RARA-AVIS: Postman Always Rings Twice
BaxDeal@aol.com
Thu, 3 Sep 1998 22:44:37 EDT
I read Postman and Double Indemnity back to back some 15 years
ago. in
addition to the tight plotting, ironic endings and the idea
that Cain banged
these suckers out in the same year, what made a vivid
impression on me was his
extremely terse prose style. he just sets up the scene and then
the
characters start talking that clipped dialogue with not an "I
said" or "she
said" to be found. to this day these remain two of my favorite
books.
the film Body Heat btw is more a riff on Double Indemnity than
it is on
Postman. however, both stories are so similar thematically that
I suppose
that's beside the point.
as for Chandler's screenplay adaptation of Double... the novel
itself is
practically a screenplay already. I did get a kick out of
seeing Fred
MacMurray playing the tough guy, but hell if I'd throw some guy
off a train
for Barbara Stanwyck. Kathleen Turner, now that's another
kettle of fish.
tangentially, this reminds me of an old hardboiled movie of
that era where
Ronald Reagan slaps around Angie Dickenson. the name escapes me
at the
moment, but I'm sure one of you can volunteer it. now THAT'S my
idea of
entertainment.
John Lau
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