Trivia / The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

• Referenced by...: In Kill Bill, when Bill was a little boy, Esteban took him to see this movie in the theatre. Every time Lana Turner appeared on the screen, Bill would begin to suck his thumb. Esteban claims that this was the moment he knew Bill was "a fool for blondes."
• Saved from Development Hell: Even before the original 1934 novel by James M. Cain was published, RKO Pictures was interested in buying the film rights, only to be told by the Production Code Administration (PCA) that the content and themes of the story were "definitely unsuitable for motion picture production." Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. were also interested but were fearful that any attempt to film the story would end in disaster. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer finally purchased the rights two hours after Columbia's deal fell through, but did nothing with them for 12 years, under pressure from the PCA. Meanwhile, other film versions of the novel were produced in France and Italy. It wasn't until Paramount's Double Indemnity (also based on a Cain novel) became a critical and commercial success that MGM finally decided to greenlight the project.
• Troubled Production: The film was an absolute nightmare to get to the screen:
  • The film's two stars, Lana Turner and John Garfield, did not get along with each other at first. When Turner found out that Garfield was cast as her leading man, she quipped, "Couldn't they at least hire someone attractive?" However, they did become friends as the project went along, and were even (according to some accounts) briefly romantically involved.
  • Director Tay Garnett insisted on shooting almost entirely on location instead of on a soundstage, which was very rare at the time. When it came time to film the seaside scenes at Laguna Beach, the intense fog made shooting impossible. After several days of waiting, filming was moved to San Clemente, where the crew also ran into thick fog. After the fog had finally cleared out of Laguna Beach, it returned when the cast and crew attempted to film. The situation was very stressful for Garnett, who was a recovering alcoholic, and he fell off the wagon. Filming was completely delayed after Garnett locked himself in his hotel room, and refused to come out. MGM came very close to replacing him. After hearing this, Lana Turner convinced Garnett to seek treatment. Filming eventually resumed when the fog finally cleared from Laguna Beach.
  • A subplot was filmed involving Audrey Totter's character as a giant cat tamer, as in the original novel. During filming, Garfield was sprayed by one of the lions, and he jokingly asked for stunt pay.
  • The sneak preview was a disaster, with audiences laughing at the scenes of Totter's character showing off her collection of lions and tigers. James M. Cain crawled out of the screening in embarrassment to avoid producer Carey Wilson. The film underwent many reshoots, with Audrey Totter's character reduced to a minor role with barely a minute of screen time.
  • The film was released to highly successful box office, but mixed reviews from critics. MGM head Louis B. Mayer hated the movie, and found it out of the studio's comfort zone of lavish technicolor musicals. However, the film was eventually vindicated by history, and is now regarded as a noir classic. Lana Turner considered it one of the only films of hers that she enjoyed, mostly because it gave her the opportunity to "do some real acting."

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