D.O.A. (1950)

Harry Popkin Productions/ Cardinal Pictures/ United Artists
Director: Rudolph Maté
Starring: Edmund O’Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler

Honors:
National Film Registry

In a creative take on a murder mystery where the victim must piece together the missing facts of his own murder before he dies is the premise of this wonderfully constructed, independently produced Hollywood film noir. An unusual drama its plot is told in flashback sending its main character digging ever deeper into the complex plot that claims his life in a beautifully shot black and white motion picture of classic Hollywood cinema. Its amateur investigative story rises in frantic energy with the intensifying build of an unseen ticking clock that is the main character’s fleeting moments of life as he is consumed by the motive of his impending death.

 

D.O.A. is a film noir about a man with a short period left to live attempts to track down his murderer and the motive after discovering he had been poisoned. We begin with Frank Bigelow (Edmund O’Brien) marches into the San Francisco police department to report his own murder. He recounts what was to be a short getaway alone to the bay area as a respite from work and his girlfriend/secretary Paula (Pamela Britton). After an evening on the town Bigelow wakes up feeling ill, discovering he was irreversibly poisoned and informed he has perhaps mere days to live sending him franticly on a chase to find the who done this to him and why. Anxiously Bigelow pieces together the mystery of a transaction he notarized that reveals to be connected to stolen iridium, a recent mysterious suicide of his client, and gangland connections as he chases down clues throughout San Francisco and later Los Angeles. Ultimately, he discovers how he was a pawn in personal quarrel between his client and his wife (Lynn Baggett), stopping her and her lover who poisoned him. Back in the police station as Bigelow finishes his story he dies where the detective decides to report Bigelow dead on arrival, or D.O.A.

 

From the moment the picture begins with its artistic, lengthy tracking shot of Bigelow from behind walking through the police station while the credits roll you can tell you are in for something that is a bit unique and surely pull you in. Director Rudolph Maté brings his years of cinematography experience to the director’s chair in this simple, yet effective absorbing drama shot wonderfully in the film noir black and white style. With the appeal and energy brought to the picture by leading man Edmund O’Brien the film goes from aimless to high stakes vigor as a man must look hard, wide, and swiftly to find the man that had poisoned his drink when he was looking for a carefree weekend away from life at home. It is almost like such a story would not work outside of the classic film noir black and white seen in this period of Hollywood, which is mostly true from its history.

 

Inspired by the 1931 German picture Der Mann, Der Seinen Morder Sucht, director Rudolph Maté adapted the premise of a man investigating his eventual demise for the contemporary world adding more liveliness to the plot as well as darker tone that would appeal to audiences in the post war era. Bringing all his knowledge of visual storytelling he gathered as one of the great cinematographers in the business dating back to his European roots and into Hollywood success, Maté was turning his skill set to the director’s chair. His mastery of the black and white frame dating back to the silent era continued to this transitional phase of his career which was a perfect match for a film noir drama such as D.O.A.

 

Maté does little playing with a usual formula when it comes to storytelling, sticking for the most part to conventional cinematography to keep the focus on his actors and their performances. A does capture views of San Francisco and Los Angeles form a street view as he films views of the cities from lesser extravagant areas and angles, even stealing shots of O’Brien on open public streets. The most creativity shot in the picture comes immediately during the opening credits with its lengthy tracking shot from behind O’Brien walking through the halls of a police station. Being that it plays behind the credits the shot was not meant to overshadow the rest of the picture, but serves purely as creative background to the usually bland credit sequence. To add an addition layer of intrigue to the feature was a line in the closing credits about the scientific accuracy of the poisoning depicted, punctuating the conclusion of the picture as audiences left theaters.

 

Edmund O’Brien carries the picture as its protagonist. As victim and hero his portrayal of Frank Bigelow is the key to the success to the film. Beginning as a man troubled, weighted down by the burdens of personal life he transitions to the frantic nature of a man told he will die in the matter of days. Ultimately his purpose changes to amateur sleuth hysterically seeking out the clues that connect him to a motive that will claim him. All this comes together in the singular performance of O’Brien, which he makes work so well.

 

His supporting cast consists of a wide array of characters that jump in and out of the plot, never spending too much time with them to become a significant focus of the overall story. What begins as the most important supporting character of the picture appears to be Bigelow’s secretary and somewhat secreted girlfriend whom he nervous about, Paula, played by Pamela Britton. Initially a Broadway actress whom later came to be remembered for her work in the 1960s television show “My Favorite Martian,” Britton plays an anxious partner whose relationship gets quickly pushed to the back burner once we get into the heart of the film’s plot. The bounty of secondary characters rolls in with Luther Alder as a menacing mob leader, character actor William Ching as Bigelow’s poisoner, Lynn Baggett as the plotting wife that put all things in motion, and a debuting Beverly Garland as questionable secretary in the idle of the mess with Bigelow. All these sporting players seem to come and go as the story plows through with Bigelow to determine the clues that find the truth of the situation he had been put in, leaving little time to truly focus on them much.

 

At the time D.O.A was reviewed in a generally favorable manner with critics praising O’Brien’s performance and a plot that gripping enough for a feature. Being a United Artist released film the feature tended to get less attention from press and the public compared the bigger flashier studios in Hollywood. However, with time D.O.A. would be viewed, studied, and praised for its production and visuals. Its unique portrayal of both San Francisco and Los Angeles shot in the less lavish street views, at times with “stolen shots” gave the picture a more tangible feel to the cities and the drama. Maté’s would gain praise for the picture, becoming one of his best-known features as a director. It would be considered for many all-time movie lists through the decades and eventually gained election to the National Film Registry in 2004 for its significance.

 

D.O.A. and its premise would be remade a number of times in many fashions including radio dramas, films, plays, and even video games throughout the years, but all manners would never reach the praise of this initial picture. It marked a significant strong start to Rudolph Maté’s directorial career, with D.O.A. being only his third picture, providing him a push towards a very busy directorial career until his death in 1964. The film remains fresh with its production and story despite its age, where it remains a treasure to be rediscovered by new generations of audiences.