The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

Fans of classic movies will know the classic post-war movie The Postman Always Rings Twice, starring John Garfield and Lana Turner, and based on the book by James M. Cain. It had already been made into a movie in Italy during World War II, and I think that one, called Ossessione, has turned up on TCM a couple of times. For whatever reason, although one likely being the fact that there were no longer any Production Code restrictions, MGM remade The Postman Always Rings Twice in 1981. TCM ran the 1981 version a few months back, and not having seen the remake before, I decided to record it.

Jack Nicholson plays Frank Chambers, the Depression-era drifter who hitches a ride and gets dropped off at the Twin Oaks, a combination diner/service station back in the days when that sort of multi-purpose rest area was common. (See the Aline MacMahon movie Heat Lightning for something similar.) The Twin Oaks is owned by a Greek immigrant, Nick Papadakis (John Calicos), who is married to a much younger American-born woman, Cora (Jessica Lange). Frank, being a former prisoner, needs a job, and Nick could use the help. so he hires Frank in exchange for room and board.

Cora isn't very happy being stuck in this middle-of-nowhere joint and being married to an older guy who isn't all she thought he was going to be when she married him. So now, with a much younger guy around, her female hormones start kicking in. Frank, needless to say, being a youngish man, also has hormones, and having spent time in prison is in need of a woman, so the two of them are able to get it on in rather greater detail than was possible in 1946.

Cora would like to be rid of Nick, but the laws are such that she can't simply divorce him as she wouldn't get Twin Oaks or even half of it. If he were to die, however.... And, as you might be able to guess, there's a way to speed up that death. The only issue, of course, is that this way is rather illegal as it's generally considered murder. But Frank is thinking with his little head, so Cora has someone whose help she cn enlist to get rid of Nick.

As you can guess, the authorities suspect that Nick's death wasn't quite kosher, so eventually the authorities try to prosecute the case as the murder that we know it really is. But as an attempt to get the two lovers to turn on each other, they only try Cora. The defense attorneys come up with a ruse that involves her revealing the truth, but in a way that the authorities don't find out. This eventually gets Cora off in a highly-publicized trial, but it leaves some evidence with the defense attorney, and his staff isn't entirely ethical. Not that you'd expect ethics from an attorney.

Of course, you probably knew most of the story already, since the 1940s version of The Postman Always Rings Twice is so well-known. So was it worth remaking? I'd say it's a mixed bag. The fact that the 1940s version was made during the Production Code means that there are some issues they couldn't really show on screen and that the 1981 version can be more honest about discusscing. I'd also argue that the Nick character is better cast. In 1946, it was Cecil Kellaway playing the part, and he always came across as so much of a nice guy that it's tough to imagine the young wife wanting to kill him and the viewer having sympathy with her.

The casting of Jessica Lange versus Lana Turner is a double-edged sword. Lana Turner is the sort of actress where it's easy to see any man falling for and doing all sorts of terrible things as she uses her sex appeal to manipulate him. Lange isn't quite so glamorous, but she's also more realistic. I can't imagine someone with the looks of Lana Turner decided to go off to a middle-of-nowhere diner.

In the final analysis, the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice is also worth a watch if only to compare and contrast it to the Lana Turner version.