The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Directed by Tay Garnett: produced by Carey Wilson

Drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) stops in at the Twin Oaks Diner to ask its owner Nick Smith (Cecil Kelloway) about a job. He is instantly attracted to Nick’s young and beautiful wife, Cora (Lana Turner), and the feelings are mutual. Soon Frank and Cora are not only in love, but plotting a way they can be together - without Nick. Their attempts at murder are as rocky as their romance, however, and deceit, betrayal and death may not be reserved for the intended victim.

The Postman Always Rings Twice was adapted from the first novel of James M Cain. The book is considered a classic of crime fiction and one of the first of the hard-boiled school, though Cain himself rejected, or at least was dismissive of, the term. Cain also wrote the novella Double Indemnity - two years after The Postman Always Rings Twice - which was in turn made into a movie two years before the other story. I am surprised that more critics haven’t pointed out the similar plots of the two books; both deal with a wife who conspires with her boyfriend to kill her husband, and the consequent unravelling of their schemes.

As close as the two plot-lines are, how they are treated is quite different. In Double Indemnity, the conspirators are cool in the execution of their plans, and cold as human beings. In The Postman Always Rings Twice, Frank and Cora are more fallible, and realise it. Frank especially may be a smooth operator when it comes to women, but both he and Cora stammer and stutter over their criminal intentions. As well, their scheme is more faulty.

The near-amateurishness of the plot to kill Nick drives much of the action after the attempt, or, to be accurate, attempts, are made. The half-baked plan carries the action so far, but it is the incidental events, the unanticipated occurrences, that cause first despair and then hope for the murderous couple. The intervention of other people, even animals, has more of an effect on the situation than do Frank and Cora.

This may be seen in the characters of Sackett (Leon Ames), the district attorney, and Keats (Hume Cronyn), a defence lawyer. The former has his suspicions of wrong-doing right from the start, while the latter is much smarter and cleverer than the two principals. A pretty girl with car-trouble, a private detective with a private agenda, even an unfortunate cat, all contribute alternately to improve or worsen Frank and Cora’s situation.

The complicated plot about the simple-minded murder is a major benefit The Postman Always Rings Twice. So too are the performances. Turner and Garfield are excellent in their roles, having to create impressions of love and lust, hope and anguish, anger and fear; sometimes more than one emotion at a time. Neither is evil, even if their actions are; Cora is sometimes credited by critics as a femme fatale, but I think she is too earnest and desperate for that part. Both characters are made three-dimensional by the players.

Kellaway is the weakest element, making Nick a rather stupidly oblivious man who is more a plot-device than a character. Consequently, the actor can do little with his part. Of greater success are Ames and Cronyn as the lawyers: their inter-play is interesting in that, professionally, they anger and taunt each other; personally, they seem to be friends. That they are always two steps ahead of Frank and Cora is not surprising; nor is it disappointing in terms of story.

Add to the movie the competent direction, which makes the most of Turner’s beauty - as well as the Californian coastal scenery - and a few unexpected scenes, along with the involving adaptation of the novel by Niven Busch and Harry Ruskin, and The Postman Always Rings Twice becomes a classic crime film.