Ripoff? - The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Discussion

[–] flossie_puppy 18 years ago

Cain wrote "Postman" before he wrote "Indemnity". But yeah, the plots are almost identical.

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[–] jikbokk 17 years ago

"Double Indemnity ... was adapted by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler from the novella of the same title by James M. Cain that first appeared in 1935 ... The story was based on a 1927 crime perpetrated by a married Queens woman and her lover. Ruth (Brown) Snyder persuaded her boyfriend Judd Gray to kill her husband Albert, after having her spouse take out a big insurance policy—with a double-indemnity clause ...

Other films inspired by the Snyder-Gray murder include The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body Heat."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Indemnity_(film)

I like Indemnity better than Postman, with both being more camp than noir. (I like Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid better than either of them.) Turner may be the best of the four stars, but a better performance is given by Edward G. Robinson in a supporting role in Indemnity, while the supporting cast of Postman is crude and annoying, especially Leon Ames as the D.A. And the fact that I had to check if Hume Cronyn (the defense attorney in Postman) later worked as Don Adams in Get Smart means I wasn't taking him seriously as a noir player.

Laugh while you can, monkey boy.

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[–] gbennett5 17 years ago

You're a fool. Neither the wonderful "Postman" OR "Indemnity" are
"camp", you idiot. The latter is probably the finest film noir ever
produced. When Stanwyck read the script she said her only request
is that didn't change ONE line. That's how taut and perfect it was.

You like "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" better than either? Good. Go leave
the board and go watch the incredibly limited Steve Martin in a TRUE
camp film. And a bad one at that.

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[–] jikbokk 17 years ago

Postman and Indemnity have good production values, but provide the typical escapist relief of the genre. You can't be unhappy watching noir classics, because no reasonable person would get himself into such predicaments.

Steve Martin may be limited, but he's made some good films, including my all-time favorite, L.A. Story.

Bourbon and water, no ice, hold the luminous.

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[–] hawktwo 16 years ago

"You can't be unhappy watching noir classics, because no reasonable person would get himself into such predicaments. "

How about the boys who murdered Pamela Smart's husband?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Smart

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[–] jikbokk 16 years ago

"How about the boys who murdered Pamela Smart's husband?"

Not reasonable? Sex is dangerous enough without murdering someone to get more of it.

Bourbon and water, no ice, hold the luminous.

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[–] Ironman54 15 years ago

How Robinson rattled off that list of categories and sub categories in 'DI' was
incredible (and convincing) !

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[–] PlastixEmmi 17 years ago

I had to write a paper on it for film class on there similarities.

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[–] dearmond-1 17 years ago

Tch, tch. Spelling of the penultimate word.

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[–] BwlBoy 17 years ago

I know many won't support this view but I preferred TPART to Double Indemnity.

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[–] dearmond-1 17 years ago

No comment this time around as I have not seen DIndemnity. But I should try to rent it, but out here in the burbs/sticks they have few films worth watching and those that are sold are not much better. Sigh!

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[–] lasue73 17 years ago

We have both of these movies on dvd. My husband likes Double Indemnity and I prefer Postman by far. I really don't like Fred MacMurray at all and I've just never understood the appeal of Barbara Stanwick. Both Lana Turner and John Garfield deliver much better performances in Postman.

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[–] aasoloway 11 years ago

I like TPART way more than Double Indemnity. For whatever reason the appeal of Double Indemnity escapes me. I won't list my complaints because it'll just inflame some of you. I really wished I "got it." I like Billy Wilder. I like film noir. I like B&W. Maybe I just can't get past Steve Douglas (MacMurray on "My Three Sons") as fast-talking leading man.

Anyway - I like TPART more than DI.

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[–] jikbokk 17 years ago

Now, now, I'm sure your aware of you're own shortcomings. Check the Yahoo financial message boards for a few laughs in a similar vane.

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[–] film_flam_man 15 years ago

Or "vein".

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[–] Clothes-Off 17 years ago

I think the biggest difference between the two is that in DI, Phyllis's husband seems like the kind of man who deserves to be killed, whereas Mr. Smith in TPART is a pretty nice man, albeit a total square who even in those days one could not see a bombshell like Cora marrying.

He also did not seem like the kind of man who would have maid such a big decision (closing the business and moving away) without discussing it with his wife. I don't think that scene was played out properly.

SPOILER BELOW

I do agree Edward G. Robinson's character adds much to Indemnity, and the ending is much better than the hokey "we'll be together when we're dead" ending of Postman. So that is what makes DI better, not the actors as I think all are fine in both movies. I really liked Hume Cronyn's character in TPART--a nice change of pace since I've always viewed him as the soft-spoken one in Cocoon.

"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns

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[–] sueannstepanek 17 years ago

I'd have to say I prefer Postman. As has been mentioned, I think Fred MacMurray(sp?) is pretty bland, at least in the few things I've seen him in. Postman has more heart and I love John Garfield in this. I did like DI, but it didn't grab me like this did.

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[–] Tolmides 16 years ago

Double Indemnity is a superior film to the Postman Always Rings Twice. The only aspect in which PART is better is the casting of John Garfield, but Fred MacMurray was by no means bad. Garfield is just an amazing actor.

Also - an earlier poster was critical of Leon, the DA. I actually liked him, and throughout the movie I was sure I'd seen him somewhere. After the movie I found out he was the father in Meet Me In St. Louis. From a musical to film noir, quite a change!

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[–] ANDREWEHUNT 16 years ago

I agree that Double Indemnity is the better of the two films. But Postman still holds up amazingly well. Watched it to night on TCM. Much as I loved Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, Lana Turner in Postman is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful women in cinema history, IMHO.

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[–] jikbokk 15 years ago

Turner is better looking than Stanwyck, as well as Hayworth and even Veronica Lake, although not Grace Kelly. How about the cast of The Big Sleep, featuring the under-achieving but beautiful Martha Vickers, and in which Lauren Bacall comes in maybe 3rd or 4th. Quite a contrast to the all-dog Bogart version of The Maltese Falcon. (The premake had nice looking women.)

Bourbon and water, no ice, hold the luminous.

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[–] Dr_Anton_Phibes 16 years ago

No "rip off", just same author. Try read before speak

Please Note: Just Read Intelligent Answers
DARN remakes!

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[–] canada22 11 years ago

Both movies involved a wife wanting to kill their husbands and affairs, but the reasons and the specifics of the murders were different. Double Indemnity had suspense, romance, clever dialog, and a strategic murder idea. The Postman Always Rings Twice just had sex appeal from the actors and that was it. Double Indemnity is a much better movie.

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[–] steven_torrey 9 years ago

I don't agree. Two distinctly different story lines....

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