Amazon.com: A faceless figure marches down an endless hallway as dark, driving music underscores his doom. It's stocky, stalwart Edmond O'Brien, who plows through the police detective's office like he's got nothing to lose. 'I want to report a murder,' he demands, grim and sleepy-eyed. Who was killed? 'I was.' It's a brilliant opening to a memorable film noir classic. O'Brien is a CPA who flees his dull job and small California town for a wild weekend in San Francisco, only to be poisoned and doomed to certain death. With only days to live, his incredulity morphs into a searing drive to find his killers and stinging regrets for what might have been. O'Brien is a familiar noir face, but he usually plays figures of authority: a cop in White Heat; an investigator in The Killers. He's a little stiff here, but his blunt, unglamorous persona is perfect for the Everyman who is randomly visited by death. Rudolph Maté, a cinematographer turned director, moves from sun-bright day scenes to busy nighttime locations with few visual flourishes, but when he takes the camera into the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco the film is energized with a gritty, restless vigor. It's one of the most relentlessly dark films noir ever made--taut, edgy, and low budget. Watch for the Bradbury building in the film's climax, made famous by its memorable use decades later in the sci-fi noir classic Blade Runner. --Sean Axmaker
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Rating: - Great Film Noir
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.
Rating: - D.O.A.
Small-town accountant Frank Bigelow goes to San Francisco for a week's fun prior to settling down with fiancée Paula. After a night on the town, he wakes up with more than just a hangover; doctors tell him he's been given a "luminous toxin" with no antidote and has, at most, a week to live! Not knowing who did it or why, Bigelow embarks on a frantic odyssey to find his own murderer. Written by Rod Crawford {puffinus@u.washington.edu}
Rating: - Powerful and intense noir movie
The opening scene of this movie is justly famous; Frank Bigelow (the excellent Edmond O'Brien)walks into a police station saying he wishes to report a murder -his own.The movie then goes into flashback mode and we witness the events that brought about his predicament and his tracing of the killer.It is a clever story and kudos should be bestowed upon the writers Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse for the ingenious plot .
Bigelow is murdered while in LA attending a convention and the modus operandi is the covert administration of a poison for which there is no known antidote .On being advised that he only has a short time to live he devotes his time to identifying the killer .The journey takes him into the seedier side of LA and Frisco bringing him into contact with the dark side of American society.Dark in this case can be taken literally as events unfold mostly at night or in darkened rooms
Rating: - What an ending, but I won't tell you
One of the reasons I give this 5 stars is the reason this guy was murdered, my jaw droped to the floor and bounced. If you have not seen this film you will SAY WHAT??? this is crazy. Good film all the way through, deffinitly a classic Noir (black) film in all its glory, Great acting all the way through. What starts out slow excellerates to Whoa, slow this down before I chew my fingernails off. Don't ever tell anyone the ending, it's way too bizare to give up.
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- Great Film Noir
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