THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Crime / Drama / Romance

Director: Tay Garnett

Cast: John Garfield / Lana Turner / Cecil Kellaway

Plot

Drifter Frank Chambers takes a job at a roadside diner, only to fall for his boss’s beautiful young wife.  When an affair begins between them, the two lovers plot to kill her husband.

What I Liked

Though it features many of the hallmarks of film noir (flashback narration, the drifter protagonist, a femme fatale, and tragic fate), “The Postman Always Rings Twice” has some unique qualities that have helped it endure the test of time while many other films of the era have been forgotten.  Of the noir films I’ve seen, “Postman” stands out for its encroachment upon the traditions of domesticity.  Where most noir films involve low life criminals, shysters, and con-men milling about urban environs, “Postman” has none of these characters and takes place mostly in a home/diner outside of the city.  We watch the same darkness that inhabits those other noirs invade a marriage.  The only other noir I know of that treads in similar territory is “Double Indemnity,” but even so, there are important differences here.  In “Postman,” Lana Turner is a young woman who in a moment of weakness married a much older man for money and now feels trapped.  Cecil Kellaway is that older man, a drunkard who is more concerned with his account books than his wife’s desires or dreams.  Into this warped dynamic comes John Garfield’s character, his youth and attentiveness proving the forbidden fruit that transforms Lana Turner from a domesticated (if bored) housewife to a conniving murderess.  That’s another interesting twist on the cliché; Garfield’s character is as much responsible for perverting Turner’s as hers is of his.  In a typical noir, like the genre-defining “Double Indemnity,” the woman is always the corruptor.  Not so here.  Turner is indeed flirtatious and manipulative, but it is her desire for Garfield which drives her to kill, rather than the pure cynicism that drives most femme fatales.

One of the best parts about watching old movies like this, even the darker-themed ones, is the Americana.  The big, shiny 1940s cars; roadside diner; the jukebox; the clothing and uniforms; from the perspective of a person born more than thirty years after this film was made, it is hard to believe this world existed anywhere but in the movies.  And certainly a great deal of it was invented by Hollywood.  Still, it was a reflection, albeit a glamorized one, of a version of America that has long since died.  Thus the film has taken on a nostalgic beauty in the years since its release that only compliments the poetic tragedy of its story.

What I Didn’t Like

As can be inferred from the paragraph above, “Postman” is very much a film of its time.  It’s all too made-up to be believable.  Lana Turner is virtually flawless in appearance from start to finish, both in make-up and wardrobe and in lighting and cinematography; the supporting characters are one-dimensional; some of the acting is shamelessly predictable.

Most Memorable Scene

Lana Turner’s radiance dominates the screen any time she’s on it.  There are some classic, top-lit, soft-lens, close-ups interspersed through the film that play up her iconic beauty.  However, it’s her debut in the film, when she first comes down the stairs into the diner and encounters John Garfield’s character that her seductive allure is at its most powerful.  Instead of her immaculate face, it’s the movement of her body that plays games with both Garfield and the audience.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5