Radio review – SDP – “DOA” (1951) ***1/2

Most film buffs have heard of this movie, purely for it's central idea (man injected with fatal poison investigates his own murder) and the opening dialogue exchange ("I'd like to report a murder...mine.") It's the best known starring role for Edmond O'Brien, a chunky middle aged actor who had a surprisingly large number of leading man roles (including some classics like The Killers and White Heat); a solid actor rather than a star, O'Brien was often overshadowed in his films, but here he's front and centre and gives an excellent performance. You really feel sorry for him - the poor guy's an accountant who takes a week off to decide whether to marry his secretary and turns out to be poisoned only because he notarised a bill of sale (in film noir men are often punished from departing from the straight and narrow - in this case it's not marrying a woman who loves him.) O'Brien has a few emotional soliloquies and does them well. On the down side I notice his fatalistic "I'm dead anyway" attitude sees him rough up a few women. And personally I think he would be better off spending his last few days with his girlfriend instead of tracking down a killer - surely the police would have been able to do that.