The Postman Always Rings Twice

Director: Tay Garnett
Year Released: 1946
Rating: 2.5

Early film of the now infamous James Cain novel about a pair of young lovers who team up to kill the woman's husband and take over his business works well in the beginning, when the natural chemistry between John Garfield and Lana Turner plays out almost too well, only for the movie to fall prey to lame contrivances and a third act that goes on and on, configuring itself just right so the two murderers get what's coming to them in the most ironic fashion. Better than Visconti's Ossessione - filmed four years earlier - but still only slightly above average. Hume Cronyn is a real standout as a shifty lawyer.