The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 film)

The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1981 American-German film adaptation of the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain. The film was produced by Lorimar in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer^[2] and originally released theatrically in North America by Paramount Pictures. This version, based on a screenplay by David Mamet and directed by Bob Rafelson, starred Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. The film was shot in Santa Barbara, California.

Plot

Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) a drifter, stops at a rural California diner for a meal and ends up working there. The diner is operated by a young, beautiful woman, Cora Smith (Jessica Lange), and her much older husband, Nick Papadakis (John Colicos), who is an immigrant from Greece.

Frank and Cora start to have an affair soon after they meet. Cora is tired of her situation, married to a man she does not love, and working at a diner that she wishes to own and improve. She and Frank scheme to murder Nick to start a new life together without her losing the diner. Their first attempt at the murder is a failure, but they eventually succeed.

The local prosecutor suspects what has actually occurred but does not have enough evidence to prove it. As a tactic intended to get Cora and Frank to turn on one another, he tries only Cora for the crime.

Although they turn against each other, a clever ploy from Cora's lawyer, Katz (Michael Lerner), prevents Cora's full confession from coming into the hands of the prosecutor. With the tactic having failed to generate any new evidence for the prosecution, Cora benefits from a deal in which she pleads guilty to manslaughter and is sentenced to probation.

Months later, Frank has an affair with Madge Gorland (Anjelica Huston) while Cora is out of town. When Cora returns, she announces she is pregnant. That night, Katz's assistant, Kennedy (John P. Ryan), appears at their door and threatens to expose them unless they give him $10,000. Enraged, Frank beats Kennedy up and strong-arms him into giving up the evidence against them.

When Frank returns, he finds that Madge has been to see Cora, who threatens to turn him in. They eventually patch together their tumultuous relationship and now plan for a future together. However, just as they seem to be prepared for a new life together, Cora dies in a car accident while Frank is driving. Frank weeps over Cora's body.

Cast

• Jack Nicholson – Frank Chambers
• Jessica Lange – Cora Smith/Papadakis
• John Colicos – Nick Papadakis
• Michael Lerner – Mr. Katz
• John P. Ryan – Ezra Liam Kennedy
• Anjelica Huston – Madge Gorland
• William Traylor – Kyle Sackett
• Ron Flagge – Shoeshine Man
• William Newman – Man from Home Town
• Chuck Liddell – Boy Scout
• Albert Henderson – Art Beeman
• Christopher Lloyd^[3] – Salesman

Soundtrack

On May 14, 2012 Intrada Records released Michael Small's complete score for the first time.

Release and reception

The film was screened out of competition at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.^[4] The film got mostly negative reviews from most critics, who felt that the remake was wasted. They also believed the ending was "very weak" compared to the original film. They also criticized the fact that the meaning of the title is not explained in the remake, which can lead to confusion among viewers. It scores an 83% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 10 positive reviews and two negative.

Jack Nicholson later said "If you ran a question through this industry about The Postman Always Rings Twice, most people would surmise that it wasn’t successful. That is not true. I know it made money, because I received overages, so it must’ve grossed about as much as Chinatown and much more than Carnal Knowledge. But people are anxious to disqualify it.^[5]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated^[6]

See also

• Le Dernier Tournant, the 1939 French film adaptation of the novel
• Ossessione ("Obsession"), the 1943 Italian film adaptation of the novel
• The Postman Always Rings Twice, the 1946 American film adaptation of the novel
• The Postman Always Rings Twice, a 1982 opera based on the novel
• Jerichow, the 2008 German film loosely based on the novel
• Body Heat, a 1981 neo-noir film with similar themes, released five months after this film

References

External links

• The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Postman Always Rings Twice at Box Office Mojo