The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

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A classic 1940s film noir, The Postman Always Rings Twice is shot through with an overwhelming sense of the inevitability of fate. In the tradition of Greek tragedy, characters who appear to be in control of their fates turn out to be trapped and compelled by urges beyond their control. They are attractive but flawed, and corrupt at a level so basic that no amount of absolution can cleanse them of their sins. Lana Turner is so magnetically attractive that it is easy to see why John Garfield's character is so quick to fall under her charms and into her arms. Garfield does a capable job of portraying his character's basic moral neutrality: he will do what has to be done, not because it is right or wrong, but simply because it is what must be done. The Macbeth-like plotting of the lovers leads to the predictable recriminations and double-crosses. Even in noir, evil is punished. Eventually. Sort of. The passions that drive the couple to murder are the same fates that manipulated Macbeth, but, in both cases, the characters must pay a price for their weaknesses. The relentless intensity of the Turner-Garfield relationship has rarely been matched on screen. The taut script by Harry Ruskin was based on the novel by noir-meister James M. Cain (Double Indemnity Mildred Pierce), and director Tay Garnett carefully evokes all the conventions of the genre without expanding them.