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Postman Always Rings Twice [VHS]

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This is the best and original version of The Postman Always Rings Twice and it captures your attention from the opening scene when Frank Chambers narrates how he came to The Twin Oaks and met up with Cora and Nick Smith. From the moment Cora intentionally drops the cap off her lipstick tube(so that it rolls to Frank and he has to pick it up)they are both hot for each other and Cora is anxious to do away with her much older, boring cheapskate husband. The movie keeps your interest throughout and you wish they still made films like this again. Highly recommended for all mystery movie buffs and collectors of real Hollywood films.

I love all film noirs because of the way they were filmed and acted. The setting were always fantastic and the plots always teeming with murder, blackmail, and alienation. The characters were low-lifes, detectives, or femme fatales. In all film noirs, there is romance, but the sexiest film noir, by far, is the original version of The Postman Always Rings Twice. The on-screen chemistry between platinum blonde Lana Turner and drifter John Garfield is enough to carry a 113 minute movie. Throw in Cecil Kellaway and Hume Cronyn as part of the great supporting cast, a wonderful story by James M. Cain, and tragic irony and the result is one of the fastest moving, most enjoyable film noirs produced in the golden age of Hollywood.

Lana Turner's Cora ranks as one of the most seemingly innocent and utterly drop-dead beautiful goddesses ever to touch the silver screen.

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At the beginning of the movie, when Frank (excellent John Garfield)arrives to the lonely gas station, a sign makes explicit the movie plot: "Man Wanted". Cora (Lana Turner) needs desperately a man to satisfy her and kill her husband.

This is a criminal drama marked by destiny, thanks to James Cain, and exasperated by Niven Busch, greek tragedy and alarm signs lover: Cora first appears with a blindy white dress, and Frank's hamburger is burning. And, as it must be, a black cat starts the fatality of treason.

This movie is EXCELLENT, undoubtly the best NOIR there's ever been. John Garfield, before being accused of being a communist by senator McArthy, gave life to Frank, a handsome tramp that gets a job at a gas station where a "man is wanted". Lana Turner steals the show performing Cora, the beautiful and dreadful wife of the gas station owner, Cecil Kellaway. This is Tay Garnett's best work, and the cinematography is perfect for a movie that it's literally creepy, dark, desperate and lusty.

Definitely in myy Top 10 of all time. A TIMELESS CLASSIC!!!!

This spellbinding 1946 B&W flick, set in California, pits sultry Lana Turner against John Garfield in a neverending love-hate relationship, which ironically parallels the lives of its 2 stars. Turner, 7 times married & dead in 1995 at 74, is electrified at first glance by Garfield, in real life, a tough Jewish bad boy who was later blacklisted during the McCarthy era, and died in 1952 at 39. Classic scenes in this all-American classic include: shots in the Twin Oaks Diner,(owned by the husband Lana didn't love), including donuts and a steaming mug of coffee - full-body shots of Lana in shorts & halter top (one helluva beautiful dame) - and a wonderful "love me or leave me" scene in the Pacific Ocean, where Lana tests the love of the only man she has ever loved. According to legend, the title of this short James M. Cain novella had no relevance in the book. Not so in the movie. Find out for yourself why the postman always rings twice and why this is one of the greatest movies ever made.

Lana Turner and John Garfield hunger for something more in Tay Garnett's glossy soap opera noir, "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Based on James M. Cain's lusty potboiler, Turner is fantastic as the manipulative yet vulnerable Cora Smith and Garfield excellent as the drifter who can't get Cora or her dreams out of his blood. Turner is like a white creme, icy cold on the surface but burning hot and deep with desire underneath.

Cora is a girl aware of her looks and effect on men. Since she was 14 she's had to argue with men about it. But she didn't have to argue with Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway), a much older man Cora marries for security, not love. When drifter Frank Chambers (Grafield) shows up to fill the help wanted sign at the Twin Oaks Diner Nick and Cora run, she discovers she can't live without love or passion.

Cora is a smouldering vision in white when Frank first sees her, a room full of gas that only needs a spark to ignite. Frank knows he can sell anything to anybody and begins to fan the flames when he talks Nick into getting a neon sign for the diner Cora wants. Cora has big dreams for the diner and wants to be somebody. She tries in her own way to resist what is going to happen between she and Frank but deep down knows that all the things she married Nick for and clings to are the things she really wants with Frank.

Cora lets him kiss her once then stays away, working Frank into an internal frenzy of desire. After a midnight swim in the ocean they get a week alone and their fate is sealed, the gas ignited and burning out of control. It is Cora who lets Frank's lust simmer until he loves her and wants her so much nothing matters, not even what stands in the way of them and Cora's dreams.

Garfield is excellent as a guy who knows he's signed on for a one way ride to nowhere but can't help himself, because the mere thought of sharing the ride with Cora tips the scales. There is a tricky D.A. (Leon Ames) onto them after a botched first attempt to live out Cora's dreams fails and only a crafty defense attorney, portrayed with zeal by Hume Cronyn, gets Cora off when they finally succeed. But an insurance policy Frank didn't know about causes distrust and the results are Cora and Frank on the outs again.

But they are chained to each other. Jealousy and a blackmail attempt gone awry bring them back to the beach where they were happy. A dangerous swim to prove their trust in each other restores their love and they are happy and dreaming once again. They may be able to atone for their sins even, unless fate has other plans....

Turner gives an icy hot performance here, with many long takes between she and Garfield as they are drawn to each other like moths to a flame. Much is made of director Tay Garnett framing Turner in sexy white outfits throughout the film. Her best scene, however, and the one in which she is the most strikinginly beautiful, she is dressed in a black bathrobe. Cora is in the kitchen caressing a knife and agonizing over her dreams and what needs to be done to make them come true. When Frank walks in on her, her voice catches, her reluctance to follow through real. She tells Garfield in a quivering voice, "If you really loved me."

Whereas Wilder's Double Indemnity was a dark noir of twisted passion and greed set in Claifornia, Garnett's The Postman Always Rings Twice uses the bright sunshine and beaches of L.A. County in the 1940's to create a soap opera noir, a shining blonde Turner and a reluctant drifter Garfield at its center. A must for Turner fans and good pick for fans of this genre who want to watch a glossy noir.

The casting in this film was supurb and the directors camera angles and backgroung light was some of the best i've seen since the original of this film.

Pay attention while you watch this - and you will catch all the significance, the depth, maybe even figure out the title during your first viewing.

It took me to watch this gem a second time before fully grasping how FIT the title is to this movie. I won't deprive you of the joy of finding out for yourself so I'll stop about that.

This is one of the most romantic, dramatic, and endearing movies of all time. YOU JUST HAVE TO WATCH THIS ORIGINAL VERSION and forget the KNOCK-OFF attempted by Lang/Nicholsen. Flick it away and get the ORIGINAL. I can't imagine anyone else portray the characters so fully, or the message so vividly (as opposed to talking in this modern-day language of today).

This is got to be among my top 10 faves. I just love movies where Every line counts.

Frank is hitchhiking from San Francisco; he doesn't worry about his future. He knows how to fix cars. The restaurant owner hires him, and Frank sees Cora in her sun bathing outfit. Cora wants to make something of the restaurant. Frank admires her. The hot Santa Anna wind is blowing in from the desert [this affects people's emotions]. Frank and Cora dance to the music in the jukebox. [What was Nick thinking?] Frank and Cora go swimming in the ocean, they become friendlier. Nick is worried about being cheated by the laundry service, the butcher, and what else? Frank and Cora try to run away, but Cora has second thoughts. She wants something more.

Nick's driving causes a near accident. [This tells about their traffic laws.] What if something really bad happened? There is a near miss when Nick returns and finds the suitcases. Cora explains how things would be much better for them if Nick wasn't around. Cora gets an idea from a magazine, but fate throws a detour into their plans. [How many others read that same article?] Curiosity kills another cat. Frank leaves for Los Angeles, but later Nick finds him and brings him back, a surprise for Cora. [Note the old two-button light switches.] Nick will sell "Twin Oaks" and retire to his sister's place so Cora can nurse his sister. This is a great shock to Cora, she does not want to retire. So now they will take steps to plan their future. But the best-laid plans of mice and men still go awry. Accidents are always investigated. The police know what to look for, like Cora's handbag.

Frank is surprised to hear about the insurance policy on Nick. District Attorney Sackett tries to turn Frank against Cora. Now the courts will decide. There is a shocking surprise at the arraignment, and again when Cora meets Frank. [This is the high point of the film.] Cora's lawyer, Arthur Keats, shows his skills, and we see how a plea bargain works. Keats explains his strategy; it works. Could a restaurant get a lot of business because of the notoriety of the owner? There is a new twist in this story for Cora and Frank. [But they don't want us to tell the ironic ending.] "What's the use?"

Pay attention while you watch this - and you will catch all the significance, the depth, maybe even figure out the title during your first viewing.

It took me to watch this gem a second time before fully grasping how FIT the title is to this movie. I won't deprive you of the joy of finding out for yourself so I'll stop about that.

This is one of the most romantic, dramatic, and endearing movies of all time. YOU JUST HAVE TO WATCH THIS ORIGINAL VERSION and forget the KNOCK-OFF attempted by Lang/Nicholsen. Flick it away and get the ORIGINAL. I can't imagine anyone else portray the characters so fully, or the message so vividly (as opposed to talking in this modern-day language of today).

This is got to be among my top 10 faves. I just love movies where Every line counts.

If one had to sum up director Tay Garnett's greatest screen triumph, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," in one scene, the logical choice would be the sizzling moment wherein Lana Turner drops her lipstick. The camera's upsweep begins with the floor where the lipstick had fallen, moving up to her trim legs, then to a flawlessly beautiful lady in white. Depression loner John Garfield takes one look at her and gulps. The expression says it all. Garfield is as hooked as Fred MacMurray in his first meeting with Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity" with the same result -- ultimate destruction.

After looking at Cecil Kellaway's young wife Garfield agrees to a job at the diner the genial older man runs. Before long Turner and Garfield are sexually involved. Not long after that Turner is proposing that they get rid of Kellaway.

What distinguishes this 1946 gem from more recent films is the way that the sex remains under the surface, with more suggesting than outright showing, which achieves powerful dramatic results. Kellaway enjoys casual after dinner sessions where he plays his guitar and sings. When he suggests that Garfield and Turner dance they stare at each other, half in irony, half in guilt. Due to Turner's prodding, Garfield eventually agrees to kill a man who has been thoroughly supportive and very kind to him, treating him like a son.

James M. Cain's powerful novella retains its suspenseful pacing and savage bite on screen. The title is perfection. "The Postman Always Rings Twice" refers to the tradition of, when knocking on the door to deliver mail, a postman would ring a second time if receiving no answer initially. Garfield is convicted by aggressive district attorney Leon Ames the second time, over Turner's accidental death in a car accident, rather than for his involvement in Kellaway's death. He ultimately accepts his fate, asking the priest who has visited his death row cell just before his execution to send a prayer heavenward for himself and the woman he loved.