The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

The first part of The Postman Always Rings Twice (dir. Tay Garnett) is solid film noir-ish material. Lana Turner is great as the dame with dark intentions while John Garfield does a good job with the performance as a frantic hobo. The story is unpacked quite interestingly. It all goes downhill from there. The scenes in the second part appear superfluous and I quickly lose interest in the characters. Turner plays Cora, a woman who works in a diner together with her older husband. A drifter stops by the café and eventually ends up working there. A romance - or well, whatever it is? - evolves between the drifter and Cora. Well you know how it is, they start plotting to murder the old guy. No traces, no complications, happy ever after. Up 'til now, the film upholds the kind of stylish yet sleazy style that I love in crime films from this era. Small scenes are more important than more dramatic ones: the old guy singing songs while the two others brood. In general, the hot summer days and nights of roadside California have an enthralling look and you sense things will get out of hand just in how mundane scenes are filmed. In the second part of the film the plot tips over into drab fragments. There's an investigation, a prosecution and scheming of every kind. I know this film is considered a classic. Still, I couldn't muster up any special enthusiasm for it. I didn't even bother to contemplate the "moral" denouement of the film.