The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

My Review

“The Postman Always Rings Twice” is a film noir drama about a cafe owner who runs into trouble when he hires a drifter to work in his restaurant, who immediately begins having an affair with his young wife. Things get even worse when they plot to kill the man and take control of his assets.

Tay Garnett (“Bataan” 1943) smoothly directed this black-and-white picture with exemplary writing by Harry Ruskin and Niven Busch, who adapted the story from the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain. Lana Turner and John Garfield were marvelous in the lead roles with co-stars Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, Audrey Trotter, Alan Reed, and Jeff York. “The Postman Always Rings Twice” was popular at the box office for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.