The Postman Always Rings Twice poster & wallpaper

Alan Reed, Audrey Totter, Cecil Kellaway

A frustrated wife seduces a drifter into murdering her husband.

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79% liked it

6,124 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

18 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 53 min.

Directed by: Tay Garnett

Release Date: May 2, 1946

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DVD Release Date: January 6, 2004

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Stats: 322 reviews

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The Postman Always Rings Twice Cecil Kellaway, John Garfield and Lana Turner The Postman Always Rings Twice The Postman Always Rings Twice John Garfield and Lana Turner The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) The Postman Always Rings Twice The Postman Always Rings Twice The Postman Always Rings Twice The Postman Always Rings Twice The Postman Always Rings Twice
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Flixster Reviews (322)

  • SirPant
    September 23, 2009
    SirPant
    Tay Garnett's 1946 film is a classic chilling thriller. Lana Turner's performance convinced people that she was more than a pretty face too. Brilliant!
  • hobster1
    August 5, 2009
    hobster1
    Classic film noir adapted from James M. Cain's novel, details the relationship of a woman in a marriage of convenience and the aimless drifter she's attracted to. Serpentine plot is riveting from start to finish, mostly due to the chemistry generated between Lana Turner and John...( read more) Garfield. One might quibble over their first kiss which happens so abruptly it's actually humorous. However, their mostly smoldering attraction and dialogue is the very definition of sexual tension. The film is a stunning reminder that an erotic thriller is often more potent for what it doesn't show.
  • mwilliams078
    July 21, 2008
    mwilliams078
    The Postman Always Rings Twice from 1946 is such a gem of a film noir. Lana Turner and John Garfield are a very good team of people whom are so lethal for one another. If you are a fan of these actors, a film noir, or love a dark very well done film than this is for you!
  • groaningbitch
    April 1, 2008
    groaningbitch
    "postman always rings twice" is an essential film noir classic directed by tay garnett who also handles the 30s gable/harlow "china seas"...this flick foundamentalizes lana turner's femme fatale icon as the dangerous blonde whose beauty catalyzes death and corruption, and this ti...( read more)me her romantic steer john garfield is her willing thug whose resourcefulness emulates her charm.

    garfield plays frank chamber, who is an aloof vagabond with a persistant living philosophy of emancipation which means he's reluctant to get restrained by anything or anyone and always on the anxiety to run when his feet get itches to go to places, briefly a rebel of temporality. chamber could manage himself fine until he encounters the cool insouciant bombshell who happens to be his new employer's wife whose shrewd individuality could rival his, and the moment he sees her carelessly awaiting him to pick up her lipstick then implictly command him to bring it forth, he's determinated to conquer this woman of lofty pride.

    turner would be cora smith, married to an elder obsese kind-faced resteraunt-owner nick smith, who is mindless enough to neglect his young wife. eventually chamber filtrates into her heart with gradual convictions of his wits. so to seek an outlet without costing her future ease, cora persuades frank into murdering nick...it fails..then nick intends to sell the store and demands his young wife to sacrifice her youth attending his paralyzed bed-ridden sister, so they co-scheme to murder nick for a second time. somehow karma has its own deployment to serve the justice right even god has to ring twice for them to get the message.

    "postman always rings twice" is a success of dialogue-driven drama which vitalizes the whole movie, and also the comic sense of absurdity is another cynic pleasure for the noir fonders, such as the scenrios of cat getting electrified to fail the murder, chamber suing cora in panic, the bet between district attorney and lawyer and the falsified confession...etc. lots of plot twists to relish your taste of sarcastic mockery. further, the two leads are written with an empathetic affinity to the audience. there's no absolute evil in them but momentary volunerability of human flaws.

    there's also some moral dubicity in the leads which titilates the audience: first of all, frank and cora do it for the sake of love, and they're naive enough to believe in it. besides cora does attempt to resist chamber but her sappy husband nick is foolish enough to encourage her to dance with chamber along the juke box...chamber does hesitate to slaughter nick but the desperation of love veers him forward. chamber is an asserted loner surrenders to the fatal love of blonde bombshell. so the man is not wimpishly weak and the woman is not devilishly heartless to fit into the noir stereotype of feminine guile and effeminate strengthlessness.

    another peculiar trait to emphasize its moral relativism is lana turner's wardrobe which is all purgatorily white-colored which is to brighten or to contrast the gloomy aroma of murder and destruction...it's like insidious con lurking beneath the seemingly innocent surface, a lily blossomed thru a sinful rot of adultery. at the particular scene when cora lures frank into murdering nick, turner's eyebrows raise unevenly as the ominous sign which is an accomplishment of the cosmetic department. most of all, the characters of cora and frank do possess some ingenuine childlikeness and the chesmistry of good timing to confront the crooked blackmail, man beats the con, woman swift enough to point a gun as defence...a perfect screen team.

    the best adavantage of "postman always rings twice" would its justified moral lesson without being moralistically preachy, and the leads are convingingly degenerated characters of likability without the contrived harshness which populates in this gendre of film noir.
  • mjgildea
    November 5, 2006
    mjgildea
    If you've ever wondered how much people can screw each other over, here's your answer.
  • Fragglefreak
    November 11, 2009
    Fragglefreak
    This is one of those classics that I just don't get. I liked how it started but it was majorly slow and I just wasn't into it. There was some nice chemistry though.
  • BeatlesRockFan
    October 21, 2009
    BeatlesRockFan
    A saucy and scandalous relationship between Cora and Frank, and a good plot with a satisfying ending.
  • gultenreiz
    October 15, 2009
    gultenreiz
    Love, lust, passion, greed, murder, betrayal, this movie has it all and the ending was brilliant.
    John Garfield plays Frank Chambers who falls in love with the boss's wife, Cora Smith, who's trapped in a loveless and passionless marriage with an older man. When young and dangero...( read more)us looking Frank appears on the scene sparks begin to fly. So, they plan to get rid of the inopportune husband. From this moment on, everything get into gear, the movie keeps you guessing, and theres a lot of twists and turns .
    Lana Turner is very good as Cora, vulnerable, ambitious and at times shyster, but longing for some passion in her life.
  • Mrunexpected
    September 25, 2009
    Mrunexpected
    hope it' a good movie. wanna c it. i read abt it. good story line
  • lopcar1993
    September 20, 2009
    lopcar1993
    This film does for film noir what what The Matrix did for Sci-Fi, it defines a genre and breaks new bounds in the 40's at least, This classic film is undeniably one of the best that has ever been put to film it's dark themes and it's high level of sexual tension makes it a mus...( read more)t see for Noir lovers and for classic film lovers as well.


    The postman always rings twice is not what you'd call anything groundbreaking in the classic film genre but it is a very good film at that and really did help make Film noir a much darker and more sinister setting than it was. I really liked the energy that the story had and I liked the plot of it as well but the acting on Garfield's part really wasn't all that( even for the 40's it was bad.) Bu Lana Tuner turns in a fantastic performance with a weak leading man to fall on. This film's story today is nothing new but it does feel fresh and inviting and very engaging, it's kinetic in the way it plays out and it feels oh so good to watch it play out it's foreboding and mysterious and you love to watch Garfield and Turner play off each other and they do it oh so well.


    If there is anything that save this film it's itself. The film saves itself from falling into a boring melodrama of seduction and murder that was seen all the time in the 40's, The postman always rings twice Is a quintessential film to see and if you love film noir and classic's this has to be on your watch list. All in all The postman delivers.

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The Postman Always Rings Twice Trivia

  • Add together the missing words to make a film title. ____ of the Flies Shaun __ the Dead Pirates of ___ Caribbean The Postman Always _____ Twice The ______ of Jafar Shaun __ the Dead Pirates of ___ Caribbean ____ Arthur  Answer »
  • What Italian movie from the 1940's is based on the classic The Postman Always Rings Twice?  Answer »
  • Rob Roy The Postman Always Rings Twice Losing Isaiah King Kong Who am I?  Answer »
  • What has Lana Turner dropped when John Garfield first meets her in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)?  Answer »
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