The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) - Updated

The first time on saw this gripping noir my least favorite part of the film probably was the title and it still is. That's saying a lot and the film is adapted from the James M. Cain crime novel anyways with title included free of charge. Otherwise this film is a wonderful example of the film noir canon and yet it lacks the elements your more typical private eye mystery.

It trades dark streets of crime for a small roadside burger joint owned by a shrewd man and his noticeably younger wife. Bring a drifter searching for a quick buck and you have everything set for the most deadliest of love triangles. At the tips are John Garfield as the rambling man Frank who initially could care less for his bosses' pretty wife. Then there's Cora, the alluring girl who seems out of place in her life. Then you have the money-grubbing Nick who seems naively oblivious to the whole situation.

At first nothing seems to be afoot and Cora is adamant about not getting involved with the new hand. However, ultimately things devolve. That's not necessarily the exciting part. We expect the rapid and lurid love affair that soon besets Frank and Cora.  We expect more likely than not that Nick will either catch them or they will knock him off first. They choose the latter and its far from preferable. Soon the district attorney is down their throats with his own suspicions about the forbidden couple. He's pretty smart too.

Sackett plays Frank and Nora off of each other. Their both scared. Neither one wants jail or worst the gas chamber. Nora ends up being the only one prosecuted but her sly lawyer is able to call his opponents bluff and get Nora off with hardly a hitch. The only problem is that Frank and Nora hate each other guts now. They are positively poisoned to each other.

The story could end there and it would be ironic enough, but it doesn't. It has yet another act where Frank and Nora make up following the illness of her mother, the flourishing of her establishment after the trial and a bout with blackmail. All seems to be better than it ever was, but fate can have a cruel sense of humor.

On one out of the ordinary car ride Frank crashes and in the aftermath Cora is left dead with Frank on the fast track to the gas chamber. And that's where the title comes in. The Postman Always Rings Twice. In other words, if you don't pay for your crimes the first time around, you always end paying up one way or another. Cora was killed and Frank faced execution. Neither one got off in the end.

Putting aside the Hay's Codes need for justice to be dealt, this is a wonderfully sardonic tale and ultimately sensual noir for the 1940s. Lana Turner was never better dancing with relative ease between amorous sweetness and acidic intentions. And the moment she first shows up the screen is one of the most eye catching entrances by a femme fatale. Although not the greatest of leading men John Garfield is surprisingly credible opposite Turner. He plays the hard working every man incredibly well. Hume Cronym for his part plays his wily prosecutor wonderfully with a sly smile. I cannot quite put a finger on it, but I like him.

4.5/5 Stars