D.O.A. (1949) User Reviews

Classic noir film with suspense and a first-rate starring

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 20 July 2006]

The tale concerns about a lengthy flashback where the protagonist (Edmond O'Brien) after leaving his girlfriend (Pamela Britton ) goes to San Francisco . There is given an extremely slow-action poison . The starring relates his own murder and becomes himself in detective , spending his ending moments trying to uncover his hit men . As his time runs out , he has only hours to identify , he desperately seeks to discover who is responsible his death . The search for the suspect is further complicated by thrilling facts , numerous intrigues , deceits and confrontation against mobsters (Luther Adler , Neville Brand) .

It's an exciting B-thriller of vibrating pace that unites various elements as the fatalism , cynicism , corruption with a noir vision of America from the time . The original title belongs the notes about the deceased person . Magnificent interpretation by usually secondary Edmond O'Brien as when he is frantically running by San Francisco streets . The scene in which he runs in panic through the streets after learning he has been poisoned was a stolen shot . The pedestrians had no idea a movie was being made and no warning that Edmond O'Brien would be plowing through them . Nice secondary cast , being film debut of Beverly Garland and Neville Brand . The film gets a good black and white (though available colorized) cinematography with some excellent close-ups (the jazzmen) by Ernest Lazslo . Atmospheric music by the classic Dimitri Tiomkin . The movie is well done by Rudolph Mate , a famous and habitual cameraman . It's followed by inferior remakes as ¨Color me dead¨ (1969) with Tom Tryon and 1988 version with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan . The motion picture will appeal to dark noir movies fans . Rating : Notable and well worth seeing.

Over his dead body

[Lejink · 8/10 · 13 April 2011]

Great B-movie film noir, played as if his life depended on it (and it does) by Edmond O'Brien as a small-town notary who pays a big price for signing the wrong document at the wrong time, turning what should have been a pleasure trip to the west coast into a murderous affair altogether.

It starts with a bang, O'Brien staggering into the local homicide unit to tell the cops that there's been a murder - his, before launching into the massive flash-back which takes up pretty much the rest of the movie. The action from there on is hectic and as convoluted as all the best noirs are as O'Brien, infected by a deadly poison, races against the clock to track down his own killer and the reason behind it.

The film makes fine use of actual San Francisco and Los Angeles locations as well as authentically depicting the hot and steamy atmosphere at a Frisco jazz club. O'Brien is great as the doomed Bigelow, racing, often literally, against the clock, stopping only to palm off his adoring secretary girl-friend, Pamela Britten, who of course doesn't find out what's wrong with him until too late.

The pacing is almost non-stop once it gathers momentum, unfortunately when it does, some of the scene-writing gets over-ripe and correspondingly over-acted as O'Brien and his girl pour out their hearts somewhat unnecessarily. The film ends bravely though with a downbeat conclusion, delivering what the title says it must and at least tying up all the loose ends by that time.

The waking dead

[sol-kay · 8/10 · 21 July 2010]

**SPOILERS** Staggering into a L.A police station barely alive Frank Bigelow, Edmound O'Brien, has a story to tell about a murder that he witnessed, his own! It all happened two days ago when Bigelow was straying in San Francisco on vacation from his job as a tax accountant during Market Week. At the Fisherman Club Bigelow got a bit juiced up and during drinks he was slipped a dose of luminous toxin in his glass. It's that toxin that's now on the verge of killing him. The reason that he was poisoned had to do with him notarizing a bill of sale for a shipment of iridium that was stolen and could put the person who shipped it behind bars for at least five years!

It took a while for Bigelow to realize that he had a fatal dose of luminous toxin in his system and by the time he did it was too late to save his life. But it wasn't too late for Bigelow to track down and find the person or persons who had him poisoned. And it's during the rest of the movie, in flashback, that's exactly what he did! And did it with an unrelenting fury as if his life depended on it!

In what is undoubtedly Edmound O'Brien's best role as Frank "Biggie" Bigeow the film "D.O.A" has him move heaven and earth to find the person who eventually murdered him. From San Francisco to Los Angeles as well as parts in between Bigelow finally track him down to the Philips Inport-Export office at the Bradbury Building in downtown L.A. It in fact was Philips who was murdered, by being thrown to his death, because of the illegal iridium shipment that he later realized he was tricked into handling. With Philips dead the only person who could connect both his murderer and the person whom he shipped the iridium for is Frank Bigelow who handled, by notarizing the bill of sale, the shipment!

Non stop action thriller as a dying, or murdered, man turns L.A upside down in trying to find his killer and exact punishment on him before he himself expires! Bigelow also gets involved with L.A mobster Majak, Luther Adler, whom the illegal iridium was delivered for. In knowing about Majak's involvement in it had Bigelow targeted by him and his sadistic and unstable hit man Chester, Naville Brand, for immediate termination. That's if the luminous toxin doesn't kill him first!

Even though the movie is a scant 83 minutes long it packs enough action to fill some half dozen films of it's type: Film Noir Thrillers. Frank Bigelow is a man who knows that he hasn't long to live and therefore throws caution to the wind in trying to find his killer before the curtain comes down on him. It was in fact that almost suicidal determination on Bigelow's part that in the end brought him results!

Perhaps the best noir ever made

[burgbob975 · 27 May 2002]

I hate formal film evaluation lists that ostentatiously rate the relative value of certain films, such as Citizen Kane for example. I do think Citizen Kane is a great film. But I also think that about fifteen or twenty other films I could quickly name are every bit as good as Kane in their own way. (Almost any Richard Gere movie, for example. Just kidding.)

This brings me to D.O.A., directed by Rudolf Maté. D.O.A. in my book is the Citizen Kane of the noirs. It's so good that I often wonder about how it got made in the first place. Since many of the people who were involved in its production are now no longer with us, I may never learn anything about its origins. That's a frustration, of course, but the more important thing is that I can recognize a great noir when I see it.

Why, you ask, is D.O.A. a great noir? The most obvious reason is its plot. A guy goes out for a night on the town and someone, a total stranger, slips him a mickey in a bar-a lethal mickey. But it doesn't kill him instantly. It kills him slowly, so slowly that he's given the chance to find out who did this terrible thing to him, and why.

Second, the film is exceptionally well made in every other respect. Okay, the Pamela Britton character is one dimensional and embarrassing, we all agree on that, but who really cares when everything else in the film is so good? Edmond O'Brien had one of the best roles of his career in D.O.A., and he took full advantage, though few critics give his performance much credit for the film's success.

O'Brien, a classically trained actor, plays a small-time Southern California businessman living his ordinary little life, minding his own business, regularly boffing his secretary (this was implied rather than made explicit; after all, this was 1949), and avoiding her whiney entreaties that they tie the knot, as he's been promising her he would do for ever so long.

You can't help liking O'Brien in part precisely because of his human flaws. He's basically decent, but harassed, overworked, and stretched to the limit by the pressure put on him by Britton. What adult male couldn't identify with this man, or at least sympathize? His very insignificance as one more human ant on the planet Earth, and the terrible thing that's about to happen to him, are the essence of great film noir. (Detour, although by no means a favorite noir of mine, is nevertheless another perfect example of an ordinary man, a small-timer, minding his own business and unexpectedly colliding with Fate and all that it has in store for him.) We resonate to D.O.A. because fate and contingency have been the fundamental conditions of life on the planet earth since before the beginning of history. Our time on Earth is brief and our lives but little scraps of paper blown about by the wind toward endings we know not. We live noir lives.

The film's particulars are wonderful. From the sunny hick town of Banning, the movie switches quickly to San Francisco. If ever there were a noir town, it's Frisco. (Hitchcock picked up on that real quick; watch Vertigo again to see how he saw the eerie side to that town, with its creepy deserted streets, little ghostlike fog-blown urban hills, and other abandoned places suggestive of loneliness and soullessness.)

From here one great noir scene follows another in astonishing succession: the smoky, crowded jazz bar where the sweaty black musicians are blowing up a storm (to an all-white 1949 audience of course), while a murder is silently committed with a switched drink. The doctor holding the eerily glowing glass tube of luminescent poison and informing O'Brien, "You've been murdered." O'Brien running through the crowded downtown streets like a madman, as if velocity could help him escape his fate. O'Brien, after being shot at, a gun now in his own hand, looking for his killer in the abandoned processing plant. His encounter with Luther Adler's insane, sadistic henchman played by Neville Brand. Brand, speaking softly, glints of spittle in the corners of his mouth, nutty little eyes lighting up with anticipated pleasure: "I'm gonna give it to you in the belly. You're soft in the belly, aren't'cha? " Then the fantastic night scene in the crowded Los Angeles drugstore with Brand stalking him among oblivious customers-till shots ring out, then screams, followed by death. Finally, again at night, O'Brien's confrontation with his killer, which (inevitably) occurs in the Bradbury Building, that great architectural shrine to noir, scene of so many other noir films.

Let's stop for a moment and go back to an earlier part of the film. Fatally poisoned, still not quite believing what has happened to him, exhausted and uncertain of anything, O'Brien has run for block after block, but now his energy has finally petered out and he finds himself alone near the docks. Utterly depleted, all hope lost, he wearily leans against the side of an old wooden newsstand in an otherwise bleak, abandoned area. Eyes glazing over, he's terrified, trying to catch his breath. During a medium close-up we briefly study him, then notice something to his left, a single long vertical row of magazines, all identical covers, arranged down the side of the kiosk just half a hand away from him. He isn't looking at them, isn't really aware of them, but we are. For just a few seconds we see: Life, Life, Life, Life, Life, Life, Life. Then the film quickly moves on and goes about its business, as if we had been shown nothing of importance.

You tell me this isn't a great film noir.

D.O.A.: A convoluted mystery that gradually builds to a frenetic pace.

[RJBurke1942 · 7/10 · 22 September 2006]

Fans of film noir should see this one, as this film is up there with the best.

It's a story about how a simple act can lead to disaster – in this case, death. If you've not seen it, I'm not about to tell you much except this: it has perhaps the most imaginative beginning for any murder mystery ever devised as Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) fronts up to the Homicide Bureau in Los Angeles to report a murder – his own! Thereafter, the story traces Frank's attempts to find out who is trying to kill him, and why. One of the best pieces of irony is when, having learnt that he will die soon, Frank runs and runs until he's out of breath and stops, panting, beside a newsstand where there are multiple copies of Life magazine hanging there, just beside him. The director, Rudolph Mate, had a real insider joke with that shot.

And that long tracking shot, by the way, was an excellent example of how to use fast camera work and great editing.

On another level, the movie very much fits the times vis-à-vis the portrayal of evil and where it leads: retribution is always just around the corner for those who transgress society, even if you think you're justified. When you see this movie, you'll know what I mean.

And, for the times, the acting was good, with a standout performance from Edmond O'Brien, and ably supported by the ever-competent Luther Adler (as Majak, the sharp dealer in stolen goods), and Neville Brand, as the psychopathic Chester. The rest of the cast was adequate. The only jarring note (no pun intended) are the peculiar and bizarre wolf-whistles (inserted by some demented sound engineer?) that accompany Frank Bigelow as he looks at women in his hotel at San Francisco. What was the director thinking of...?

That aside, it's a good, fast-paced action mystery that helped to keep the film noir genre very much alive. Have a go...

This Film Shines Like Luminescence

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 5 June 2007]

DOA was made on the cusp of Edmond O'Brien's transition from leads to character roles and it may very well be his career part.

It's a cheaply made thriller and it shows in spots. But it more than makes up for it in originality of plot and the performances of a superb cast of players.

DOA involves nothing less than Edmond O'Brien solving his own murder. He's in some kind of business and as a sideline he makes a little extra money as a notary. He notarizes a bill of sale and in doing so is a witness to a piece of evidence that a man who was a party to the sale had no reason to commit suicide.

But the perpetrator doesn't slip O'Brien something fast acting like cyanide. No he gets something called luminescent poisoning which is slow acting, but irreversibly fatal if not caught within a few hours of ingesting. When he learns what happens, O'Brien has nothing to lose in his hunt for his own killer.

Best in the cast of supporting players without a doubt is Neville Brand who invades Lyle Bettger territory in playing a psychopathic thug in Luther Adler's employ. Adler himself is always good as are good girl Pamela Britton and bad girl Beverly Garland.

The film was made on a shoestring, but occasionally those films can prove worthwhile.

A Better Print Helps This Unique Noir Story

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 28 October 2006]

When I started watching all the film noirs I could find, I was a bit disappointed in this. However, after three viewings I now find it decent. It's nothing super, but certainly better than what I though at first. A big help is having a better print of the film. This is one of those movies that always had a poor VHS quality transfer and many times the same on DVD. Finding a good print is hard, although I finally got a decent one with this Killer Classic DVD set that includes this movie.

The story, like the print, is not always easy to follow, either, even though the premise is very simple. A man discovers he has been poisoned and there is no hope for recovery. Before he dies, he retraces his steps to find out who "murdered him" (even though he's still alive when saying that) and why.

The story gets a bit complicated. Like a Sherlock Holmes or Charlie Chan mystery, there are a number of suspects that keep popping up. Many of them are hard to figure.

This is an odd film noir for several quirky things in this movie. The lead character, "Frank Bigelow" (Edmund O'Brien), is strange and kind of stupid in the beginning. There are a half dozen of these dumb whistle-like wolf call sound-effects that come out every time he sees a pretty woman. It just doesn't fit in a tough film noir. Then there is his possessive girlfriend/secretary "Paula," (Pamela Britton) who is constantly calling him and paranoid about his whereabouts. She acts more like an insecure, nagging wife but she obviously cares a great deal about him. But, man, give the poor guy some space!

The dialog in this film ranges from incredibly stupid to very clever and solid film noir material.

We also see one of the most sadistic people I have ever seen on film: "Chester," played by the sadistic-looking Neville Brand. Wow, is this guy sick or what? He reminded me of "Vera" (Ann Savage) in "Detour." Those two would have made an interesting couple! Brand's character is only interested in one thing in life: inflicting pain and the slower and more brutal, the better.

Anyway, if you find a good print, tolerate some of the goofy things in the film, this is an interesting film noir that gets better with each viewing, as you understand the story better.

extremely simple yet extremely effective

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 30 May 2005]

One of the best film noir flicks of all-time (along with The Killers). DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH THE REMAKE!! The film stars our unattractive hero, O'Brien, as the man who has been poisoned and is told he has only 24 hours to live. He has no idea who did it and spends almost the entire film tracking down the dirty rat that done him in. It's amazing how many wonderful noir films O'Brien appeared in over the years.

The pacing is good, acting top-rate and very noir-ish, and it manages to pull so much out of a very simple plot with minimal sets. In other words, it gives a fantastic "bang for the buck" and modern filmmakers would really benefit from learning a lesson or two from DOA.

I just checked the IMDb Top 50 Film Noir films and for some odd reason this film is not listed. How is this possible?

Businessman is innocently involved in a murder plot

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 28 October 2001]

Good mystery about an accountant who had the wrong guy for a client. A sinister killer needs to see him dead in order to tie up any unforseen loose ends that may louse up his scheme. Very well done with a realistic sense of how something like this would go down. Neville Brand made a perfect evil creep as Chester the psycho, a part he always plays to perfection.

'Yeah, you got it, Bigelow!"

[bgh48 · 9/10 · 25 September 2006]

My favorite Edmund O'Brien film. What makes him so enjoyable in this is that you can tell he really enjoys acting; he just puts his heart and soul into every part he ever played; the passion and emotion are always there. He loves his craft. I don't think D.O.A. is film noir, as it seems to be almost a parody of film noir (notice how deliberately hard-boiled all the characters are (well, except loving, loyal, sweet Pamela Britton as his true love, though he doesn't know it yet) and call O'Brien's character always by his last name, Bigelow, even the less than diplomatic doctor who, coming out of his lab to confirm luminous poisoning and holding up the vial, says, "Yeah, you got it, Bigelow". So much for bedside manner. I love Luther Adler here; he really is menacing in that Mad Magazine way; remember, fellow Boomers, when Mad ran that piece about how movie villains are somehow always polite and the hero is always rude and hostile? Well, here Adler does that perfectly; after giving him to "Chester", he intones, "Forgive me". Memorable B-movie in every respect; great location shooting, great use of sound.

Exciting, Frenetic, Much-Imitated Film Noir Of Poisoned Man Trying To Find Who's Killed Him

[ShootingShark · 6/10 · 10 July 2010]

After a night out he feels unwell and goes to a doctor, who explains he's been poisoned and only has a few days to live. Reeling with shock, Bigelow desperately tries to uncover who is responsible and why before his number is up.

D.O.A. has a killer opening - a guy walks into a police station to report a murder where he's the victim. The subsequent flashback structure is then doubly intriguing in that we know he's gonna get it and we share all his puzzlement over the details. The story, by writing partners Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene, exploits Frank's predicament to the hilt, throwing him into a dizzying conspiracy of theft, double-cross and infidelity with which he has only the most marginal connection. I love the way almost all the women in this picture seem to be cheating; the hoofer of a wife with Frank, the gossipy secretary with Stanley the brother, the exotic model with the victim, and that old stalwart, the grieving widow with her husband's killer. The only femme who isn't fatale is Frank's secretary Paula, although she's possibly the most needy female since Salome. Maté, a talented cameraman turned director (he shot Foreign Correspondent and Gilda and directed When Worlds Collide) makes the film's low-budget threadbare quality stylish, and the look clearly influenced Kubrick's early work. It does have some liabilities - once the story gets going it pops, but the first couple of reels are a bit turgid and aren't helped by some dated Beat Culture trappings and Dimitri Tiomkin's deafening score. Also, leads O'Brien and Britton are both a little pedestrian; they have some style but they're not remotely real people and the tale depends on us believing in them. The best performance for me is the completely over-the-top one by Brand as Chester the scary henchman - if you're not familiar with him, check out his heavies in movies like Riot In Cell Block 11 and Birdman Of Alcatraz - along with Richard Widmark and Timothy Carey he was arguably the craziest villain of his day. Note the use of the iconic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, where Halliday's office is located - it's also the setting for Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer's memorable duel in Blade Runner, and features in several other movies. This is classic film noir territory, and a must for all fans of the genre. Remade in 1988 with Dennis Quaid in the lead.

Great film in classic noir style

[funkyfry · 9/10 · 15 February 2003]

An exceptionally well thought-out and executed film noir. A man who is fatally poisoned with a slow-acting substance wants to discover who killed him -- and why. The answers seem pathetically insignificant compared to their repurcussions. O'Brien provides a solid "everyman" type leading performance that puts Gary Cooper and Glenn Ford's best attempts at the same to utter shame. Bev Garland puts in a good show too as a sort of misunderstood femme fatale in a minor key. Credit should go to director Mate and photographer Laszlo, who match the words and feelings of the story perfectly, neither showing us too much or too little at any time. The narrative force of this story is strong because it is focused on one man, with whom we can identify, who has been placed in an exciting, intriguing, and terrifying situation by events out of his control.

D.O.A: Rather Disappointing.....

[jem132 · 6/10 · 10 January 2008]

I'm a big fan of film noir and find that I like most of the films associated with the movement. Yet, D.O.A was a major disappointment for me. The premise is thrilling, yet somehow the end result did not satisfy me.

My disappointment does not rest with Edmond O'Brien, who turns in a very capable and engaging performance as the man who finds he has unwittingly ingested lethal poison, and must race to find the killer before he is dead. It is everyone's worst fear, O'Brien's situation, and he certainly gives a good account of his character. The scene in which he is told 'I don't think you understand...You have been murdered' is very effective and chilling.

Perhaps it lies with the inconsistency in the plotting- the first half of the film is much tighter than the second, which is action-packed, yet confusing and rather all over the place. The love interest angle is inevitable, yet slightly unbelievable all the same (perhaps inspired by 'Odd Man Out', which also has a doomed protagonist in James Mason and a faithful girlfriend who rushes to find him before death in Kathleen Byron).

D.O.A has plenty of atmosphere, and some nice cracking lines, yet really didn't leave me feeling satisfied with my film-going experience.

A Good Opening But The Story Has Problems

[sddavis63 · 5/10 · 31 December 2009]

There's no doubt that "D.O.A." grabs your attention right from the opening scene, as the camera follows Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) walking into a local police station to report a murder - his own! He's been poisoned, and has only a short time to live, and the movie then becomes a flashback, as Bigelow recounts his story to the police. This is certainly lively, as Bigelow becomes more and more frantic in his effort to discover his killer before he dies, but there were perhaps too many twists and turns in the plot, making it very hard to follow the trail of clues. There was also, it seemed to me at least, a major plot oversight. Simply put, how did his killer know that he was going to go on vacation in San Francisco? His presence in San Francisco is essential to the story, but I just didn't understand that. In addition, there were a number of aspects to the film that I just didn't like.

Am I alone in really not liking Bigelow? The guy essentially decides to go off on vacation and sow his wild oats so to speak with the local ladies, leaving the woman he supposedly loves back home wondering what he's up to. He looks at virtually every woman he sees with lust in his eyes (at least we know what's on his mind!) and the wolf-whistles that sounded every time he looked at a woman were silly and even irritating. We got the message! They really weren't necessary. Even the relationship and repeated conversations between Bigelow and Paula seemed to serve no real purpose in the story. His relationship to Paula had nothing at all to do with his poisoning - so why bother with it? Kudos for that great opening scene which gets you interested. Had it not been for that, I suspect that few people would stick with this. 5/10

The definitive Film Noir....

[JOHN_REID · 13 October 2003]

Frank Bigelow: "I want to report a murder." Homicide Captain: "Where was this murder committed?" Frank Bigelow: "San Francisco, last night." Homicide Captain: "Who was murdered?" Frank Bigelow: "I was."

It must be the dream of all directors to open a film with a scene or line which carries great impact and remains in the memory. The opening line in D.O.A must rank among the most dramatically effective and intriguing lines that has ever opened a movie. This is the quintessential film noir. Edmond O'Brien as the tough, hard drinking businessman who has grown tired of the normalcy of his life and the clinging Paula. His holiday in San Francisco is an opportunity to break the shackels. The premise that the hero has been given a slow poison for which there is no cure, and only a day or so to solve his own murder before he dies, is exceptional. We also have an array of sultry "bad girls", a seedy villain and a manic hitman. Rudoph Mate directs brilliantly, not missing a moment to twist and turn the action at a fast pace with no dull moments. Scenes of O'Brien running through city streets after he has learned his fate are superb with incredibly realistic wide shots. The fact that his direction is so effective makes one wonder how he could have allowed the lapses of ridiculous canned "wolf whistles" whenever the hero passed a good looking girl in the early scenes. Although these "wolf whistles" are really out of place and very annoying, the film is so effective that we can forgive the indiscretion. This is a classic example of a brilliant plot superbly told in a way that is still gripping 50 years after it was made. D.O.A. defines Film Noir.

Suspense and the perfect 'ticking clock' plot

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 28 August 2014]

The film noir genre threw out plenty of gems during its peak in the 1940s and early 1950s and this is one of them, a solid detective story with a great premise. In it, a man must discover the person responsible for his own murder, a plot point realised thanks to the presence of a slow-acting poison that gives him only a day or two to live.

D.O.A. presents a bleak and icy narrative that has a strong degree of pessimism to it, thanks to that excellent premise. But there's more to it than that, as the actual detective story is compelling in itself. The protagonist finds himself drawn into a murky world of smuggling and corporate corruption, while at the same time coming into contact with some decidedly shady characters.

The best thing about the film, for me, (aside from that premise) is the presence of Neville Brand's Chester, a character who could have been portrayed as an ordinary henchman but who, thanks to his psychotic nature, becomes the real highlight; Brand effortlessly exudes an air of pure evil in what was his first role. The rest is good too, of course, particularly Edmond O'Brien's tough-but-sympathetic lead, leaving this one of the highlights in a crowded genre thanks to that perfect 'ticking clock' premise.

A forgotten classic?

[terceiro-2 · 9/10 · 16 November 2009]

I am not too sure if DOA should be classed as a forgotten classic. I am a bit of movie buff and I had never heard of it before.

I came across it on the Internet Archive and was quite surprised at how good the movie is. The story itself is quite remarkable. Frank Bigelow (played by Edmund O'Brien) plays a small time accountant / lawyer who travels to San Francisco for time away from his somewhat nagging girlfriend.

While Frank is in San Francisco his drink is spiked with a lethal poison by a mystery person. Frank does not know who the mystery person was, why his drink was spiked and why someone wants to kill him.

Frank does not do what probably most of us would do in a similar situation - sulk, cry, get drunk, etc. Rather he sets out to find out who did this to him and why.

Apart from a fantastic plot, the movie is very memorable for the collection of shady characters who Frank has to deal with in trying to find out who poisoned him, particularly the psychopathic Chester.

One thing to note is that the plot is quite complicated. I found myself having to go back and watch scenes a second time to work out what was going on. So make sure you concentrate when you watch this movie.

This is an excellent movie. Highly recommended.

D.O.A. (Rudolph Mate', 1950) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 11 October 2007]

This excellent noir arguably gives burly leading man Edmond O'Brien his best ever role (followed perhaps by that in another little-seen noir, Hubert Cornfield's THE THIRD VOICE [1959]) and it may well also be celebrated cinematographer Mate''s best directorial effort; regrettably, several years ago I passed on a chance of acquiring Mate's previous noir – the well-regarded THE DARK PAST (1948) – on VHS!

The idea of a dying man seeking out his own killers before he expires was very original at the time, but has been much copied since – in fact, this film was itself remade twice as COLOR ME DEAD (1969) with Tom Tryon and Carolyn Jones and, again, under its original title in 1988 starring then real-life couple Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan! The 'murdered' man acting as narrator in a way anticipates Billy Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) as well, and even Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON (1951)!

Despite their belated entrance, Luther Adler's sleek businessman and Neville Brand's thug are memorably villainous and remind one of Sydney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook Jr. in John Huston's THE MALTESE FALCON (1941). Even so, these two are not really the parties involved in O'Brien's poisoning and, in fact, the plot is a little too convoluted along the way until one gets all the threads sorted out towards the end.

The character of O'Brien's secretary/girlfriend is quite one-dimensional and gets a bit annoying as a result, but it is relevant to the plot nevertheless; besides, the whistling on the soundtrack every time a good-looking girl passed O'Brien by during the early stages of the film was rather corny. However, Dimitri Tiomkin's frenzied score admirably mirrors the agitated state-of-mind of the desperate protagonist – while the all-important jive session sequence became something of a noir staple (probably introduced in Robert Siodmak's PHANTOM LADY [1944], which I watched recently for the first time).

First—class thriller, suspenseful and virtuously played, masterly directed, though fatalistic like a noir

[Cristi_Ciopron · 9/10 · 7 July 2008]

First, I want to settle a disputed question—the merits and value of Edmond O'Brien (35 yrs. in this role)'s performance; he was a formidable actor. He brings half of DOA's interest.

DOA has several moments of very intense emotion, of undiluted emotion. It is a mystery thriller ,dynamic, suspenseful, sharp, enormously, tremendously enjoyable. It has some features that remind the noir conventions—first of all, its fatalist premise—the doom of an innocent man, victim, prey of an occupational hazard; then, the MALTESE … traits—the group of bums that capture Edmond O'Brien. Yet there is much in favor of DOA—the fact that the mystery is not just a pretext for an incursion in the underworld;--the lack of cynicism;--the pure moments of poetry and emotion;--the light, funny comedic notes at the input of Edmond O'Brien's escapade ….And there is an undeniable directorial brio and flair, a wonderfully maintained tempo ,a high sense of adventure and suspense. It is a movie you feel the need to share, to recommend to pals. (You might rightly conclude from the above that I refuse considering DOA as a noir, since it is so much more than the standard exponents and lessons of the noir—like DETOUR, etc..DOA has a diversity and a cordial attitude the noir usually do not possess. DOA is not noir, it surpasses the genre—it is much more than a noir ….) DOA is very inventive, ingenious, and, stylistically, a delight. It is what the kids call a roller-coaster. Visually, DOA is spectacular and aw-some—former director of photography, distinguished collaborator of someone like Dreyer himself, then Hollywoodian cinematographer, Rudolph Maté proves a consummate director with DOA, movie that marked his beginnings as a director .Schooled in Europe, Rudolph Maté appears, if compared with someone like Ulmer or Mann, to be the most skilled and refined. There is, indeed, a manly refinement in the very concept of DOA. You can sense the wide experience and the technical expertise of the director. (During the same period, Mann ,not much younger than Maté, was directing He Walked By Night …--there is a difference of scripts and concepts, yeah, but also one of skill and expertise!) Edmond O'Brien was so fine a lead! Handsome and virile, he had nonetheless a quite mean expression (in the way Bogart also had one).He played much finer than many of his more famous and awarded contemporaries. His role here is a marvelous achievement, a creation to be cherished, remarkably competent.

'DOA' is one of the finest, and O'Brien's performance, especially good.

Reporting His Own Murder

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 9 October 2011]

In San Francisco, the accountant Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) goes to the Homicide Division of the Police Station to report his murder and the captain and detectives listen to his intriguing story.

Frank has an accounting office in the small town Benny, on the way to Palm Spring. He tells his secretary and fiancée Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton) that he will travel alone to San Francisco to spend a couple of days on vacation expecting to have fun. Paul lodges in the hotel and befriends a group that is participating in the market week event. They go to The Fishermen and Frank is bothered by Sue, who is married with his host. Frank leaves the woman and meets the lonely socialite Jeanie and a man swaps his bourbon by another. Meanwhile Paula calls him telling that a man called Philip from Los Angeles wants to meet him.

On the next morning, Franks wakes up with hangover and goes to the Medical Building and the doctors tell him that he had drunk luminous toxin poison that affects vital organs and there is no antidote. Frank rushes to the Southern Pacific Hospital and the doctors confirm the diagnostic and give one week of life maximum. Frank Bigelow decides to investigate the reason why he was poisoned in a quest to find the truth.

"D.O.A." is a film with the intriguing story of a simple accountant that comes to the police station to report his own murder. The plot has a complex development and an ironic motive for the murder – the notarization of a bill of sale. Paula Gibson is irritating and annoying character.

In 1988, I saw the good remake of D.O.A. with Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan and Charlotte Rampling. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "D.O.A. Com As Horas Contadas" ("D.O.A. With the Hours Counted")

Quite a nifty/superb little film

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 15 January 2006]

This film is the kind that doesn't kid itself at all- it knows what it is and is pretty happy to have it that way. It's filled with the classic tough-guy, 'real-to-life' dialog of the thriller, while staying a foot ahead of the audience. This is because the director, Rudolph Matte (the great cinematographer behind many a film-noir and Carl Dreyer's masterpieces) has such a clever hand of the material. One wrong step and it could slip into being too hokey. In fact there is a camp factor in a couple of scenes; the subject matter almost slips into Naked Gun parody before stepping back up for air. But for the fans of mysteries of today would want to check this out, as it provides a twist on the usual logic of the sub-genre (if a genre at all). While not as 'dark' as other film-noir pictures, it still ranks very high in it storytelling, having a potent enough story to tell, and a slew of actors just pushing the limits of the B-movie style.

Edmond O'Brien is at his absolute best as the worried Frank Bigelow, worried because he's in a rotten predicament: poisoned by a random drop of 'luminous poison' at a jazz club, with no chances of survival. The one thing to do then is to investigate it, 'his' way, through searching the histories of men like Phillips and Rakubian. One has to pay attention to his story a few times, but after a while everything does come together, adding to the suspense. O'Brien doesn't play him very naturalistically- it's actually quite great at being a simply cinematic performance, with the occasional swagger, roughness, but determination of the best of the doomed heroes of these stories. There's soul in his work, even as he says lines fast or with such vigor to maybe go overboard. But it works, especially because of the other cast around him being so solid. Several are good, and a few are stand-out; Luther Adler as Majack gives some worth in his scenes, and especially a small but very memorable part for a nasty character, Chester, done to a T by Neville Brand (the little dialog scenes between them are as shamelessly pulp as any other film like this, but compelling and very entertaining).

Aside from the merits of most of the cast, and Matte's visual approach (much of the outside running scenes and chase bits are shot right on location, like in a pre-guerrilla style of film-making), there's the aspect of the script. Stories like this are hard to come by now, even ones being almost this simple. At the same time, the screenwriters implement a kind of twisty logic that happens in the course of the film. The sort of MacGuffin lies in the bill of sale (as maybe I missed something) as it's the last thing to worry about. What one looks for in something like D.O.A., is how the written matter can go through the director's visual mind-warp. Under the radar in a sense, the film does some techniques that wouldn't of made it had it been a bigger A-list film. Two examples of this were striking to me, making D.O.A. of some note (this is besides the adept on-location work. One was the mix of shots shown in the jazz club scene, the musicians. This is a great, great little scene, adding a sense of atmosphere that another filmmaker would've passed over. Another was during a short scene when Bigelow arrives at the hostel- women pass by, and with each one a little sound effect comes through. This is whimsy, maybe, or maybe just some un-explainable little joke put into the film, but either way its terrific. When a filmmaker can add a little flavor to the film like that, it elevates the material.

D.O.A. is on a short list of numerous writers regarding the histories of 40's-50's 'film-noir' pictures in America as one of the premiere examples, and it's not far from the truth. It's compact enough to not make Bigelow's strange mix of abrasiveness, confusion, and drops of tenderness to his secretary/love interest Paula, while allowing enough of a story to be told to make it feel complete. And that scene near the end in the hallway...

Solving Your Own Murder

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 9 May 2014]

California accountant Edmond O'Brien (as Frank Bigelow) briskly walks into a Los Angeles police station to declare he has been murdered. This startling accusation turns out to be true because Mr. O'Brien was poisoned earlier, and there is no cure. Neither we nor O'Brien know who administered the poison, or why it happened. Next, we flashback to see O'Brien's story. Two days earlier, he left his office for a vacation in San Francisco. Although he appears to be romantically engaged with blonde secretary Pamela Britton (as Paula Gibson), O'Brien appears to be very interested in some other female companionship. He leaves his hotel door open to listen in on a party and later joins the revelers for a night on the town. At a bar, O'Brien is lured away by a sexy blonde while a mysterious figure prepares his fatal drink...

"D.O.A." (Dead on Arrival) is a strange but entertaining film. Credit should go to director Rudolph Mate and black-and-white photographer Ernest Laszlo for giving it a stylish look. They know how to make the cameras and performers move beautifully. In an early role, Neville Brand (as Chester) is his nasty best. There are a few problems, however. A minor one is the initially unclear and later juvenile relationship between O'Brien and his secretary. A major one is the soundtrack, which is credited to the otherwise esteemed and skillful Dimitri Tiomkin. Most notably, after O'Brien's character goes on vacation, a weird sound effect plays every time he sees an attractive woman. These sound effects are loud, distracting and unnecessary. Someone should have noticed this was not a "Three Stooges" comedy.

******* D.O.A. (4/30/50) Rudolph Mate ~ Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Neville Brand

Iridium, Desperation & Luminous Toxin Poison

[seymourblack-1 · 8/10 · 7 August 2008]

D.O.A is a top noir with a "no way out" motif which provides tremendous impetus for the story of a man in pursuit of his own murderer. The action starts with the man going into a police station to report his own murder. This set up is so bizarre and memorable that any replication of it in another movie would immediately be recognised as a D.O.A homage or rip off.

The man in question is Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien). The police are not surprised by his information and invite him to tell them his story.

Frank runs a small business in the little town of Banning; he'd gone on a short holiday to San Francisco during "Market Week" and got caught up in the partying going on in his hotel. When a group of people went on from the party to "The Fisherman" club, he went with them. At the club, a man at the bar swapped Frank's unattended drink with another one. Frank consumed some of the drink but didn't finish it because it had an unpleasant taste.

Next day, back at the hotel. he felt unwell and went to the Medical Building where one of his tests confirmed the presence of luminous toxin poisoning. He was told that this was fatal, there was no antidote and he had only a very short time to live. He went on to a hospital emergency unit where further tests confirmed the previous diagnosis and he was told that he only had a maximum of a week to live. The doctor deduced that he had been murdered and notified the Homicide Department. Frank panicked and raced out of the building and along a series of streets until he got to "The Fisherman" which was closed. Back at the hotel he found that the people he'd partied with had left. The only possible lead he had to help him find out who had killed him was that a man called Philips had been trying desperately to talk to him. Frank had not responded to his request because he didn't want to interrupt his holiday. A telephone conversation with Paula (his secretary / fiancée) confirmed that Philips had died. Frank then decided to go on to Los Angeles, where Philips' office was located to see if he could find out what he'd wanted to discuss so urgently.

Through his investigations Frank found that Philips had purchased some iridium from a man called George Reynolds and sold it to someone called Majak. The iridium, which was very rare and costly, had been stolen. Philips was on bail and was facing a possible jail sentence unless he could show that his part in the deal was legitimate. He could've cleared himself if he could've produced the bill of sale which had been notarised by Frank. Further investigations revealed that Philips had not committed suicide but was murdered and his murderer had then poisoned Frank to prevent him from producing the document. Frank eventually confronted his killer before getting his revenge.

D.O.A. provided Edmond O'Brien with the role for which he is best remembered and his depiction of Frank's descent into increasingly aggressive, brusque and desperate behaviour as his efforts to find his killer are met with a series of dead ends and complications, is suitably frantic and convincing.

Not as good as I thought it would be - but worth watching

[PudgyPandaMan · 6/10 · 5 November 2008]

The film has a great opening hook. A man shows up at a police station to report a murder - his own. Well that got my attention. But then the next few minutes almost ruined it for me. The following scenes after the police station include some bad acting, soap opera type material - especially with the sappy secretary who whines and nags. But I thought, okay I'll give it a little time. It does eventually get going, but still has some annoying traits. Particularly the sound effects whistles every time the lead character sees a pretty woman.

My biggest problem was the convoluted plot and murky characters. While I do like a movie that has some complexity and layers to solve, I don't like it when it gets too complicated and hard to figure out who all the suspects are and what they have to do with the victim. The players involved get confusing as the plot goes in one direction, then another. I just wasn't clear in how it all fit together in the end. I'm still not sure how Rakubian, Phillipos and Mrs. Rakubian fit it.

But faults aside, there are some good points. Like the superb cinematography that only could be effective in the classic black and white like a true noir film should be. I loved the scene where he is running through the streets of San Fransisco after he gets the fatal diagnosis. I also loved the setting for the climax scene between Bigelow and Halliday in that dark office building with the great wrap around balconies - very effective in helping convey the mood.

There is some overacting to be had in this film. Obviously the whiny secretary gets to be a little over the top. Also, the scene where he bursts into the emergency hospital unit - I thought the doctor and nurses in that scene gave very exaggerated performances. I also felt that when Bigelow finally succumbs in the end in the police station, he literally throws himself on the floor which was not at all a believable reaction. The ending title screen with "the medical facts in this film are authentic.luminous toxin is a descriptive term for an actual poison" was a cheesy way to close a classic Noir film. But that's just my opinion.

Overall, it is still worth watching if you can look past the shortcomings and can manage to follow along with the plot. I only watched it one time, so maybe it takes multiple viewings to understand and truly appreciate this classic.

A Dissent From the Consensus

[telegonus · 3/10 · 17 November 2001]

I'm generally partial to film noir, and D.O.A. is about as close to pure noir, at least in spirit, as a movie can be. But I don't like it and never did. Both the director and cinematographer have done brilliant work elsewhere, and the film is no no means incompetently made; but it's poorly written, has way too convoluted a plot, and is for the most part very badly acted. There are no likable characters in the film, and no engaging performances. I grant that much of the outdoor photography is excellent, and that the views of postwar California offer a sociologically fascinating and at times aesthetically striking picture of real life at a certain time and in a certain place. But such ancillary pleasures do not a good movie make.

One of my chief problems with the film is its leading actor, Edmond O'Brien. When well cast, O'Brien could be excellent. He had a fine background in the legitimate theater and could play Shakespeare quite proficiently (as his Casca in Julius Caesar attests). But he is a dull hero. In D.O.A. his mere presence makes his hounded character absurd almost from the start. With Bogart, Ladd or even Dick Powell in the role the movie would have worked better, as these actors, whatever their limitations, were bona fide stars, and would have audience empathy just by showing up. O'Brien, while not a loathsome presence, isn't the sort of actor people care for. He is workmanlike as the unfortunate "hero", but there's no spark there, no reason, from a likability standpoint, to identify with him. My greatest concern for O'Brien was for the actor himself. As he was a heavy-set, beefy fellow, his running up and down stairs all the time made me worry that he might have a heart attack. The best thing about O'Brien, and one of the reasons he was never out of work, is that he was, in the parlance of Old Hollywood, a great dialog man. He always spoke clearly, never muffed his lines; and no matter how stupid the things he had to say might sound, he delivery was impeccable.

In a lesser role, Luther Adler makes a tedious, predictable villain. It's the sort of performance Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt or George Macready could have delivered in his sleep. Adler tries hard, but is defeated by the script; and he is badly photographed and directed. There's no menace to him. As his henchman, Neville Brand is so obviously trying to give the kind of "dangerous" performance that put Richard Widmark over in Kiss Of Death a few years earlier, that he's impossible to take seriously. As the years went by he became a capable screen performer, but here his grinning and eye-popping, while fun to watch, just make him look silly. Pamela Britton is a dull love interest, and like O'Brien seems to be in the wrong film.

How this film ever became a cult classic baffles me. I like dark cinema as much as the next guy, but I don't cherish films just because they're dark, or because they have doomed heroes, or are photographed at night, or offer brilliant, dandyish European villains. Such things had become clichés by the time D.O.A. was made anyway, and the formula was wearing thin. Noirs would continue to be made, fitfully, through the next decade, but in a different mode, more realistically than before, with greater subtlety. D.O.A. is caught between two modes. As it came out in 1950, it still has some of the Chandler-Woolrich feeling of the previous decade: dark cities, eccentric secondary characters, evil women, indifferent or corrupt cops, and an air of fatalism. Yet it also reflects the semi-documentaries of the postwar period in its location shooting and in the absence of much studio artifice, which ought, at least in theory, give it an air of hope, of modernity, which alas, its ironclad plot doesn't possess. It would take the talents of, among others, men like Phil Karlson, Don Siegel and Robert Aldrich to move noirs in a contemporary direction more appropriate to the times. Indeed, Aldrich seemed to have learned a thing or two from this film, which his later Kiss Me Deadly, though vastly superior, seems stylistically to be at times an homage to.