the boys and their dog because they have made his life miserable. Policeman Harry Bernard posts a sign on the door saying that the entire building is quarantined for two months due to smallpox.

[Phillyrich]

There have been a lot of Hollywood movies on epidemics since 1960-- Last Man on Earth,
12 Monkeys, and of course Contagion, but I wonder if anyone has a "favorite"
(if that's the right term these scary days), from the nitrate era?

My favorites would include: Arrowsmith, Jezebel, and Camille. I've never seen The
Killer That Stalked New York (1950).

[CoffeeDan]

Here's a recent thread on the topic:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=29630

Remember -- the search engine is your friend . . .

[Phillyrich]

Thanks, couldn't find it, so I posted.

That thread is pretty good.

[CoffeeDan]

A MAN TO REMEMBER (1938), the remake of ONE MAN'S JOURNEY, has small-town doctor Edward Ellis inoculating his community (mainly the children) to prevent an outbreak of polio.

Likewise, in DOCTOR BULL (1933), Will Rogers plays a small-town doctor who vaccinates the youngsters to prevent the spread of typhoid, found in the local water supply.

[35MM]

Last Man On Earth (1964)
Vincent Price is the last man not affected by the pandemic that turns the infected into vampires. Later remade as The Omega Man with Charlie Heston.

And remade again as "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. The TV show you mentioned sounds similar to the Star Trek episode "Miri".

[sepiatone]

Anybody remember John Travolta in a tv film called The Boy in the Plastic Bubble(1976)? He had to be insulated in a complete de-con environment. Not exactly a pandemic film except for Travoltaś character. That film actually reminds one of Mr. Freeze on Batman who couldnt live in an environment above 30below 0.

[Brooksie]

Anybody remember John Travolta in a tv film called The Boy in the Plastic Bubble(1976)? He had to be insulated in a complete de-con environment. Not exactly a pandemic film except for Travoltaś character. That film actually reminds one of Mr. Freeze on Batman who couldnt live in an environment above 30below 0.

Along the same lines (in theme, at least), is Todd Haynes' Safe (1995), about a woman who self-isolates after suddenly becoming allergic to pretty much everything.

[s.w.a.c.]

Anybody remember John Travolta in a tv film called The Boy in the Plastic Bubble(1976)? He had to be insulated in a complete de-con environment. Not exactly a pandemic film except for Travoltaś character. That film actually reminds one of Mr. Freeze on Batman who couldnt live in an environment above 30below 0.

Along the same lines (in theme, at least), is Todd Haynes' Safe (1995), about a woman who self-isolates after suddenly becoming allergic to pretty much everything.

And of course the immortal Jake Gyllenhaal comedy Bubble Boy.

[silentfilm]

In Nosferatu (1922), the townspeople find that everyone has died aboard a ship and assume that it was from the plague, but it was actually something even worse...

[Nazimovafan]

The Horseman on the Roof (1995) is a wonderful looking historical epic set against the back-ground of Italian revolutionary politics and a cholera epidemic in southern France in the 1830s. We saw it on a big-screen long-ago in the 20th century and we both remember it as a very good movie.

[rangebuster]

"Cassandra Crossing" (1976) . Saw it last night. Virus similar to Covid 19. As plausible as any disaster movie is likely to get.

[MaryGH]

"Cassandra Crossing" (1976) . Saw it last night. Virus similar to Covid 19. As plausible as any disaster movie is likely to get.

I'm waiting for "COVID-19 Zero" to be made as a movie.

[mwalls]

Would Night of the Living Dead count as an epidemic. There is also War of the Worlds, looking at it from the perspective of the aliens.

Matthew

[precode]

It's Pandemic Week at Trailers From Hell! Here are my contributions.





Mike S.

[greta de groat]

Now that the Goodies reminded me of Death in Venice, i realized i hadn't seen it on this thread yet.

greta

[Richard P. May]

Not necessarily about epidemics, but the book DOCTORS IN THE MOVIES (Boil the Water and Just Say Ah) by Peter Dans MD. Medi-Ed Press 2000.
Dr. Dans examines close to a hundred films, with comments from a physician's point of view. He is a retired internist, having been connected with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
I had the opportunity to help with a couple of the suggestions, and remained in touch with him for quite a few years.

[silentfilm]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/ ... cs-1285144

Must-See Classic Movies About Pandemics
From 'Jezebel' to 'Arrowsmith,' a comprehensive list of Golden Age films that deal with outbreaks.
Photofest
From left: 'Arrowsmith,' 'Camille,' 'Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet,' 'Jezebel'

As a result of the current coronavirus pandemic, most people have more discretionary time than they did a month ago. Large numbers have wound up in front of their television sets seeking not escapism, but rather pandemic-related films.

The two most widely seen, thus far, have been relatively recent: Wolfgang Petersen's Outbreak (1995), in which Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman confront an Ebola-like disease; and Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), which boasts an all-star ensemble including Kate Winslet and Matt Damon in a story about a fomite-driven outbreak.

People who prefer classic movies have plenty of additional options of pandemic-related films. Here is my suggestion of one for each of several different pandemics.

* * *

JEZEBEL (1938)

Affliction Yellow fever, a viral infection spread by mosquitoes which has popped up over the centuries.

Production William Wyler's Gone With the Wind-esque 1938 film Jezebel, adapted from Owen Wilson's 1933 play of the same name, is set in 19th century New Orelans. Bette Davis plays Julie, a headstrong Southern belle who — famously — blows her engagement to Henry Fonda's Pres when she shows up to a dance wearing a red dress at a time when unmarried women were expected to wear white. (Many viewers recall seeing a red dress — but the film was actually in black-and-white.) Pres moves on with his life, but Julie does not, and when he is stricken with yellow fever and quarantined, Julie finally does something selfless. The film was Oscar-nominated for best picture and Davis won best actress honors for the second time, four years after her first.

ARROWSMITH (1931)

Affliction Bubonic plague, a bacterial infection — also known as Black Death — that was transmitted by fleas, resulting in painful inflammation of the lymph nodes.

Production In John Ford's 1931 film Arrowsmith, which was adapted from Sinclair Lewis' 1925 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, Ronald Colman plays a young doctor who develops a cure for a cow disease and is then enlisted by his former medical school professor to try to help create an antidote for a bubonic plague outbreak in the West Indies. He travels to the region, at great risk, and embarks on an experimental trial, but the process is too slow to save many, including people close to him, so he is forced to reconsider his scientific approach. The film was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture.

CAMILLE (1936)

Affliction Tuberculosis, fast-spreading and lung-targeting bacterial disease that has also been referred to as 'consumption,' a vaccine for which was not widely available until after World War II.

Production George Cukor's 1936 melodramatic film Camille, which was adapted from Alexandre Dumas' 1848 novel and 1852 play, is set in 19th century Paris and centers on Robert Taylor's society man Armand and Greta Garbo's titular character, a prostitute who knows her days are numbered due to consumption, as they fall into forbidden love. Garbo received a best actress Oscar nomination for her heartbreaking turn.

DR. EHRLICH'S MAGIC BULLET (1940)

Affliction Syphilis, a bacterial infection spread by sexual contact that may lay dormant for years but can ultimately result in brain or nerve damage.

Production Many are surprised to learn that a film about a venereal disease emanated from chaste Golden Age Hollywood, but indeed one did, produced by Casablanca collaborators Jack Warner and Hal Wallis, no less, and directed by William Dieterle: 1940's Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, starring Edward G. Robinson in a rare non-gangster role as Dr. Paul Ehrlich, the German doctor and scientist who overcame considerable red-tape and resistance from the medical community to create 'magic bullets' — chemicals injected into the blood to fight infectious diseases, a precursor for chemotherapy — and found a cure for syphilis in 1909. Its three screenwriters — one of them John Huston — were among the inaugural class of best original screenplay Oscar nominees.

INTERRUPTED MELODY (1955)

Affliction Polio, a paralysis-causing virus transmitted through contaminated food or water or contact with someone who already has it.

Production Polio terrorized the world until Jonas Salk created a vaccine for it in 1955 — the same year MGM released Curtis Bernhardt's Interrupted Melody, a film based on Australian opera singer Marjorie Lawrence's autobiography of the same name. Lawrence (Eleanor Parker) climbed to the heights of the Met stage before falling to the depths of despair upon being stricken with polio in 1941. Paralyzed and no longer able to sing, she lost her will to live — but was lifted back up by her devoted husband (Glenn Ford). The film won the best original screenplay Oscar and was nominated in two other categories, including best actress for Parker.

THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950)

Affliction Smallpox, a highly contagious infectious disease that was eradicated in the late 1970s.

Production Back in 1950, when Earl McEvoy's 1950 film noir B-movie The Killer That Stalked New York was released, smallpox was still a very real threat — indeed, just a few years earlier, a smallpox outbreak sparked panic in the Big Apple. This film, one of the earliest shot on location, depicts a city that descends into terror after a woman (Gone With the Wind alum Evelyn Keyes) who smuggled diamonds from Cuba into Manhattan, and then goes on the run, turns out to have brought smallpox with her, as well, with the city's supply of smallpox serum unable to cater to the enter population.

THE PAINTED VEIL (1934)

Affliction Cholera, a bacterial infection of the small intestine that is caused by contaminated food or water, and causes vomiting and diarrhea, which, in turn, causes dehydration.

Production Richard Boleslawski's 1934 drama The Painted Veil — which was adapted from W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel of the same name, and was subsequently remade twice, in 1957 as The Seventh Sin and in 2006 once again as The Painted Veil — tells the story of a newly married woman (Greta Garbo) who accompanies her husband (George Brent), a doctor, to Hong Kong, where he is doing medical research, whereupon she falls in love with someone else (Herbert Marshall). Things get complicated when her husband decides to head to inland China to try to help combat a cholera epidemic.

* * *

Plus, two others...

DOWNTON ABBEY (2011)

Affliction Spanish flu, an extremely deadly strain of influenza that struck in early 1918 and petered out at the end of 1920.

Production Oddly, as Smithsonian has noted, this affliction has rarely been dealt with in novels or in films, so here we'll make an exception and list a TV program: the 1919-set second season of Julian Fellowes' Downton Abbey from 2011, in which several principal characters — Lady Grantham, Carson and Lavinia Swire — are struck by it. Spoiler alert: In the season finale, Swire, Matthew Crawley's young fiancee, succumbs to the affliction, which was particularly lethal for young people. That season of Downton wound up with nine Emmy noms — among them, best drama series and six acting noms — which was only one behind field-leader Mad Men.

LONGTIME COMPANION (1990)

Affliction HIV, a virus transmitted by bodily fluids that devastates the immune system en route to becoming AIDS, first became widespread in the 1980s, and remains so to this day, although treatment options have significantly improved.

Production In 1990, back when Americans were still trying to wrap their heads around HIV/AIDS and The New York Times still referred to the partner of a person who died of the plague as his 'longtime companion,' along came Norman Rene's indie Longtime Companion, the first widely released film to focus on the then-taboo affliction. (The film shows, year by year, how a group of male friends and lovers were impacted by HIV/AIDS over the course of the 1980s; Bruce Davison received a best supporting actor Oscar nom for his portrayal of one of them.) It would be another three years before a Hollywood studio film — Philadelphia, for which Tom Hanks won his first best actor Oscar — dared to do the same.

Scott Feinberg
[email protected]

[CoffeeDan]

Jezebel (the play) was written by Owen Davis, Sr., not Owen Wilson.

[Brooksie]

An obvious one that I've even seen on the big screen, but which didn't occur to me until now: 1919's Die Pest in Florenz (The Plague in Florence), scripted by a young Fritz Lang.

[AlonzoChurch]

This seems like a list of movies I would like to miss for the time being. I appreciate the good work from everyone in putting this together.

[bradleyem]

The Purchase Price (1932) and One Man's Journey (1933) feature smallpox outbreaks.

It's Great to Be Alive (1933) (and I assume 1924's The Last Man on Earth) is driven by a pandemic of "masculitis."

"It's Great to Be Alive" has been on my mind lately, as my new (as in this week) book, "Hollywood Musicals You Missed: 70 Noteworthy Films from the 1930s" (McFarland) features a still from it on the cover.

When I sat down to write the book five years ago, not only was I not intending to include "IGTBA," I hadn't even seen it yet -- and I couldn't have known that the book would be published in the midst of a real global pandemic. (I will say that I consider the little-seen film -- Fox's odd brew of romantic comedy, music, science fiction, and gender-role reversal -- only slightly less fun now than I did before February or so.)

Anyway, the book is grouped by themes dealing with trends within the Depression-era Hollywood musical. There is a chapter on pre-1933 films (with extensive text on the Beatrice Lillie flop "Are You There?"), early "hillbilly" musicals, singing cowboy Westerns (among them Gene Autry's sci-fi-laden "The Phantom Empire" and the all-"little people" flick "The Terror of Tiny Town"), songwriter tributes, opera-singer vehicles, and swing music on film.

Promotion over, and here's the cover (if you're interested):
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/musicals-you-missed/

[silentfilm]

Fritzi Kramer has a nice review of Cupid in Quarentine (1918) on her blog today.

[Connoisseur]

And "The White Plague" by Hugo Haas in the thirties in Czechoslovakia. A brilliant film; Christopher Horak wrote about it recently in his blog...

[silentfilm]

Not quite a pandemic, but in Sailor Beware (1927) Sailor Billy Dooley brings home a guinea pig from New Guinea as a pet for his girlfriend. Unfortunately, a guinea pig that has been infected with a deadly disease has escaped, so naturally everyone is afraid of Billy and his guinea pig. Back then people were afraid of deadly diseases...

[sepiatone]

In WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS(1928), Monte Blue, playing an alcoholic doctor, is shanghaied and set adrift in a typhoon on a boat full of dead crew. They have died from Bubonic plague and Blue tells his subduers that they'll have to burn the boat.