Dr. Michael Stoner (Dorian Harewood) is a young black doctor who lives in East LA and works at an East Los Angeles hospital. Stoner is dating, Cynthia (Catlin Adams), and artist and art teacher who works in East LA but is from a well-to-do family. Cynthia talks Stoner into coming to her parent’s house to meet them. Stoner is a little out of his element in the posh neighborhood but tries to make the best of it.
In the meantime, there have been patients arriving at the hospital with unusual symptoms. It starts with stomach cramps and vomiting. Then more people are brought in with similar symptoms. All of the patients came from the same area of the city. Stoner thinks that something in their environment could be the cause. He has the patients quarantined and has the health department called. The health department is working at a bureaucracy pace. The investigation as to the cause of the outbreak is not fast enough for Stoner so he goes looking for the cause on his own.
At first Stoner thinks the problem could be food from the local bodega run by Larry Lee (James Wong). Tests on the food at the store come back normal and Stoner ends up in trouble for going over heads and around procedures. Stoner then finds a patient named Ebony (Jane Elliot) who is on a diet and hasn’t eaten for a couple days. The only thing she has had is water.
Now Stoner believes that the water in a recently built apartment complex may be the problem. Tests on the water prove that the pipes in the building are contaminated with pesticide. His hunch proves to be correct, and the pipes are cleared. Stoner wants to know where the pesticide came from. As he investigates, he bumps up against stuffy hospital boards, corrupt government officials, and some rich, shady property developers trying to sweep the problem under-the-rug.
“Panic in Echo Park” was released in 1977 and was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey. It is a made for TV bit of blaxsploitation drama and a bit of a thriller.
The movie plays like a black episode of “Quincy”, complete with a feel-good ending. There are a couple subplots running through the film concerning Stoner’s rich girlfriend, Cynthia, and some street kids trying to make a movie. The plots end up intertwined with the main storyline as both Cynthia and the street kids end up helping the doctor investigate what is going on.
This being the 70’s and inner city, there are racial undertones throughout. Dr. Stoner is a cross between Patch Adams as he deals with his patients and Quincy as he races around and blusters about things not moving fast enough. There’s not a lot of real action but Dr. Stoner’s vibrato adds to the tension and slow build.
It’s actually a decent movie although not particularly intense or dramatic. You can definitely see the television roots.