Very well executed

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is one of the darker film noirs from the 1940s, in which the characters commit heinous crimes and have few redeeming qualities. The film ultimately reaches the profound conclusion that it sets out to make, but the path moving towards that goal is unnecessarily complicated and not always believable. The film's premise is kick-started when Frank, a vagabond, and Cora, a frustrated housewife, form an intimate connection. Their relationship seems rather dubious, as the affair starts quickly despite Frank's apparent lack of charm, good looks, and personality.Cora claims she felt connected to Frank because of his "smarts," but this apparent intelligence is suspiciously lacking onscreen. It is possible the movie wishes to implicate Cora in manipulating Frank for her own purpose, but this implication is not strong enough to overcome the doubtful beginning of the relationship. However, as the two become entangled in crime, their relationship becomes more realistic and interesting. The movie presents a fascinating psychological study of love and trust in a criminal situation. The plot for the first half of the movie is straightforward, even boring--it isn't until the second half that events accelerate. The fluctuating love-hate relationship between the two leads keeps the plot interesting, but at times the movie focuses too much on technicalities, while other scenes from the movie seem unnecessary for the ultimate goal. The acting serves the plot well enough, but there are certain lines of dialogue delivered with such a dated acting style that it could pull a viewer out of the suspense. The final scene of The Postman Always Rings Twice offers a perfect conclusion for a film noir, as it raises questions regarding the moral responsibility of man and the consequences of a person's actions. This result is worth a watch, even if the the movie as a whole isn't as gripping as it strives to be.

One of the greatest of the Film Noir classics. This is the story of an unhappy woman who enlists the aid of a drifter to kill her husband. It begins with what appears to be a mere flirtation and escalates to a torrid love affair. Lana Turner is sumptuous, and John Garfield has that masculine edge, a dark man, somewhat mysterious, and truly clueless as he gets into more and more trouble. The two begin a sophisticated plot to do in her old man. He can't believe his good fortune to have this beautiful woman want him. Oh well. The best laid plans. The desolation of the place and the use of fine black and white cinematography enhance the danger.

Although I've been classic movie buff for years, I only saw this movie a few years ago. I'd heard about it, of course, and seen photos, but hadn't actually gotten around to viewing it. I bought the DVD and it sat on my shelf for a while. When I finally popped into my DVD player, I found myself highly entertained, if a bit mystified by some of the plot twists, some of which made sense, some of which did not. But on the whole, it was essential viewing for a film noir fan, or any fan of Lana Turner or John Garfield.A plot synopsis is unnecessary, because so many other reviewers have already done so, and wonderfully detailed descriptions. The heat that is generated on screen between Turner and Garfield is no myth; from the moment their characters cross paths, there's passion and doom written all over them. The attraction is instant, and with the Production Code in place, the subtlety and innuendo does more than explicit sex scenes could. Although the 1981 film version was able to be truer to the details of James M. Cain's novel, the chemistry between the leads was lacking, and no amount of lurid sex can disguise that. Turner and Garfield were Cora Smith and Frank Chambers, period. Their individual coloring provided an intriguing contrast which also contributed to their on screen dynamic. The rest of the cast, including Cecil Kellaway as Cora's elderly husband, Leon Ames as the District Attorney, Hume Cronyn as the defense lawyer and Audrey Totter as the girl Frank picks up outside a diner, are also no less than stellar.The script makes use of the male voice-over/narration so common in the genre, and it works well since Garfield is in almost every scene. There are questions, though as to the first murder plot and the obvious stupidity of Cora's husband Nick, and the legal wrangling in the courtroom sequences. However, the performances almost make you overlook the plot holes. In the end, Turner, Garfield and the rest of the cast won me over. Cora and Frank are not experienced criminals, and they inevitably make mistakes that end up costing them dearly. But their desire and eventual love for each other never really fades, despite the mistrust and anger that often comes to the surface. The title refers to death coming more than once, and it certainly does in this case.Although the DVD was released by Warner Brothers (John Garfield's home studio at the time), the movie was made by MGM, which may account for the lack of grittiness that is to be expected in film noir. Director Tay Garnett had a fairly long career, but was never considered a top director. Both Lana Turner and John Garfield made their film debuts in the late 1930s; while Turner, the blonde glamour girl who proved she had presence on film to make her one of the screen immortals went on to even greater fame in melodramas (both on screen and off) in the 50s and 60s, Garfield only had a few years left; his heart condition was made worse by his interrogation and blacklisting during the McCarthy witch hunts. He truly never gave a bad performance, and "Postman" is one of his best. He continued to work until the last year of his life, and is considered to be one of the finest actors of his generation, and of course, was one of the first Method actors in film. His early passing was a great loss to the film industry, but the impressive body of work he left behind will undoubtedly endure.It's not a perfect film, but a fascinating one.

. . . according to the California state police in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. You see, the cat doesn't ring at all, because it's just a cat, and cat's don't ring. It just slinks around, electrocuting people. If ladders and cats are bad luck separately, this Film Noir effort shows that they're double trouble together. Since there is no disclaimer at the end of POSTMAN about "no animals being harmed during the making of this movie," viewers can only assume that the doomed feline shown in full rigor "the morning after" is not just "faking it" by "playing dead." Its late night death screech during the previous scene sounded real (rather than the result of "vocal coaching"), and I still can't forget than Hollywood allowed Thomasina to be buried alive (not to mention what happened to the little daughter's kitty in I REMEMBER MAMA). Some say cats have nine lives. However, Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, the Shaggy Dog and their canine cohorts seem to put out 10 "arfs" on the big screen for each "meow" heard there. Blofeld strokes his Fluffy White Pu$$y Cat as the head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E., just the foremost in a long line of screen villains to favor the nefarious feline over "Man's best friend." The POSTMAN killers are merely one more entry to a very long list.