D.O.A. (1950)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Writers:

Russell Rouse (writer) and
Clarence Greene (writer)

Release Date:

30 April 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

Tagline:

A picture as excitingly different as its title!

Plot:

Frank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.

Plot Keywords:

Accountant | Doctor | Dying Man | Attempted Murder | Photographer

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Edmond O'Brien	...	Frank Bigelow
Pamela Britton	...	Paula Gibson
Luther Adler	...	Majak
Beverly Garland	...	Miss Foster (as Beverly Campbell)
Lynn Baggett	...	Mrs. Philips
William Ching	...	Halliday
Henry Hart	...	Stanley Philips
Neville Brand	...	Chester
Laurette Luez	...	Marla Rakubian
Jess Kirkpatrick	...	Sam
Cay Forrester	...	Sue
Frank Jaquet	...	Dr. Matson (as Fred Jaquet)
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Dr. Schaefer (as Larry Dobkin)
Frank Gerstle	...	Dr. MacDonald
Carol Hughes	...	Kitty

Runtime:

83 min | West Germany:77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1950-1956) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bradbury Building - 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cardinal Pictures (II)

Trivia:

Debut of Neville Brand.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Frank leaves the St. Francis and gets on the cable car, it is going towards the end of the line on Market Street, a few blocks away. But in the next scene, the cable car is going uphill in the opposite direction.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Homicide Detective: Can I help you?
Frank Bigelow: I'd like to see the man in charge.
Homicide Detective: In here...
Frank Bigelow: I want to report a murder.
Homicide Captain: Sit down. Where was this murder committed?
Frank Bigelow: San Francisco, last night.
Homicide Captain: Who was murdered?
Frank Bigelow: I was.

Movie Connections:

Featured in In a Spiral State (2009)

extremely simple yet extremely effective

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?