REGENT THEATRE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 36, 4 June 1947, Page 5

REGENT THEATRE

Thursday, Friday next. “The Postman always Rings Twice,” M.G.M.’s eagerly-awaited James M. Cain melodrama of two people who are driven to a desperate choice in order to remove the obstacle in the path of their love, opens Thursday on the Regent screen, with Lana Turner and John Garfield co-star-red in two of the most powerful roles ever presented on the screen. Carey Wilson, producer of the picture, states that the plot of Cain’s widely-read book has been preserved intact in the film version. Says Wilson: “No essential situation was altered, but characterisations were heightened to point up motivation, the genuine drama and the unusual love story.”

From its very inception, Lana Turner was top choice for the role of Cora Smith, seductive, cynical wife of a middle-aged restaurant proprietor and a girl whose only interest is security in life. Garfield won the co-starring role from a large group of competitors after it was decided his appearance and talents were made to order for the part of Frank Chambers, the foot-loose hitch-hiker who is fascinated by his employer’s wife. Cecil Kellaway has the pivotal role of the unwanted husband who meets sudden death in a nervecracking auto plunge over a cliff, and others in a carefully chosen supporting cast include • Hume Cronyn as the defence counsel, Leon Ames as the district attorney, Audrey Totter, Alan Reed and Jeff York.