The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 film)
| The Postman Always Rings Twice | |
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Theatrical release poster by Rudy Obrero
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| Directed by | Bob Rafelson |
| Produced by | Bob Rafelson Charles Mulvehill Andrew Braunsberg |
| Screenplay by | David Mamet |
| Based on |
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain |
| Starring |
Jack Nicholson Jessica Lange |
| Music by | Michael Small |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Edited by | Graeme Clifford |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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122 minutes |
| Country | United States West Germany |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $12,200,000 |
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1981 American-German film adaptation of the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain. The film was produced by Lorimar in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and originally released theatrically in North America by Paramount Pictures. This version, based on a screenplay by David Mamet and directed by Bob Rafelson, starred Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. The film was shot in Santa Barbara, California.
Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) a drifter, stops at a rural California diner for a meal and ends up working there. The diner is operated by a young, beautiful woman, Cora Smith (Jessica Lange), and her much older husband, Nick Papadakis (John Colicos), who is an immigrant from Greece.
Frank and Cora start to have an affair soon after they meet. Cora is tired of her situation, married to a man she does not love, and working at a diner that she wishes to own and improve. She and Frank scheme to murder Nick to start a new life together without her losing the diner. Their first attempt at the murder is a failure, but they eventually succeed.
The local prosecutor suspects what has actually occurred but does not have enough evidence to prove it. As a tactic intended to get Cora and Frank to turn on one another, he tries only Cora for the crime.
Although they turn against each other, a clever ploy from Cora's lawyer, Katz (Michael Lerner), prevents Cora's full confession from coming into the hands of the prosecutor. With the tactic having failed to generate any new evidence for the prosecution, Cora benefits from a deal in which she pleads guilty to manslaughter and is sentenced to probation.
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