Film noir the most influential of the early noirs. A slew of now-renowned noir "bad girls" followed, such as those played by Rita Hayworth in "Gilda" (1946), Lana Turner in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946), Ava Gardner in "The Killers" (1946), and Jane Greer in "Out of the Past" (1947). The iconic noir counterpart to the femme fatale, the private eye, came to the fore in films such as "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), with Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, and "Murder, My Sweet" (1944), with Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe. The prevalence of the private eye as a lead character declined
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film) from a plea bargain in which she pleads guilty to manslaughter and receives probation. Publicity from the murder makes Twin Oaks a raging success, but things remain tense between Frank and Cora. Keats and Sackett come by and Keats suggests that it is possible the District Attorney, having failed to make a murder charge stick, may take any action he can based on how people are talking about an unmarried man and woman living under the same roof. So, Cora arranges for she and Frank to marry. During their strained reception, Cora learns that she must leave town to visit