The only part of the movie I enjoyed at all was the Nick Smith character played by Cecil Kellaway. The plot was boring. The characters Frank Chambers and Cora Smith were boring. I kept checking the clock, hoping that the movie was almost over.

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband... but even once the deed is done, they must live with the consequences of their actions.Surprisingly, this version was actually the third filming of The Postman Always Rings Twice, but the first under the novel's original title and the first in English. Previously, the novel had been filmed as Le Dernier Tournant (The Last Turning) in France in 1939, and as Ossessione (Obsession) in Italy in 1943.Bosley Crowther gave the film a positive review and lauded the acting and direction of film, writing, "Too much cannot be said for the principals. Mr. Garfield reflects to the life the crude and confused young hobo who stumbles aimlessly into a fatal trap. And Miss Turner is remarkably effective as the cheap and uncertain blonde who has a pathetic ambition to 'be somebody' and a pitiful notion that she can realize it through crime." Despite the multiple versions, this is probably the "definitive" one. It certainly is the one that went on to be influential. I even recall such an unlikely place as "Sesame Street" making a parody of it, which is bizarre considering this was probably not a movie that appealed to kids.

Frank Chambers (John Garfield) is a drifter hitchhiking from San Fransico to San Diego. He stops outside of L.A. where he inquires about a MAN WANTED sign. Diner owner Nick Smith hires him. Surprisingly, the old plain Nick is married to the glamorous Cora (Lana Turner). After initially trying to get rid of Frank, she has an affair with him and plans to kill Nick. After some failed attempts, both Frank and Nick ride the car off the cliff. Frank survives and prosecutor Kyle Sackett tries to send them to prison. Arthur Keats (Hume Cronyn) is the lawyer defending Cora.Lana Turner is terrific. She has the desperation for something better. Right from the first moment, she is perfect for the role. I'm not as sold on Garfield. I wish he's more charismatic and more innocent. He has a bit too much of a hard edge. It's fine for a drifter but not so much when he needs to fumble the murder attempts and the police interrogation. Although they do have sexual chemistry which is saying a lot for the time.

Frank Chambers (John Garfield) is newly hired at a roadside café run by a jolly middle-aged man, Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway). Chambers soon finds himself involved with his employer's gorgeous young wife, Cora (Lana Turner). They murder Nick and are even cleared by the law, but they find out that life as murderers comes at a price.What Frank and Cora have for each other at first is no love, it is lust. It consumes them. They would do anything to get together. They act first and realize the consequences later. They run away from the café and only then discover they have nowhere to go. So, they plan on doing away with the cuckold and what they discover after this act is far more terrible. They cannot trust each other any more because they each know what the other is capable of. At the same time, they also realize they have come to love each other through their journey. They can neither live with not without each other. Since this movie was made in the era of Hays Code, it could not be explicitly sexual or let the wrong-doers get away. But it mocks the code. Where it could not show or imply sex, it is rife with steamy atmosphere and titillating symbolism. The murderers are punished but they also get their redemption making them more human.Turner and Garfield make sparks fly weather they are passionately in love or at each others throats. The platinum blond hair never sat better on any other actress as it did on Turner. She wears white throughout the movie, the intention being to contrast it with her dark personality. That idea is dated but it makes her stand out against the blacks and grays of the background. This movie is up there with the best among film-noirs.