Femme fatale in "The Killers" and Cora (Lana Turner) in "The Postman Always Rings Twice", based on novels by Ernest Hemingway and James M. Cain respectively, manipulate men into killing their husbands. In the Hitchcock film "The Paradine Case" (1947), Alida Valli's character causes the deaths of two men and the near destruction of another. Another frequently cited example is the character Jane played by Lizabeth Scott in "Too Late for Tears" (1949); during her quest to keep some dirty money from its rightful recipient and her husband, she uses poison, lies, sexual teasing and a gun to keep men wrapped around
Lana Turner the film their "Movie of the Week" in April 1946, and noted that both Turner and Garfield were "aptly cast" and "take over the screen, [creating] more fireworks than the Fourth of July." Turner commented on her decision to take the role: "The Postman Always Rings Twice" became a major box office success, which prompted the studio to take more risks on Turner, casting her outside of the glamorous sex symbol roles she had come to be known for. In August 1946, it was announced she was set to replace Katharine Hepburn in the big-budget historical drama "Green Dolphin Street"