D.O.A.

Year: 1950

Grade: B

Country: USA

Director: Maté

Review

i’ve heard of this film noir several times so i was eager to finally check it out. it begins with edmond o’brien’s character walking into a police station while the credits roll. as the credits end he walks into the homicide division to report a murder. the detective asks who has been murdered and o’brien says “me.” it’s the ultimate noir beginning…the guy who tells the sad story is already dead while he’s telling it. double indemnity comes close to this (macmurray is running from the cops and has been shot), but d.o.a. improves upon it. as is the familiar way with noir, o’brien goes searching for his killer, has some romantic issues along the way and, in the end, dies. it’s interesting to note that he is poisoned the very moment that he is hitting on a girl at a bar – truly a morality tale in this regard. overall, i was a bit disappointed since i had heard so much about the film and since the beginning was so damn good – the opening sequence is so noir and features such perfect music that i had rather high hopes for the rest of the film.