The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

A drifter (John Garfield) hitches a ride and gets off at a roadside diner just outside Los Angeles. He takes a job offered by the cafe's owner (Cecil Kellaway) but what he's really interested in is the owner's beautiful blonde wife (Lana Turner). Their relationship is antagonistic at first but it isn't long before the sexual tension gives way to passion ..... and murder! Based on the novel by James M. Cain and directed by Tay Garnett. The book came out in 1934 but its subject matter was considered too racy for a film adaptation so it wasn't until 1946 that the film finally got made (two unauthorized previous versions were made in France and Italy under different titles). The film is surprisingly effective considering that the screenplay goes out of its way to make the protagonists more sympathetic than they are in the novel. I wasn't happy with the film's resolution which attempts to redeem Garfield and Turner somewhat (something the novel doesn't). Turner and Garfield have a strong chemistry here, something they apparently didn't have in real life. But the contrast between the cool Turner dressed in white and Garfield's bad boy drifter makes for a sizzling combination. One of the best film noirs of the 1940s. With Hume Cronyn in one of his very best performances, Audrey Totter, Leon Ames and Jeff York.