The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)Can lightning strike twice? The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) is a "hard-boiled" crime drama and film noir about a drifter named Frank Chambers (John Garfield) who finds himself at a roadside diner/gas station, and is offered a job by the proprietor, an ebullient (if penny-pinching) man named Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway). Initially reluctant to accept, Frank then crosses paths with a beautiful blond named Cora (Lana Turner) who makes him reconsider. Only problem is that Cora is Nick's wife...or is it really a problem for someone like Frank?
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The Forties were a fascinating time for Hollywood. Consider not just the quality of the classics--like The Postman Always Rings Twice--against the films that came before, and especially the content of those stories. This was the time when film noir was born and where crime stories really began to flourish, despite the constraints of the supposedly self-imposed "Hays Code", which included restrictions that ran counter to stories about adultery and murder. As World War II was in full swing, Hollywood turned to popular authors like James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett for stories about anti-heroes, double crosses, and labyrinthine plots to keep audiences entertained. The Postman... was not the first of Cain's novels to be adapted for the screen; that honor goes to Double Indemnity, even though the novel that became The Postman... was written first. Yet following the success of Double Indemnity, Cain's other novels, including Mildred Pierce, were greenlit. So if The Postman... seems similar to Double Indemnity in plot and tone, now you know why. MGM became aware that the Hays Code may have been useful for deflecting moral outrage, but it did little to encourage exciting drama. But the irony was that were it not for those constraints, there may never have been a reason to employ the kind of subtleties or nuance that was necessary to walk that tightrope between the sacred and the profane. Yes, like Double Indemnity, The Postman... is about adultery and murder, about two people who are in raging lust for one another, and all too easily see bumping off the husband as the path of least resistance to manifest their desires. But what makes both stories so fascinating is that, deep down, they are morality plays. The adulterers and murderers get their comeuppance...it's just that it happens after they've already done their dirty deeds.
Double Indemnity is an icon of film noir, and set the tone for many films to follow, not least of which is The Postman... So imagine my surprise seeing this blind and discovering just how incredibly similar both movies are to one another. It's probable that Cain carved out his niche in hard-boiled crime fiction (he's often credited as its progenitor) with stories that were fundamentally similar to one another, but The Postman... doesn't even try to diverge from Double Indemnity. In most cases, I would consider this to be a flaw, but getting a second dose of Double Indemnity never feels unsatisfying. In a way, this feels like experiencing a kind of a riff on the earlier movie, just with the names and places changed around a bit. Our "hero" in both films isn't really anything of the sort; both protagonists are self-serving, arrogant, and also kind of dumb. And the alluring blondes in both films don't love their husbands, dress provocatively, and never seem to tell their new beaus all of the finer details. And there's always an insurance policy. Frank is no angel, and he really should know better than to seduce Cora. She is outright frigid to him at first, and she has reason to be. She tells Frank that before she married Nick, she was always pursued by all of the boys, owing to her beauty. She married Nick really just because she wanted to--as Frank puts it--remain "the undefeated champ" and put a halt on all of the courting. Cora has ambitions of turning the diner--called "Twin Oaks"--into a serious business, even more than Nick it would seem. She grows frustrated with his obsessiveness over money while never making their business something more than it already is. I think that this is what excites her about Frank. He represents something unrestrained, and reminds her of a time that she secretly missed, when she was lusted after, even if she also found such a life stifling. Frank represents a dream of something "more" that she has forgotten how much she missed. Before Frank, Cora never felt herself a prisoner, but now such a thought is inescapable. Frank may be the first one to make an off-hand comment wishing for Nick's death, but it is Cora who approaches him seriously to kill her husband. And yet this is where The Postman... really seems to diverge from Double Indemnity, because Cora isn't a pure villainess; like Frank, she's let her libido and dreams get the best of her. Frank and Cora know that they're bad for one another, and try to put distance between one another at different times. It's just that it's not what they really want. They are two stars on a collision course with one another, destined to destroy each other and anyone else who gets in the way.
The title of The Postman Always Rings Twice is elusive until Frank makes an observation on death row, after recounting his sordid story to a priest on the eve of his execution. It has something to do with waiting on a letter with baited breath, but it's what Frank says after this which I find so intriguing. He says something about being together with Cora in the afterlife, "wherever that may be"; and I think we have a pretty good guess about where that is. From their first failed attempt on Nick's life, a savvy district attorney named Kyle Sackett (Leon Ames) has been wise to their scheme. When they finally do bump Nick off, Sackett's right there to pick up on all of the inconsistencies in their stories and charge them with murder. What's interesting is that Sackett is the true antagonist of the movie, even if he represents the law and is trying to see justice done. He coerces Frank into signing a complaint against Cora, claiming that she tried to kill the both of them. In turn, Cora feels rightfully betrayed, and her love for Frank sours. Even when her slippery attorney, Arthur Keats (Hume Cronyn), manages to squirm out an unrealistically lenient sentence for her so that neither has to do any jail time, their honeymoon is already over...even before they actually get married. One might almost pity the two murderers for having to suffer with the other in holy matrimony. Their official ceremony, for example, is filled with caustic sniping and bitterness. What a hell to inflict on these two, making them suffer together 'till death does them part. And one wonders if even death is enough to keep these kindred souls away from one another...wherever that may be.
Recommended for: Fans of a exciting and riveting story about murder, unbridled lust, betrayal, and deception--the foundations of hard-boiled crime drama and film noir. The Postman Always Rings Twice is a staple of classic Forties Hollywood, with an outstanding performance by Lana Turner as the conflicted femme fatale and John Garfield as a drifter with a faulty moral compass. Definitely a must see for fans of the genre.
Double Indemnity is an icon of film noir, and set the tone for many films to follow, not least of which is The Postman... So imagine my surprise seeing this blind and discovering just how incredibly similar both movies are to one another. It's probable that Cain carved out his niche in hard-boiled crime fiction (he's often credited as its progenitor) with stories that were fundamentally similar to one another, but The Postman... doesn't even try to diverge from Double Indemnity. In most cases, I would consider this to be a flaw, but getting a second dose of Double Indemnity never feels unsatisfying. In a way, this feels like experiencing a kind of a riff on the earlier movie, just with the names and places changed around a bit. Our "hero" in both films isn't really anything of the sort; both protagonists are self-serving, arrogant, and also kind of dumb. And the alluring blondes in both films don't love their husbands, dress provocatively, and never seem to tell their new beaus all of the finer details. And there's always an insurance policy. Frank is no angel, and he really should know better than to seduce Cora. She is outright frigid to him at first, and she has reason to be. She tells Frank that before she married Nick, she was always pursued by all of the boys, owing to her beauty. She married Nick really just because she wanted to--as Frank puts it--remain "the undefeated champ" and put a halt on all of the courting. Cora has ambitions of turning the diner--called "Twin Oaks"--into a serious business, even more than Nick it would seem. She grows frustrated with his obsessiveness over money while never making their business something more than it already is. I think that this is what excites her about Frank. He represents something unrestrained, and reminds her of a time that she secretly missed, when she was lusted after, even if she also found such a life stifling. Frank represents a dream of something "more" that she has forgotten how much she missed. Before Frank, Cora never felt herself a prisoner, but now such a thought is inescapable. Frank may be the first one to make an off-hand comment wishing for Nick's death, but it is Cora who approaches him seriously to kill her husband. And yet this is where The Postman... really seems to diverge from Double Indemnity, because Cora isn't a pure villainess; like Frank, she's let her libido and dreams get the best of her. Frank and Cora know that they're bad for one another, and try to put distance between one another at different times. It's just that it's not what they really want. They are two stars on a collision course with one another, destined to destroy each other and anyone else who gets in the way.
The title of The Postman Always Rings Twice is elusive until Frank makes an observation on death row, after recounting his sordid story to a priest on the eve of his execution. It has something to do with waiting on a letter with baited breath, but it's what Frank says after this which I find so intriguing. He says something about being together with Cora in the afterlife, "wherever that may be"; and I think we have a pretty good guess about where that is. From their first failed attempt on Nick's life, a savvy district attorney named Kyle Sackett (Leon Ames) has been wise to their scheme. When they finally do bump Nick off, Sackett's right there to pick up on all of the inconsistencies in their stories and charge them with murder. What's interesting is that Sackett is the true antagonist of the movie, even if he represents the law and is trying to see justice done. He coerces Frank into signing a complaint against Cora, claiming that she tried to kill the both of them. In turn, Cora feels rightfully betrayed, and her love for Frank sours. Even when her slippery attorney, Arthur Keats (Hume Cronyn), manages to squirm out an unrealistically lenient sentence for her so that neither has to do any jail time, their honeymoon is already over...even before they actually get married. One might almost pity the two murderers for having to suffer with the other in holy matrimony. Their official ceremony, for example, is filled with caustic sniping and bitterness. What a hell to inflict on these two, making them suffer together 'till death does them part. And one wonders if even death is enough to keep these kindred souls away from one another...wherever that may be.
Recommended for: Fans of a exciting and riveting story about murder, unbridled lust, betrayal, and deception--the foundations of hard-boiled crime drama and film noir. The Postman Always Rings Twice is a staple of classic Forties Hollywood, with an outstanding performance by Lana Turner as the conflicted femme fatale and John Garfield as a drifter with a faulty moral compass. Definitely a must see for fans of the genre.