D.O.A. (1950), a film noir drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, is considered a classic of the genre. The frantically-paced plot revolves around a doomed mans quest to find out who has poisoned him – and why – before he dies.
The film begins with one of cinemas most innovative opening sequences. The scene is a long, behind-the-back tracking sequence featuring Frank Bigelow (OBrien) walking through the hallway of a police station to report his own murder. Oddly, the police almost seem to have been expecting him and already know who he is.
A flashback begins with Bigelow in his hometown of Banning, California where he is an accountant and notary public. He decides to take a one-week vacation in San Francisco, but this does not sit well with Paula (Britton), his confidential secretary and girlfriend, since he is not taking her along. Marla Rakubian threatens Bigelow when he comes to her for information.
Bigelow accompanies a group from a sales convention on a night on the town. He ends up at a jazz club where, unnoticed by him, a stranger swaps his drink for another. (The nightclub scene includes one of the earliest depictions of the Beat subculture). The next morning, Bigelow feels ill. He visits a doctor, where tests reveal he has swallowed a "luminous toxin" for which there is no antidote. A second opinion confirms the grim diagnosis, and the other doctor implies that the poisoning must have been deliberate.
With at most a few days to live, Bigelow sets out to untangle the events behind his impending death............