John Garfield of the last film, based on the life of Al Schmid, a war hero blinded in combat. In preparing for the role, Garfield lived for several weeks with Schmid and his wife in Philadelphia and would blindfold himself for hours at a time. After the war, Garfield starred in a series of successful films such as "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) with Lana Turner, "Humoresque" (1946) with Joan Crawford, and the Oscar-winning Best Picture "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947). In "Gentleman's Agreement", Garfield took a featured, but supporting, part because he believed deeply in the film's exposé of antisemitism in America.
The Postman Always Rings Twice (novel) postman's first ring was not noticed, his second one, even from the backyard, would be. As a result of the conversation, Cain lit upon that phrase as a title for his novel. Upon discussing it further, the two men agreed such a phrase was metaphorically suited to Frank's situation at the end of the novel. With the "postman" being God or fate, the "delivery" meant for Frank was his own death as just retribution for murdering Nick. Frank had missed the first "ring" when he initially got away with that killing. However, the postman rang again and this time the