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80,000 Suspects
A race-against-time thriller about a smallpox outbreak that shatters the serenity of idyllic Bath.
Medical drama 1963 109 mins
Director: Val Guest
Overview
Richard Johnson stars as the doctor battling a smallpox epidemic in Bath, who has to contend not just with a city-wide catastrophe but with simultaneous personal crises as well.
As the title suggests, Val Guest utilises the conventions of a police thriller to frame the story of the search for the final smallpox carrier, a process which would have been all too real to 1960s audiences as the worldwide smallpox eradication programme was at its height. The film is also notable for being filmed in Bath, which was just emerging from the blisteringly cold winter of 1963 as it hosted the production.
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