The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Directed by Tay Garnett. Starring John Garfield, Lana Turner, Hume Cronyn, Cecil Kellaway, Leon Ames, Alan Reed, Jeff York.

MGM had been sitting on the rights to James M. Cain’s book of alienation, amorality, lust and murder for over a decade, unable to figure out how to skirt the censors in its telling; then Double Indemnity showed them the way. Restive drifter Garfield and seductive housewife Turner steam things up pretty well as a pair of illicit, uncertain lovers who conspire to bump off her sweet but clueless older husband (Kellaway) and run away together. Not particularly high on credibility—if roadside diners on lonely highways typically had bored, dishy blondes in Turner’s league with oblivious and preoccupied husbands, no straight man in the country would ever fly coach again—and Garnett is hardly a first-class noir stylist (and he’s got nothing on Billy Wilder), but it’s sturdy work done on a cruel, gripping story with a few nice surprises. Cronyn and Ames score enthusiastic turns as competing attorneys handling the murder case. Don’t puzzle too long about the title—it’s more or less meaningless within the context of the story, and the tacked-on allusion at the end is one of the clumsier changes from the source novel. Remade in 1981 with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange; also turned into a stage play and even an opera.

83/100