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IMDb > The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   5,245 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 5% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Tay Garnett
Writers:
Harry Ruskin (screenplay) and
Niven Busch (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Postman Always Rings Twice on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 May 1946 (USA) more
Tagline:
Their Love was a Flame that Destroyed! more
Plot:
A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband... but even once the deed is done, they must live with the consequences of their actions. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
10 Sexiest Non-Sex Scenes
 (From Spout. 19 February 2009, 2:00 PM, PST)

Stone Hits Out at Zeta-Jones Casting
 (From WENN. 31 August 2005)

User Comments:
Good Atmospheric Film-Noir With A Memorable Role For Lana Turner more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
113 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:PG | Canada:18A (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #11240) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1996)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
After the first murder attempt, Nick is hospitalized in Blair General Hospital, also the locale for MGM's "Dr. Kildare" (1961) franchise. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Frank and Cora are further apart, then closer together, when they get home from the late night swim. more
Quotes:
Frank Chambers: I can sell anything to anybody.
Cora Smith: That's what you think.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Exhumed (2003) (V) more
Soundtrack:
She's Funny That Way more

FAQ

What does the title mean?
How was James M. Cain's book received?
What did Fred Allen write after he received a copy of the book?
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9 out of 14 people found the following comment useful:-
Good Atmospheric Film-Noir With A Memorable Role For Lana Turner, 20 December 2004
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

The good atmosphere and Lana Turner's memorable role make this a film-noir classic worth seeing. The story starts out to be relatively simple, allowing the cast and the atmosphere to carry it, and then heads through a series of twists and turns, picking up the pace as it goes along.

John Garfield and the supporting cast are solid, but it is Turner who really stands out and grabs the attention anytime she is on-screen. It's nothing against Garfield to say that in comparison he is almost just along for the ride, yet he does a creditable job and makes his character believable. The supporting cast helps out as well, with Cecil Kellaway on-target as Turner's oblivious husband, and Hume Cronyn likewise in good form as a conscience-free lawyer.

The story pulls you in slowly, and then has some good turns as it picks up steam towards the middle. There may be a couple of too-convenient plot developments, but otherwise it is well-written.

This classic version is quite a bit better than the early 1980s remake, which required little imagination to make or to watch. Turner's character and performance, in particular (aided by good camera work), demonstrate that the suggestive can be quite a bit more effective and memorable than the explicit.

"The Postman Always Rings Twice" has just about everything you could ask for in a film-noir. It's probably just a cut below the best of the genre, and still one of the movies that most fans of film-noir would not want to miss.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Film noir recommendations LDRose
the postman always rings twice crathie29
Postman may have rung 3X efffee
Representation of women natalka-groves
Ripoff? mcphil2
better as a comedy? eddielandsberg
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