D.O.A.

1950, US, directed by Rudolph Maté

A noir with an intriguing narrative strategy, beginning, indelibly, with the protagonist reporting his own murder to the police, before the film switches to flashback mode to fill in the gaps in our understanding. These prove to be many and varied in this rather byzantine plot centered on an incriminating document related to the sale of a quantity of iridium, with our protagonist, Edmond O'Brien, simultaneously trying to unravel his own murder while doing what he can to manage his medical situation. O'Brien plays the role with a suitable sense of urgency, although director Rudolph Maté sometimes undercuts the gathering tension by intercutting conversations with O'Brien's secretary and love interest that don't seem to materially advance the plotline to any great degree. Still, a fine, mostly brisk noir suffused with the sense of paranoia that we've come to associate with the time period/genre.