The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this month’s episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron betray the kindest people they know as they discuss The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Written by: Harry Ruskin & Niven Busch

Based on the Novel by James M. Cain

Starring: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, and Audrey Totter

Directed by: Tay Garnett

Trailer:

Our Favourite Trivia:

Hitchcock comparisons:

• Rope
• Stage Fright
• Dial M for Murder

Various treatments and scripts were submitted by MGM to the Production Code Administration (PCA) between 1940 and 1945, and in May of 1945, the PCA approved a revised temporary script. In an April 1946 New York Times article, James M. Cain notes that while some “details about sex were omitted,” nothing else was changed in the story’s adaptation to the screen to win the approval of the PCA.

It took 12 years to adapt the explicit material of the novel into a screenplay tame enough to comply with the Production Code prevalent at the time. Audiences were also shocked when it seemed clear that Garfield uses his tongue in one of his kissing scenes with Turner.

This is the third adaptation of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” novel. The first was in France, The Last Turning (1939), and the second in Italy, Obsession (1943). It was made a fourth time in 1981.

The script uses lots of the original novel’s dialogue and plot to stick to the book. But in the book, Cora is a sexy brunette Latina, nothing like Lana Turner. According to Turner, James M. Cain, author of the novel, invited her to lunch at Romanoff’s and confessed he often imagined her as the perfect Cora.

Tay Garnett wanted to shoot in as many actual locations as possible for the movie, a rarity for MGM at the time. For the seaside love scenes, he took the cast and crew to Laguna Beach, where a fog made shooting impossible for days. After a few days, they moved to San Clemente in search of clearer skies, only to have fog roll in there as well. Then word got to them that the fog had lifted at Laguna Beach. By the time they got back there, however, it had returned.

The on-set sexual tension between Garfield and Turner was clear to all involved with the film. Their first day together, he called out to her, “Hey, Lana, how’s about a little quickie?” to which she replied, “You bastard!” They had a brief affair, according to the actor and director Vincent Sherman, a friend of Garfield’s. Sherman said Turner was the only co-star with whom Garfield ever became romantically involved. There had been sparks between the two since the first day of shooting, and the delays had led to a close friendship. Finally, they shared a moonlit tryst on the beach, but it was their only night together. The two realized that whatever was happening on-screen, off-screen they had no sexual chemistry. They remained friends nonetheless.

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Next up, we’ll be discussing Inside Man.

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