Kennington Noir presents DOA (1950)

"I want to report a murder" ... "Who was murdered?" "I was". Thus starts this terrific fast-paced film with Edmond O’Brien as a small town accountant let off the leash on holiday in San Francisco. His plans soon go awry when he visits a jazz club and his drink is spiked with slow-acting “luminous toxin”. He then has just a few days to find out who has killed him and why, before the poison takes its lethal effect. DOA was directed by Polish émigré Rudolph Maté, who was a cinematographer on many prestigious features before turning to directing in 1947. Look out especially for the hidden camera “stolen shots” when Edmond O’Brien runs through the streets of San Francisco, bumping into startled passers-by, and the jazz club sequence where we see an early depiction of the underground Beats scene. The feature will be introduced by Kulraj Phullar who is currently completing his PhD on “Good Girls and Goodness in Classic Hollywood Film Noir” at King's College London.