History Literature / ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Of the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Snyder Snyder-Gray]] murder.

* WordSaladTitle: The postman never shows up and is not even alluded to. There's lots of speculation as to where the name comes from, but James M. Cain admits it was something of a NonSequitur. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice_(novel)#Explanation_of_title several possible interpretations]].

Its most famous adaptation was the [[Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1946 1946 film noir]], which was [[Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1981 remade in 1981]] (although Creator/WarnerBros did not initially make either English-language version, they own both of them today, acquiring the 1981 version in its 1989 purchase of Creator/{{Lorimar}}-Telepictures, and the 1946 version when Time Warner acquired [[UsefulNotes/TedTurner Turner Broadcasting System]], the owners of the pre-1986 Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer library, in 1996). There was also an Italian adaptation, ''Film/{{Ossessione}}'', which actually was the first, being made in 1943 DuringTheWar.[[note]]With a war on, the producers didn't bother to get the rights to Cain's novel, so ''Ossessione'' wasn't shown in the United States until 1976.[[/note]]

* DeathByIrony[=/=]KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Cora is killed in a car accident, the same way that they managed to kill Nick. Frank got away with a crime he did commit - killing Nick - but he's sentenced to death for one he did not, as Cora's death really was an accident.]]

Its most famous adaptation was the [[Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1946 1946 film noir]], which was [[Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1981 remade in 1981]]. There was also an Italian adaptation, ''Film/{{Ossessione}}'', which actually was the first, being made in 1943 DuringTheWar.[[note]]With a war on, the producers didn't bother to get the rights to Cain's novel, so ''Ossessione'' wasn't shown in the United States until 1976.[[/note]]

Its most famous adaptation was the [[Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1946 1946 film noir]], which was [[Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1981 remade in 1981]]. There was also an Italian adaptation, ''Film/{{Ossessione}}'', which actually was the first, being made in 1943 DuringTheWar.[[note]]With a war on, the producers didn't bother to get the rights to Cain's novel, so ''Ossessione'' wasn't shown in the United States until 1976.

-->"He used to be a dick, but he's not a dick anymore."

Its most famous adaptation was the [[{{Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1946}} 1946 film noir]], which was [[{{Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1981}} remade in 1981]]. There was also an Italian adaptation, ''Film/{{Ossessione}}'', which actually was the first, being made in 1943 DuringTheWar.[[note]]With a war on, the producers didn't bother to get the rights to Cain's novel, so ''Ossessione'' wasn't shown in the United States until 1976.

-->"He used to be a dick, but he's not a dick anymore."[[note]]"Dick" here means "detective".[[/note]]

Its most famous adaptation was the [[{{Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1946}} 1946 film noir]], which was [[{{Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1981}} remade in 1981]]. There was also an Italian adaptation, ''Film/{{Ossessione}}'', which actually was the first, being made in 1943 DuringTheWar.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: At the end, Frank says [[spoiler:that he wrote this down while on the death row, and if he's executed, his priest will try to find a way to publish it.]]
* [[LoveMakesYouEvil Love Makes You A Criminal]]

Its most famous adaptation was the [[{{Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1946}} 1946 film noir]], which was [[{{Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1981}} remade in 1981]].

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Cora and Frank try to kill Nick like this twice; it works for the second time. [[spoiler:When Cora dies in a genuine car accident, Frank is accused of murdering her like this.]]

* WordSaladTitle: The postman never shows up and is not even alluded to. There's lots of speculation as to where the name comes from, but James M. Cain admits it was something of a non-sequitur. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice_(novel)#Explanation_of_title several possible interpretations]].

* AutoErotica: Early in a novel, Cora and Frank have sex in a car.
* BeigeProse

* TheDrifter: Frank

* HaveAGayOldTime: "He used to be a dick, but he's not a dick anymore."

* WordSaladTitle: The postman never shows up and is not even alluded to. There's lots of speculation as to where the name comes from, but James M. Cain admits it was something of a non-sequitur. TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice_(novel)#Explanation_of_title several possible interpretations]].

* DeathByIrony[=/=]KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Cora is killed in a car accident, the same way that they managed to kill Nick. Frank got away with a crime he did commit - killing Nick - but he's sentenced to death for one he did not - Cora's death really was an accident.]]

* DeathByIrony[=/=]KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Cora is killed in a car accident, the same way that they managed to kill Nick.]]

!!!Tropes used by the novel:

'''''The Postman Always Rings Twice''''' is a 1934 crime novel written by Creator/JamesMCain.

''The Postman Always Rings Twice'' is a 1934 crime novel written by Creator/JamesMCain.

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Cora is killed in a car accident, the same way that they managed to kill Nick.]]

* InsuranceFraud: Used as a plot point.

''The Postman Always Rings Twice'' is a 1934 crime novel written by JamesMCain.

Frank Chambers, a young drifter, finds himself in a dusty diner in rural California in search of a meal. At the diner, he finds a job and a seductive married woman named Cora. Their attraction is instantaneous, and so starts their passionate affair. Cora's tired of living her life this way, married to an old Greek man named Nick whom she doesn't truly love. She wants to start over but keep the diner. Frank and she come up with the perfect solution and {{the perfect crime}}-- to murder Nick. After an unsuccessful first try, they succeed. Too perfect a crime to have really succeeded, lawyers are onto them. Will they be caught, and how will they pay for their actions?

* NonIndicativeName: The postman never shows up and is not even alluded to. There's lots of speculation as to where the name comes from, but James M. Cain admits it was somewhat of a non-sequitor.

''ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice'' is a 1934 crime novel written by JamesMCain.