The Postman Always Rings Twice Blu-ray

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We have started a Patreon page with the hopes that some of our followers would be willing to donate to keep DVDBeaver alive. We are a small niche, so your generosity is vital to our existence.

To those that are unfamiliar, Patreon is a secure/verified third-party service where users can agree to a monthly donation via credit card or PayPal by clicking the button below.

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Tay Garnett
USA 1946

In many ways a more striking reading of Cain's novel than the Rafelson remake, even though required to pussyfoot on the sexual side. With the opening shot of a sign announcing 'Man Wanted', and Turner's first appearance heralded by a lipstick teasingly rolling across the floor to Garfield's feet, no bed is needed to show what she is selling. A drifter passing through, paralysed by her black widow sting, Garfield becomes a man without a will, immobilised in the bleak little California backwater and gradually mired in a cesspit of lust, betrayal and murder that turns too late into love. The plot gathers slack latterly; but this is only a minor flaw in a film, more grey than noir, whose strength is that it is cast as a bleak memory in which, from the far side of paradise, a condemned man surveys the age-old trail through sex, love and disillusionment.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 2 May 1946

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Warner Home Video - Region 1,4 - NTSC vs. Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the DVD Review!

1) Warner - Region 1, 4 - NTSC LEFT

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 1,4 - NTSC	Warner Home Video Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:52:48	1:52:48
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.73 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,212,220,760 bytes Feature: 24,479,963,136 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.77 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 1.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1037 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1037 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio French 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio German 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Italian 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, None	English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Introduction by Richard Jewell (5:02) • Documentary: The John Garfield Story (57:36) • Theatrical Trailers for original and remake • Behind-the-scenes Image Gallery DVD Release Date: January 6, 2004 Snapper Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,212,220,760 bytes Feature: 24,479,963,136 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.77 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Introduction by Richard Jewell (5:04) • Lana Turner: A Daughter's Memoir (1:26:29) • Documentary: The John Garfield Story (57:43) • Theatrical Trailer (2:31) • Behind-the-scenes Image Gallery Blu-ray Release Date: November 13th, 2012 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 32

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray (November 2012): The new 1080P image looks good - maybe a shade cropped but previous damage is gone. Solid contrast on the dual-layered transfer. No noise and plenty of pleasing grain. Detail tightens. It will probably never look much better for your Home theater enjoyment. Ditto for the mono sound in lossless with plenty of DUB and subtitle options signifying it to be region FREE.

Extras have all the previous supplements from the SD and add Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir - the 1.5 hour 2001 documentary by Carole Langer has Lana Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane, talking about her mother and their various personal issues. It is well worth the viewing for fans of the actress.

All quite positive and a very worthy purchase - GREAT to see the film again looking and sounding so pristine.

***

ON THE DVD: Waiting for my Double Indemnity DVD to arrive, I decided to watch the other adulterous James M. Cain adaptation from 1940's - The Postman Always Rings Twice. It took MGM 12 years to adapt the book for the big screen to satisfy the Production Code and the public. Thanks to 2 successful adaptation of Cain novels (Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce) and 2 unofficial adaptations in France (Le Dernier tournant) and Italy (Ossessione) the wait was over. And was it worth the wait! Lana Turner and John Garfield embody Cora and Frank... even without intercourse on the kitchen table, the film is full of sexual tension. Overall, the video quality of this DVD from 2004 is very good. There's some damage in the second reel (see capture 3) and a few specs here and there, but overall image has a nice grain structure, not intrusive with viewing the film. There's good a quality original mono track and Warner also provided a French dub, also in mono. While not a full-blown special edition, extras on the disc are very nice including 1-hour John Garfield documentary. There's also a short introduction by Richard Jewell, but it's better to be viewed after the film. The spoiler-ridden trailer is full of some shots not in the picture, including a lovely view of Audrey Totter with different hair and in different setting. There's also a brief gallery of photos and posters as well as a trailer for the remake.