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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
A wicked story that goes nowhere we expect it to and the white hot chemistry between the stars are the primary ingredients that make The Postman Always Rings Twice the classic it is that still remains riveting after 75 years.
This steamy melodrama stars John Garfield as Frank Chambers, a drifter who gets hired as a handyman at a California seaside diner owned by Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway) who finds himself instantly attracted to Nick's young sexpot of a wife, Cora, played by a drop dead gorgeous Lana Turner. Cora fights her attraction to Frank as long as she can, but eventually drifts into a passionate affair with the man right under her husband's nose. They decide to run off together, but Cora doesn't want to leave penniless or without the diner, so she convinces Frank to murder Nick.
Based on a novel by James M. Cain, the screenplay takes its time in setting up the story by presenting Frank and Cora as star-crossed lovers whose destiny is sealed in their passion by setting up the seductive dance between the two of them that begins the film...love after their first kiss, which Frank initiates, Cora counters by wiping the kiss thoroughly off of her lips. We think it's going to be smooth sailing for Frank and Cora when they finally put their plan in motion, but when their plan backfires, we are surprised to see them torn apart and their passion destroyed.
But what really makes this film work is the chemistry between Turner and Garfield. Turner is sex on legs here, giving probably the strongest performance of her career in a tailor made role and Garfield is perfect as the sensitive beast who brings out the passion in the woman. Kellaway is rather silly as Nick and his early exit from the story is welcome, but Leon Ames is excellent as the DA and so is Hume Cronyn as Cora's attorney. There's also a brief appearance from Alan Reed as a detective. Reed, of course, would make a name for himself a couple of decades later as the voice of Fred Flintstone. A classic melodrama with a deliciously ironic finale we don't see coming. The film was remade in 1981 with Jack Nicholson as Frank and Jessica Lange as Cora, but it doesn't a hold a candle to this.
A wicked story that goes nowhere we expect it to and the white hot chemistry between the stars are the primary ingredients that make The Postman Always Rings Twice the classic it is that still remains riveting after 75 years.
This steamy melodrama stars John Garfield as Frank Chambers, a drifter who gets hired as a handyman at a California seaside diner owned by Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway) who finds himself instantly attracted to Nick's young sexpot of a wife, Cora, played by a drop dead gorgeous Lana Turner. Cora fights her attraction to Frank as long as she can, but eventually drifts into a passionate affair with the man right under her husband's nose. They decide to run off together, but Cora doesn't want to leave penniless or without the diner, so she convinces Frank to murder Nick.
Based on a novel by James M. Cain, the screenplay takes its time in setting up the story by presenting Frank and Cora as star-crossed lovers whose destiny is sealed in their passion by setting up the seductive dance between the two of them that begins the film...love after their first kiss, which Frank initiates, Cora counters by wiping the kiss thoroughly off of her lips. We think it's going to be smooth sailing for Frank and Cora when they finally put their plan in motion, but when their plan backfires, we are surprised to see them torn apart and their passion destroyed.
But what really makes this film work is the chemistry between Turner and Garfield. Turner is sex on legs here, giving probably the strongest performance of her career in a tailor made role and Garfield is perfect as the sensitive beast who brings out the passion in the woman. Kellaway is rather silly as Nick and his early exit from the story is welcome, but Leon Ames is excellent as the DA and so is Hume Cronyn as Cora's attorney. There's also a brief appearance from Alan Reed as a detective. Reed, of course, would make a name for himself a couple of decades later as the voice of Fred Flintstone. A classic melodrama with a deliciously ironic finale we don't see coming. The film was remade in 1981 with Jack Nicholson as Frank and Jessica Lange as Cora, but it doesn't a hold a candle to this.