The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film) confident you'll enjoy the resulting legal byplay that goes on between Hume Cronyn, as Miss Turner's lawyer, and Leon Ames, as the prosecuting attorney. As a matter of fact, Mr. Cronyn and Mr. Ames take most of the acting honors, and there is a decided letdown in the picture after a courtroom clash in which both of them participate with vast enthusiasm." Writing in 2000, critic Stephen MacMillan Moser appreciated Lana Turner's acting and wrote, "It is perhaps her finest work—from a body of work that includes very few truly stellar performances. She was a star, and not necessarily an
Lana Turner in a lead role opposite John Garfield in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946), a film noir based on James M. Cain's debut novel of the same name. In the film, she portrays Cora, a diner proprietor who devises a plan to murder her husband with a drifter who has become her lover. The now-classic film noir marked a turning point in Turner's career as her first femme fatale role. Reviews of the film, and in particular, Turner's performance, were glowing, with Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" writing it was "the role of her career." "Life" magazine named