Hollywood Soundstage

Originally aired January 24, 1952
Hollywood Soundstage
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1934 crime novel by James M. Cain.

The novel was quite successful and notorious upon publication, and is regarded as one of the more important crime novels of the 20th century. Fast-moving and brief (only about 100 pages long, depending on the edition), the novel’s mix of sexuality and violence was startling in its time, and saw the book banned in Boston.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 film noir based on the 1934 novel by James M. Cain.

This adaptation of the novel is the best known, starring Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, and Audrey Totter. It was directed by Tay Garnett, with a score written by George Bassman and Erich Zeisl (the latter uncredited).

* The film was voted #49 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Love Stories list.

* This version is referenced in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill 2.

* The film was referenced in an episode of Charmed. In, “Charmed Noir”, one of the protagonists, Paige Matthews is magically sent to a fictional world set in the 1920s or 1930s. Upon arrival she decides to change her clothing to that typically worn in this era. Her new look is complemented by a fellow character who believes she looks like Lana Turner “straight out of The Postman Always Rings Twice, the good version” (i.e., the 1940s film). Paige later calls herself Lana, in the episode, to disguise her real name.