''Quiet Killer'' is a 1992 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...

directed by Sheldon Larry. The thriller, based on the 1977 novel ''The Black Death'' by

Gwyneth Cravens Gwyneth Cravens is an American novelist and journalist. She has published five novels. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in ''The New Yorker'', where she also worked as a fiction editor, and in '' Harper's Magazine'', where she was an associ ...

and John S. MarrReview Summary
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and adapted by I. C. Rapoport, stars

Kate Jackson Lucy Kate Jackson (born October 29, 1948) is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1979) and Amanda King in the series ''Scarecrow and Mrs. Kin ...

and was originally broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

. The film was released on VHS under the title ''Black Death''.

Plot

When Sara Dobbs (Robertson), the teenage daughter of a wealthy New York City family returns home while feeling sick, nobody suspects a thing. At home, her health deteriorates quickly, resulting in a painful death on the streets before her

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

home. In the hospital, it does not take long before Dr. Nora Hart (Jackson) concludes that Sara has died of the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

, which has not occurred in centuries. Realizing that the disease is extremely contagious, she tries to push the authorities to warn the New York citizens, but the Mayor is reluctant to cause a widespread panic. Meanwhile, more citizens who have been in direct contact with Sara start to perish. Nora and her new colleague Dr. Jake Prescott (Nordling)—whom she becomes romantically involved with—start a race against the clock to locate and treat all the people who might be infected, while trying to prevent the city from panicking. In the end, Nora is successful in finding everyone who is infected, and treats most of them successfully. Within a week, a pandemic is ended after 22 deaths.

Cast

as Dr. Nora Hart *

Al Waxman Albert Samuel Waxman, (March 2, 1935 – January 18, 2001) was a Canadian actor and director of over 1,000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series ''King of Kensington' ...

as Mayor Andy Carmichael *

Jeffrey Nordling Jeffrey Richard Nordling (born March 11, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Manning in ''Once and Again'', Larry Moss in '' 24'', Nick Bolen in ''Desperate Housewives'', and Gordon Klein in '' Big Little Lies'', as wel ...

as Dr. Jake Prescott *

Chip Zien Jerome Herbert "Chip" Zien (born March 20, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the lead role of the Baker in the original Broadway production of ''Into the Woods'' by Stephen Sondheim. He has appeared in all of the "Marvin T ...

as Dr. Lionel Katz * Barbara Williams as Charlene *

David Hewlett David Ian Hewlett (born 18 April 1968) is a British-born Canadian actor, writer, and director known for his role as Dr. Rodney McKay in the '' Stargate'' science-fiction franchise. He first gained fame for his roles as Grant Jansky in the Cana ...

as Nyles Chapman *

Jerry Orbach Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer, described at the time of his death as "one of the last'' bona fide'' leading men of the Broadway musical and global celebrity on television" and a " ...

as Dr. Vincent Califano *

Howard Hesseman Howard Hesseman (February 27, 1940 – January 29, 2022) was an American actor known for his television roles as burned-out disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'', and the lead role of history teacher Charlie Moore on ''Head of ...

as Congressman Calvin Phillips *Alma Martinez as Dolores Rosales *

Tom Mardirosian Tom Mardirosian (born December 14, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for playing Agamemnon Busmalis in the HBO show '' Oz'' and Agt. Kristos Koutris in the HBO show ''The Wire''. Mardirosian was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, the s ...

as Deputy Mayor Kaprow *

Kathleen Robertson Kathleen Robertson (born July 8, 1973) is a Canadian actress, producer, writer and showrunner. She is best known for her roles as Kitty O' Neill in the Starz, Golden Globe winning series Boss, Hildy Mulligan in TNT's Murder in the First, Tina Edi ...

as Sara Dobbs *

Luis Guzmán Luis Guzmán (born August 28, 1956) is a Puerto Rican actor. His career spans over 40 years and includes a number of films and television series. He has appeared in the Paul Thomas Anderson films ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Magnolia'' (1999) an ...

as Adelaido Ortiz *

Don Francks Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer. Career Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. H ...

as Dr. Martin

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0105206, title=Quiet Killer 1992 television films 1992 films 1990s disaster films American disaster films American thriller films CBS network films Films set in New York City Films directed by Sheldon Larry 1990s American films