The Postman Always Rings Twice

This separates the world of the film from the authentic world of California, and form the point of view of the studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it avoids contr all oversy.

To understand the substance ethnicity has been eliminated from the film, it is necessary to look back at the original stuff and nonsense to see what was intended. The most obvious ethnic instalment in the original story by James M. Cain is the role of the husband, Nick. In the film, he has been named Nick Smith, but in the book, he has a long Greek name and is identified over and over as the Greek. The name Nick is the yet Greek division left in the film, and Cecil Kellaway, who plays the role, is actually Irish and makes no travail to bring any ethnic flavor to the role at all. As depicted, Nick is a less unconnected ingredient in the community than he was in the book. He is not seen as a foreign element at all.

frank is subtly depicted as a foreign element, however, not because of any overt ethnicity but for subtle reasons. John Garfield plays the role. In real life, he was Jewish, but this element was brought to the fore only in Gentleman's Agreement a couple of years later. He played ethnic roles, though, as in Tortilla Flat. In this film, he has a flat American name-- candid Chambers--and has no ethnic identification at all. Indeed, none of the central characters has a name that identifies them as part of an ethic group--the lawyer is Arthur Keats, the wife Cora Smith, and th

Class differences often include ethnic differences so that the dominant white power structure rules over the little ethnic enclaves in the country, and this was certainly the general trend in 1946 in California when this film was made. The legal system was seen as arrayed over against the rights of the poor and the different, while the wealthier white class was protected. However, this is again not a central motif in this film. Keats is a lawyer who likes to manipulate the system and who is as powerful in his way as the District attorney is in his.

However, blunt Chambers can be seen as the "Other," a foreign element that comes into the community and that attracts the attention of the platinum-blonde wife.

The wife represents a certain ideal of Caucasian identity--not only is she a blonde (not necessarily Nordic, but a blonde), but she also unceasingly dresses in white, emphasizing whiteness throughout (the only excommunication being when her mother dies and she dresses in black, instantly signaling what has happened). Indeed, this is all the more potent given that all the men in the film have sad hair and tend to don dark clothing. In many scenes, she is the only bright element visible, a white figure among a sea of dark background and dark suited males.

At any rate, pile in Frank's class view the world as something to be overcome if possible, but there is a fatalism in their actions which is quite a strong and which infuses this film. These are not people who are detain by ethnic differences but people who are pin down by fate. The fact that the man who gives Frank a spring up to the diner at the beginning is actually the District Attorney who will send him to the death chamber suggests that his fate was ordained. Frank and Cora pretermit to see that their downfall is a foregone conclusion, however, and they detect tempting the fates. The first time they try to kill Nick, they fail because of a cat, but this also gets them off the hook so they seem innocent. They cannot s
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