The Postman Always Rings Twice

1981
X
2h 2m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

27K

YOUR RATING

Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

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Erotic Thriller Steamy Romance Tragic Romance Crime Drama Romance Thriller

The sensuous wife of a roadside diner proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordid, steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.The sensuous wife of a roadside diner proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordid, steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.The sensuous wife of a roadside diner proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordid, steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

27K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:42

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
David Mamet's first screenplay.

Goofs
Modern-day paper currency is used in craps game set during Great Depression, instead of silver certificate dollar bills then in use.

Quotes
Cora: I gotta have you, Frank. If it was just us. If it was just you and me.
Frank Chambers: What are you talking about?
Cora: I'm getting tired of what's right and wrong.
Frank Chambers: They hang people for that, Cora.

Alternate versions
CBS edited 30 minutes from this film for its 1986 network television premiere.

Connections
Edited into American Cinema: Film Noir (1995)

User reviews69

Featured review

8/10

Postman is right, the second time around

Twice is nice. Hollywood had to try twice to get this story right. Lana Turner was beautiful in the 1946 version, but Jessica Lange was something to kill for opposite Jack Nicholson.

Such raw sensuality would easily persuade a man to lose his very soul. Nicholson's part is certainly unscrupulous to begin with, but in Jessica Lange he finds a confederate with even less scruples. The legal loose ends that dangled in the earlier version are avoided this time with a more plausible chain of events... and the story ends when the story ought to end, instead of being dragged on.

Wonderful character and situation development, intriguing and engaging, even when you know the story. Nice twists of the story from the Lana Turner and Italian ("Ossessione" 1943) versions.