The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film) is riveted." The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 95% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on eighteen reviews. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film) The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 American film noir based on the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain. This adaptation of the novel features Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, and Audrey Totter. It was directed by Tay Garnett. The musical score was written by George Bassman and Erich Zeisl (the latter uncredited). This version was the third filming of "The
Lana Turner as an actress has divided critics: Upon Turner's death, John Updike wrote in "The New Yorker" that she "was a faded period piece, an old-fashioned glamour queen whose fifty-four films, over four decades didn't amount, retrospectively to much ... As a performer, she was purely a studio-made product." Defenders of Turner's acting ability, such as Jessica Hope Jordan and James Robert Parish, cite her performance in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" as an argument for the value of her work. Her role in the film has also resulted in her being frequently associated with film noir and the femme fatale