The Postman Always Rings Twice

Drifting wanderer Frank Chambers (John Garfield) stumbles upon a remote roadside café, owned by Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway), a bumbling drunk who is married to the stunning Cora (Lana Turner). Frank picks up work easily, quickly meets Cora, and begins a lustful affair. Dripping in sexual allure, Lana Turner makes up for her blatant inability as an actress with a stunning presence. The audience feels almost as infatuated as Frank. I can’t help but think of her potential if only some acting lessons were in the cards!

Soon the two realise that Nick is really the only obstacle keeping them at bay, and plans for his murder are quickly concocted. All the while, D.A. Kyle Stackett (Leon Ames) watches from a distance, suspicious of Frank’s movements after he’s hospitalised under suspicious circumstances. Everything gets messy when Frank and Cora try a second time to kill Nick, but are then arrested. Hume Cronyn steals the entire film with his fantastic performance as Arthur Keats, Cora’s sly lawyer.

John Garfield, who’s career is nothing short of fascinating, makes for a great lead actor – essentially emphasising the terrible job Turner turns out. Their chemistry plays well, but Turner unfortunately falls down whenever she doesn’t have Garfield to play off. Hume Cronyn is great, playing a very cunning lawyer with exceptional finesse.

The problem with Postman is that it’s simply a very strict genre film. Just like the problem with apples is that they’re apples. The films we remember are those that do something different. Even those classics of film-noir don’t follow the conventional, tight, structure its genre defines – they break away and forge new boundaries; refining the techniques of their predecessors. The Third Man is remembered for its stunning, innovative black & white cinematography. The Big Sleep is remembered for the brilliant chemistry between Bacall and Bogart. Sunset Blvd. is remembered for the amazingly theatrical character of Norma Desmond. The Postman Always Rings Twice, doesn’t do anything different to the hundreds of other stock-standard American film-noirs.

So then why is The Postman Always Ring Twice regarded as a classic of film-noir? Essentially, because it epitomises the genre. It is the archetypal film-noir. Every single convention, every single trademark finds its way into this film. The sexual allure, the crime, the enigmatic characters; everything. To understand the genre, someone simply needs to sit down and watch this to get the fundamentals. To then appreciate the genre, someone must find the likes of The Third Man and Sunset Blvd.

This is not a bad film, but it’s certainly not anything remarkable either. If film-noir is your thing, then this is certainly something to have a look at (as a curiosity). However, for the casual filmgoer I can’t imagine this would appeal at all. If you’re in the mood for a classic, pick up The Big Sleep. It’s just like Postman, but better!

This is a very disappointing transfer. Considering the amazing restoration work found on various noir classics (see, Sunset Blvd.) this is a pretty poor attempt indeed. Watching this DVD on a computer will undoubtedly result in nothing but trauma.

Film artefacts, mostly white/black specs and black vertical lines, are rampant throughout the entire film, but do vary from bearable to absolutely atrocious. The degree of detail also varies dramatically, from scenes that appear very crisp to others (usually close-ups) that look far too soft. An amazing amount of dirt (from the film’s print) makes its way onto the DVD, but blends in between other artefacts and the softened image.

The contrast levels remain quite solid, and would be the only aspect of the transfer worth any commendation. Never do blacks appear to saturate or appear too grey. There is no aliasing to speak of, however noticeable shimmering is present primarily during a few indoor scenes.

I also found the English subtitles to be very sketchy. Various lines of dialogue were completely missing, others are recorded incorrectly.

The basic Dolby 1.0 mono track is provided, which as far as I can tell is the original audio track. It is perfectly adequate, and unlike the video transfer, is without major fault. Dialogue is easily understood, all sound effects and music are perfectly conveyed. A minor hiss is present, which is expected, and there are two slight dropouts, which remain relatively unnoticeable.

An introduction to the film from Richard Jewell (5:01) is the first of a limited range of extra features found on this disc. He comments on the significance of this film, and briefly comments on its place in film-noir history. Jewell is obviously a huge fan of the film.

The primary extra is ‘The John Garfield Story’ – a TNT Documentary (57:40), and provides fascinating insight into the very volatile career of John Garfield (who, of course, is our lead man in The Postman Always Rings Twice). From his early days as a theatre actor, to the peak of his career at Warners Garfield was a fantastic actor and Hollywood persona. He caught into a lot of trouble during the communist witch-hunts of the 50s, as he worked with many members of socialist parties who were also looked down upon by influential, right-wing politicians. He then died at the very young age of 39. This is a great documentary, that highlights a fascinating time in film history.

A basic image gallery, and a theatrical trailer round off the disc.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is quite a typical American film-noir, that really does nothing to lift itself above the majority of films produced in this brief period. It’s not utter trash, but it’s nothing special.

This DVD is quite disappointing, with some disastrous video, perhaps only saved by the excellent documentary found as part of the extra features.