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The Postman Always Rings Twice [1946]
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Even under the heavy censorship of 1946 Hollywood, Lana Turner and John Garfield's libidinous desires burn up the screen in Tay Garnett's adaptation of James M. Cain's torrid crime melodrama. Platinum blond Turner is Cora, a restless sexpot stuck in a roadside diner married to mundane middle-aged fry cook Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway) when handsome drifter Frank (Garfield) blows her way. It's lust at first sight, a rapacious desire that neither can break off, and before long they're plotting his demise--but in the wicked world of Cain nothing is that easy. Garnett's visual approach is subdued compared to the more expressionistic film noir of the period, but he's at no loss when he films the luminous Turner in her milky-white wardrobe. She radiates repressed sexuality and uncontrollable passion while Garfield's smart-talking loner Frank mixes street-smart swagger and scrappy toughness with vulnerability and sincere intensity. Co-star Hume Cronyn cuts a cold, calculating figure as their conniving lawyer, a chilly character that only increases our feelings for the murderous couple, victims of an all-consuming amour fou that drives their passions to extremes. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
Love and lust, love and murder. James M. Cain, John Garfield and Lana Turner make fine, tawdry story
Review date: 2008-10-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
With platinum hair, dark eyelashes and pouty lips, Cora Smith is a slut to dream about. Or maybe she's just an ambitious, dissatisfied wife, married to Nick, the fat older owner of a greasy roadside diner. Or maybe all those banked flames of hers are getting too much fresh oxygen from tough, dumb Frank Chambers, who drifts into her life and watches Cora's lipstick roll across the diner floor to his feet. It doesn't matter. Fate is walking slowly down the highway toward Cora and Frank. Nothing is going to change what passion and murder will bring them, and the twist of ironic justice sets them up for a great ending.
There are so many good things about this movie. The four obvious ones start with the story by James M. Cain. We're talking hot lust, dumb love and the kind of ironic inevitability that always comes in first-class noirs. There's the cynical display of the legal process, not quite corrupt -- what does justice have to do with the law? -- but rewarding to those who can best manipulate it. There's Lana Turner as Cora, no actress, but who makes believable the kind of blood-thumping single-mindedness that can turn a not-so-smart drifter into a willing participant in murder. She can offer sex and she can offer love, and neither we nor Frank is sure which has any truth. Frank will settle for the sex, but then he realizes with Cora he might have both. And there's John Garfield as Frank in a perfect performance as this flawed, gullible sap who thinks he can commit murder and call it love. All he wants is Cora on a hot night. He winds up wanting Cora for eternity, and is comforted that she'll be there for him.
Do many people remember John Garfield now? He made a name on Broadway and an even bigger name in Hollywood. He was a committed liberal who was ruined during the Commie witch-hunts. By the late Forties he couldn't find work in Hollywood. All those studio heads who made money from his films didn't want to touch him. He was no Communist, just too liberal for the frightened suits. Garfield's film career was in tatters. He was a first-class actor but naive when it came to politics. He couldn't understand what was happening to him. He died of heart failure in New York in 1952 while trying to reestablish himself on the stage. He was 39. To see just how good he was, watch his reaction shots in this movie...when he first sees Cora...when he has to get in the car next to Nick right after he's smashed Nick's skull with a bottle...when at the end of the movie he reads Cora's note and listens to the DA. Garfield's last major movie was Force of Evil in 1948. These two films demonstrate just how powerful a screen actor John Garfield was and how much the United States lost through expediency and intimidation.
The DVD transfer is just fine. Among the extras is a fine documentary about Garfield.
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Reviews
Compelling Dark Drama
Review date: 2008-05-10 Rating: 10 out of 10
I rate this movie as a career high for both of the main players; Lana Turner and John Garfield.
At the beginning of the movie , Lana Turner's Cora is like an accident waiting to happen, or a bomb without a fuse. She ouzes frustration in her marriage of convenience to a dull, older man. She is fit and sexy. Surely it is only a matter of time before........ Enter John Garfield's drifter character. He too exudes a strong yet vulnerable blue collar sexuality. They look at each other like hungry cats look when they hear the tin opener. The rest of the movie is inevitable.
The sex scenes in the 1980s remake are embarassingly explicit. Here the metaphor and implication is part of the art, and the film is all the better for it. What is left to your imagination is so much more erotic than anything on the screen could be.
As their relationship develops, and their evil plans hatch, a lot of me feels sorry for them and hopes that they get away with it. They are driven by, and are slaves to their passion for each other. That was never going to happen in 1946 Hollywood. The clue is in the title. They end up paying for their sins.
I envy their passion, but not it's consequences. This is a fine film noir.
Extras on the disc include a lengthy and very interesting profile of John Garfield. I learned a lot from it, and have become more of a fan. He was certainly on a roll in 1946. As well as being loaned out to MGM for this one, at his home studio Warner Bros, he made 'Humoresque' with Joan Crawford. It may may not be as well remembered as '...Postman..', but was one of the biggest grossing movies of the year.
The Best and Greatest Movie of Lana Turner
Review date: 2007-11-15 Rating: 10 out of 10
This is one of the classic movies of Lana Turner that no one should miss. Lana Turner herself admitted that this is her career best, and she enjoyed doing this film. Director Tay Garnett fully exploited the youth and beauty of Lana Turner in presenting her to the viewers as young Cora Smith married to a middle aged cook stuck in a roadside diner. The movie revolves around young Cora who refuses to cheat on her husband; slowly but steadily she falls under the seductive influence of a young drifter, and very soon she will be plotting the murder of her husband with her lover. Part of the movie was set near beaches in Malibu, Santa Monica and other parts of Southern California. It is really enjoyable to see the unspoiled beauty of Southern California beaches of mid 1940s. If you are remotely interested in Lana Turner's movies and career; this is the first movie you should be watching.
Languages and subtitles
Review date: 2007-11-07 Rating: 8 out of 10
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
directed by Tay Garnett
(zone 2)
Languages: ENGLISH - FRENCH - GERMAN - SPANISH
Subtitles: ENGLISH - FRENCH - GERMAN - SPANISH - PORTUGUESE - DUTCH -
DANISH - ICELANDIC - CROATIAN - SLOVENIAN - HUNGARIAN - SWEDISH -
CZECH - GREEK - POLISH - ROMANIAN - ARABIC
the postman always rings twice review
Review date: 2007-09-17 Rating: 6 out of 10
this film has a good plot but in the end it was fairly disappointing. It is about a traveller called frank chambers who applies for a job and immediately falls in love with his employers daughter.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Hume Cronyn
Lana Turner
John Garfield
Cecil Kellaway
Leon Ames
Creators:
Lana Turner (Primary Contributor)
John Garfield (Primary Contributor)
Sidney Wagner (Cinematographer)
George White (Editor)
Carey Wilson (Producer)
Harry Ruskin (Writer)
James M. Cain (Writer)
Niven Busch (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900658584
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, PAL,
Release date: 2006-06-01
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 108 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1946-05-02
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)
Language: German (Original Language)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Slovene (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Croatian (Subtitled)
Language: Czech (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Icelandic (Subtitled)
Language: Romanian (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Hungarian (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: Polish (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)