History Film / DOA

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: TheHeroDies.]]
** BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: But he at least manages to expose the villains whose plot led to his death.]]

''D.O.A.'', or ''Dead On Arrival'', is a 1950 FilmNoir drama about a man named Frank Bigelow, who must frantically try to find out who wants him dead through poisoning- and why. The plot speeds as Frank recounts [[HowWeGotHere his past events]] to the police to get help.

->'''Frank Bigelow''': I'd like to report a murder.
->'''Captain''': Sit down. Where was this murder committed?
->'''Frank Bigelow''': San Francisco, last night.
->'''Captain''': Who was murdered?
->'''Frank Bigelow''': I was.

!!!This film provides examples of:

%%* PerfectPoison

* WhodunnitToMe: Pretty much the TropeCodifier.

''D.O.A.'', or ''Dead On Arrival'', is a 1950 FilmNoir drama about a man named Frank Bigelow, who must frantically try to find out who wants him dead through poisoning- and why. The plot speeds as Frank recounts his past events to the police to get help. [[http://www.archive.org/details/doa_1949 Download the movie here.]]

* TitleDrop: "Mark his file... as [[DeadOnArrival DOA]]."

%%* [[YourDaysAreNumbered Your Hours Are Numbered]]

* EnforcedMethodActing: That long sequence where Frank is running through the streets? None of that was planned. They just sat the camera on the back of a car and had the actor run through the streets. Those times where he nearly gets hit by a car and a bus, the actor really could have been hit by a car or a bus.

* LivingOnBorrowedTime
* PerfectPoison
* TheReveal
* UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco

* [[YourDaysAreNumbered Your Hours Are Numbered]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doa394.jpg

-->'''Frank Bigelow''': I'd like to report a murder.
-->'''Captain''': Sit down. Where was this murder committed?
-->'''Frank Bigelow''': San Francisco, last night.
-->'''Captain''': Who was murdered?
-->'''Frank Bigelow''': I was.

If you're looking for the fighting game, see ''DeadOrAlive''.

* SanFrancisco

!!!Tropes used by D.O.A:

* FollowTheLeader: Chester, like many killers in the FilmNoir era, was inspired by [[GigglingVillain Tommy Udo]] from ''Kiss of Death''.

* DownerEnding

* ShownTheirWork: In the credits--''before'' the actors' names are listed--a title card informs us that the poison described is totally a real thing, and that "luminous poison" is an actual medical term.

* Expy: Chester is one of the many [[GigglingVillain Giggling Villains]] that were inspired by Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo from ''Kiss of Death''.

* FollowTheLeader: Chester, like many killers in the FilmNoir era, was inspired by Tommy Udo from ''Kiss of Death''.

* HarsherInHindsight; Bigelow is killed with a poison that glows in the dark. In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was murdered by having (non-glowy) radioactive material injected into him. (''LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' combined both the film and the real-life events for their episode "30".)
* LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging: The film never does explain how [[spoiler:Halliday]] got involved in the original iridium theft/sale that instigated the film.

*YourDaysAreNumbered