The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

Harry Ruskin (screenplay) and
Niven Busch (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 May 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Their Love was a Flame that Destroyed!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Drifter | Murder | District Attorney | Murder Of Husband | Marriage

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

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:18A (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #11240) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1996)

Filming Locations:

Norwalk Train Station, Norwalk, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

It took 12 years to adapt the explicit material (by 1940 standards) of the novel into a screenplay tame enough to comply with the Production Code prevalent at the time.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: 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.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

There is a Tavern in the Town

books v. movies

Funny, the comment there about the title - it's the strangest part of the adaptation because at least it IS mentioned in the film, but nowhere in the book. It's an absolute mystery to me how this title made it through intact when great titles like "Farewell My Lovely" were dumbed down to "Murder My Sweet" for the sake of Hollywood audiences. James M. Cain originally submitted the story to Alfred Knopf with the title "BBQ" (which makes sense in context) and was asked to change it; he considered "Black Puma" and "The Devil's Checkbook" before settling on the mystifying title by which the novel and both adaptations are well known.

Anyway, I like the film and think it's a great straight adaptation of the book, though the dialogue in the beginning seems a bit hurried (for the sake of the quick establishment of character and story) - the book does a better job of painting the hobo/gypsy lifestyle Frank embraces, and I think it's pretty central to the eventual conflict between him and Cora, so it's a shame it wasn't better depicted in the film.

Lana Turner is good, but probably just a bit mis-cast - she's a little too "glamorous" for Cora, which is also established immediately in the famous opening shot of her legs and lipstick (in contrast to the book, where she was introduced in an apron, working hard for the business like she always says she wants to.)

One note for femme-fatale buffs: Cora and Nick in the film are surnamed "Smith," which in the book was Cora's maiden name. (Nick in the book was Greek - "Papadakis") Is this a statement on marriage in general, or perhaps a desire to eliminate the racial implications in what happens? Seems unlikely; it is what it is, for smarter people than me to unravel.

"So long mister, thanks for the ride!"