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Tookey's Review |
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Pro Reviews |
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Mixed Reviews |
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Anti Reviews |
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Cast |
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Released: |
1946 |
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Genre: |
UNDERRATED
ROMANCE
THRILLER
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Origin: |
US |
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Colour: |
BW |
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Length: |
113 |
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Lovers (John Garfield, Lana Turner) murder her husband (Cecil Kellaway) , but don't get away with it.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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Controversial on release for the sexually frank portrayal of adultery but hailed nowadays as a masterpiece of film noir, this is a very sanitized version of James M. Cain's novel, which had been filmed previously in France as Le Dernier Tournant (1939), and unofficially in Italy as Ossessione (1942). It suffers from boring leading characters, but the stars perform well, the drama is efficiently handled by the director, and it remains watchable. It's better, and sexier, than the 1980 remake, with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. The surprisingly poor reviews it attracted on release may have less to do with its perceived immorality than the fact that it followed a far superior example of its genre, Double Indemnity, which had a similar plot.
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"It was a real chore to do Postman under the Hays Office, but I think I managed to get the sex across."
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(Tay Garnett, long after release) |
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