"I want to report a murder...mine." So begins
D.O.A. Told in flashback, the story tells of how vacationing CPA Frank Bigelow (
Edmond O'Brien) becomes the recipient of a deadly poison known as iridium. Told by a doctor that he only has a few hours to live, Bigelow desperately retraces his movements of the previous 24 hours, trying to locate his murderer. Through the aid of his secretary Paula Gibson (
Pamela Britton) (who doesn't know of her boss' imminent demise), Bigelow traces a shipment of iridium to a gang of criminals who've used the poison in the commission of a crime. Bigelow had been targeted because he'd notarized the shipment, which came from the chemical firm where he works. Though we know from the outset that Bigelow isn't long for this world, the film builds up an incredible amount of suspense towards the end, when master crook Holiday (
William Ching) orders his crazed henchman (
Neville Brand) to take Bigelow for "a ride."
DOA was remade in 1988 with
Dennis Quaid and
Meg Ryan.
