The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband... but even once the deed is done, they must live with the consequences of their actions.

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

Harry Ruskin (screen play), Niven Busch (screen play),

Stars:

Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lana Turner	...	Cora Smith
John Garfield	...	Frank Chambers
Cecil Kellaway	...	Nick Smith
Hume Cronyn	...	Arthur Keats
Leon Ames	...	Kyle Sackett
Audrey Totter	...	Madge Gorland
Alan Reed	...	Ezra Liam Kennedy
Jeff York	...	Blair

Storyline

A drifter hitches a ride from the local District Attorney to an 'out of the way' restaurant/gas station owned by a man and his beautiful wife. They fall in love and together they plot the murder of her husband.

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Plot Keywords:

drifter | murder | love | district attorney | gold digger | 

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Taglines:

Lana Turner. John Garfield. M-G-Marvelous!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 May 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le facteur sonne toujours deux fois

Filming Locations:

Norwalk Train Station, Norwalk, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on June 16, 1947 with Lana Turner and John Garfield reprising their film roles.

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Goofs

At the start of the film, as the car rolls down the hill before Frank gets out, you can clearly see the crew's reflection in the side paneling of the car.

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Quotes

Frank Chambers: With my brains and your looks, we could go places.

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Connections

Referenced in Ein Mann für jede Tonart (1993)

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Soundtracks

"She's Funny That Way"
(1928) (uncredited)
Music by Neil Moret
Lyrics by Richard A. Whiting
Played on guitar and Sung by Cecil Kellaway

User Reviews

Atmospheric story of lust, desire and murder

Drifter Frank Chambers applies for a job at a road side café belonging to Nick Smith, only to fall under the spell of Nick's wife Cora. He falls into desire which leads to deceit and eventually murder. Too late he falls in love but by then things have gone too far. He tells his story to us with the hindsight of a condemned man.

A classic bit of noir light. Based on Cain's sexual novel this underplays the explicit references but turns the subtle stuff way up - the film opens with a `Man Wanted' sign, while Cora is so well played that there's no doubt what she's offering. Without the explicit sex of the remake this story is a lot freer to be interesting rather than explicit. The court case and the mistrust between the lovers is as good as the early desire giving rise to murder.

Lana Turner is excellent as the femme fatale, she is smouldering and very, very desirable. Garfield is also excellent as the man trapped in her web. The two are the very center of the film and are both superb. If the film has any weakness then it may be that modern audiences need more than very subtle stuff, but that's probably our problem rather than the film's.

Overall this is very enjoyable, it has a great sense of mood and builds well to the inevitable conclusion.