the postman always rings twice is a 1946 film noir based on the 1934 novel of the same name by james m. cain .

this adaptation of the novel features lana turner , john garfield , cecil kellaway , hume cronyn , leon ames , and audrey totter .

it was directed by tay garnett .

the musical score was written by george bassman and erich zeisl ( the latter uncredited ) .

this version was the third filming of the postman always rings twice , but the first under the novel 's original title and the first in english .

previously , the novel had been filmed as le dernier tournant ( the last turning ) in france in 1939 and as ossessione ( obsession ) in italy in 1943 .

the postman always rings twice ( 1946 film )

cain , james m . “the postman always rings twice . ” the postman always rings twice , double
john garfield and lana turner in the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) .
the postman always rings twice . dir . tay garnett . mgm , 1946 .
the postman always rings twice ( post - production script for the . . .
the postman always rings twice is the better - known adaptation of the postman always rings twice , directed by tay garnett and released in 1946 . it is considered one of the key entries in the film noir genre .
cain , james m . the postman always rings twice . london : orion , 2005 .
abstract aesthetic thoughts aside , the postman always rings twice is a solid film that you should definitely check out .
postman always rings twice , the . dir . tay garnett . perf . lana turner and john garfield .
taylor , ella . “‘postman always rings twice’ inspires ‘jerichow . ’” los angeles times , may 17 2009 .
read “from book to cinema : adaptation and the construction of film noir in the postman always rings twice ” after the jump . . .
the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) is one of the best film noirs of all time - and one of the earliest prototypes of today ' s ' erotic thrillers . '
[ 6 ] ella taylor , “‘postman always rings twice’ inspires “jerichow , ”’ los angeles times , 17 may 2009 urltoken . ↩
with the headline : the screen ; ' the postman always rings twice , ' with lana turner in a star role , makes its appearance of the capitol .
james m . cain ' s the postman always rings twice resembles his double indemnity and though the postman always rings twice was written almost ten years prior , tay garnett ' s film adaptation places emphasis on the film as a cheaper
parody
of sorts to double indemnity . yet cain ' s the postman always rings twice acts almost as a draft for his later double indemnity . despite its initial similarities and its very obvious issues , garnett ' s film adaptation is highly entertaining and to this day , wonderful .
there have been films in which another beach has stood in for malibu ' s . the finale from the original “a star is born” was filmed in laguna beach . ditto for beach scenes in “the postman always rings twice” ( 1946 ) .
the steamy the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) paired garfield with lana turner for a classic tale of revenge and deception . garfield’s acting in a supporting role to gregory peck in gentleman’s agreement ( 1947 ) —a film controversial at the time for its frank treatment of anti - semitism—is regarded as…
[ … ] the postman always rings twice ( 1946 and 1981 ) : released today are both the 1946 version ( lana turner & john garfield ) and the 1981 version ( jack nicholson & jessica lange ) . both are entertaining movies , but for my money i would go with the 1946 . the real crime here is that they didn’t release them together in a two - pack ! here is a great review for the 1946 version from our friend at twenty fours frames . [ … ]
trailer for the postman always rings twice ( 1981 ) director : bob rafelson cast : jack nicholson , jessica lange , john colicos , michael lerner , john p . ryan , anjelica huston visit urltoken for more info
a lean , mean tale of adultery and murder , james m . cain ' s bestselling , once - scandalous 1934 novel
the postman always rings twice
is often considered a central text of noir fiction .
tay garnett , american director who , during a career that spanned more than four decades , worked in a variety of genres but was best known for the film - noir classic the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) . garnett sold cartoons and stories to pulp magazines before serving in world war i as a pilot in…
…in the film noir classic the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) . her later box office hits include the bad and the beautiful ( 1952 ) , peyton place ( 1957 ) , imitation of life ( 1959 ) , and madame x ( 1966 ) . thereafter she occasionally appeared in minor film melodramas and such television soap operas as falcon crest . …
garfield in tay garnett’s the postman always rings twice , 1946 ) to college professors ( edward g . robinson in lang’s the woman in the window , 1944 ) . the ethics that these characters espouse are often borne more of personal code than true concern for their fellow man . for example , humphrey bogart ( the…
jason holt , a proponent of neo - noir as a superior and more fully realized version of the genre , argues that in this way , the postman always rings twice is indicative of many early , compromised noir pictures ( 38 ) .
the postman always rings twice ( post - production script for the 1946 film ) by cain , james m . ( novel ) ; tay garnett ( director ) ; harry ruskin and niven busch ( screenwriter ) ; george white ( editor ) : metro - goldwyn - mayer [ mgm ] , beverly hills , ca - royal books , inc . , abaa
the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) offers a famous example of the male gaze . in the scene below , the audience is introduced to cora smith , the film’s lead female character . using close - ups , the camera forces the viewer to stare at cora’s body . it creates a mode of looking that is sexual , voyeuristic , and associated with the male protagonist’s point - of - view .
a year after converting the character study and social critique of james m . cain ' s mildred pierce into a melodramatic murder mystery , hollywood did a more accurate job on his the postman always rings twice , already a sleek tale of lust , murder and retribution .
…directed his most noteworthy film , the postman always rings twice , an adaptation of james m . cain’s crime novel . john garfield was perfectly cast as frank , the drifter who cannot say no to his employer’s seductive wife , even when it means committing murder , and lana turner gave the performance of her…
the postman always rings twice / an andrew braunsberg production ; produced in association with metro - goldwyn - mayer ; produced by charles mulvehill and bob rafelson ; directed by bob rafelson
( pa0000100011 / 1981 - 05 - 04 ) . united states copyright office .
( 1946 ) , but the actor had said no . when mccrea refused to appear in
it makes sense . but as moviemaking goes , the first english - language adaptation of the postman always rings twice is the best . in fact , except for a few hollywood cleanups as expected for those times , it ' s one of the best adaptations of a modern novel you ' ll find .
in the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) , we couldn ' t get an actor that better brings this out than john garfield . he could have made a career of playing lowlifes from the other side of the tracks who nevertheless elicit audience empathy . in postman we know he ' s no good , and perhaps not too bright , but we like him anyway . if anything , he ' s almost too likable to be the sleazy drifting frank chambers of the novel .
the long hesitation of the
hays office
to permit a motion picture to be made from james m . cain ' s plain - spoken novel ,
the postman always rings twice ,
is proved an unnecessary caution by the film which came to the capitol yesterday . for
the postman ,
as evidenced in this treatment , makes a sternly
moral
picture on the . . . view full article in timesmachine »
this dark melodrama was the third screen adaptation of james m . cain ' s the postman always rings twice - the previous two were pierre chenal ' s le dernier tournant ( 1939 , fr . ) and luchino visconti ' s first feature - the unauthorized ossessione ( 1943 , it . ) with the setting transferred to fascist italy .
postman always rings twice ! my favorite . i \ ' ll listen today . garfield is forgotten by most , but man he was good . this is a great big - star hollywood noir . also , if you guys are interested in a new film noir message board ( we link to you guys ) you can go to urltoken
frank chambers ( john garfield ) and cora smith ( lana turner ) knock off nick ( cecil kellaway ) in 1946 film .
the postman always rings twice is a 1981 film adaptation of the 1934 novel by the same name by james m . cain . the film was produced by lorimar in association with metro - goldwyn - mayer [ 2 ] 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 .
by contrast , the endings of classic noirs , an artifice of the production code and compliant creative intentions , almost always ring a little off , false , not only to life , but , much worse , to themselves . a most unfortunate illustration is the postman always rings twice , an otherwise fine noir that ends with frank explaining , for the audience , that poetic justice has been received ! ( holt 38 - 9 )
film festivals are not the only venues where the film industry produces all male panels .
the postman always rings twice ( 1981 ) is now available on blu - ray at the wb shop urltoken jack nicholson and jessica lange smolder and burn in a sexy , violent remake of james m . cain ' s classic about adulterous lovers who plot murder . like warner bros . on facebook at urltoken follow warner bros . on twitter at urltoken
east los angeles union pacific train station appears two times in the postman always rings twice . towards the end of the film , cora learns that her mother has had a heart attack and decides to visit her in iowa . the depot is shown in the scene in which cora departs and the scene in which she returns from her trip . the depot’s rear side , which is currently inaccessible , is visible in both segments .
in honor of the halloween season , i’ve been delving into noir . i just watched the postman always rings twice , tay garnett’s 1946 classic about femme fatale cora smith ( lana turner ) who conspires with her boyfriend , frank chambers ( john garfield ) , to kill her husband , nick ( cecil kellaway ) . though it takes cora and frank two very dramatic tries , the couple finally succeeds at the task , but the murder , of course , comes back to haunt them .
le facteur sonne toujours deux fois . 1946 film de tay garnett . avec lana turner et john garfield . la scene du rouge a levres . the lipstick scene
the meaning of independent film has changed since robert redford established the sundance film festival in 1981 .
my father had been a hollywood star , famous for playing tough guys , including alongside lana turner in “the postman always rings twice . ” he was one of the first actors to set up his own production company , and his first independent film , “body and soul , ” released in 1947 , remains among the finest boxing films ever made . it was nominated for three oscars and was a huge critical and commercial success .
robinson—past 50 when his bourgeois dupes fell for joan bennett’s spider woman in fritz lang’s a woman at the window ( 1944 ) and scarlet street ( 1945 ) —would have made an older edward / tony . this is in keeping with the spirit of noirs in which sluggish older husbands like those played by tom powers in double indemnity ( 1944 ) and cecil kellaway in the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) were disposed of by the anti - heroine’s virile younger lovers , played respectively by fred macmurray and john garfield .
and jessica lange , but the 1946 version , with its button - pushing steaminess and stylish direction , remains the gold standard . —
a critical and commercial success upon its 1946 release , tay garnett’s the postman always rings twice is considered by “many the definitive postwar noir” ( dixon 16 - 7 ) . while critical reevaluations from the mid - seventies onward vary wildly in their qualitative assessment of the film , it is undeniable that the postman came about at the historical epicenter of film noir’s birth and maturation , and that its “quintessential” collection of “noir situations , collections of characters , and plot structures” makes it one of the most foundational and instructive entries in the american noir canon ( mayer and mcdonnell 340 ) . like many early noir features , the postman is based on a 1930s pulp novel ; written by james m . cain , the work itself marked , alongside several similarly hard - boiled contemporary books , the “beginning of ( the ) classic period of noir novels in the united states” ( faison 6 ) .
grossman draws attention to lana turner’s cora papadakis in the postman always ring twice , whose reputation as a quintessential femme fatale is unearned given how “desperately confined” she is in an unhappy marriage to the older husband who intends to squirrel her away from california to northern canada to help him take care of his disabled sister .
title drop : frank notes that when a person is expecting to get a letter , it ' s all right if you don ' t hear it the first time , because the postman always rings twice . they got off murdering nick scot - free , but cora is now dead and frank on his way to receive the death penalty . he says that the postman has indeed rung a second time for each of them . this is different than the novel . james m cain , who wrote the source novel , admitted that the title was mostly a non - sequitur .
[ 22 ] see tim bergfelder’s reading of this film in the context of german film noir , “german cinema and film noir , ” in spicer , european film noir , 144 - 146 . ↩
( 1946 ) , garfield ' s next film at his home studio warner bros . , made the studio amenable to the loan to mgm , particularly since garfield found the role of frank chambers much more suitable .
we never know the people in “the postman always rings twice . ” they are kept rigidly imprisoned within a tradition of absolute naturalism : they exist , they eat , they sleep , they act . that would be acceptable if the filmmakers could stand outside their characters and have feelings about them . but i never believed that was the case . rafelson and his collaborators have gone to infinite pains , successfully , to create a film that is wonderfully achieved on the level of production . but they have not filled it with the purposes of its characters .
the postman always rings twice ( 1946 ) is one of the best film noirs of all time - and one of the earliest prototypes of today ' s ' erotic thrillers . ' the screenplay ( by harry ruskin and niven busch ) was based on the controversial first novel / pot - boiler ( 1934 ) of the same name by notorious writer james m . cain . cain was known for novels with forbidden lust , love triangles , brutal , raw sexiness , and adultery - motivated murder . two previous , sexually - charged classic film noirs adapted from cain ' s novels had met with both critical and box - office success : mgm ' s double indemnity ( 1944 ) and warner bros . ' mildred pierce ( 1945 ) .
lawrence kasdan’s directorial debut remains , to this day , one of the sexiest movies ever to grace the big screen—not to mention , the rare occasion where the phrase “erotic thriller” can be appropriately uttered without the slightest hint of a snicker . boasting a star - making performance by kathleen turner , the film takes the standard double indemnity / the postman always rings twice premise ( femme fatale hires lover to kill husband ) and grafts it onto the humid nightmare that is florida in the midst of a heat wave . memorable sex scenes aside , however , the film is also a master class in how to build suspense and escalate tension . — m . r .
the final verdict ? well , the film is not the extraordinary classic some folks say it is . it is not up there with the two previously made films based on cain novels , “mildred pierce” and billy wilder’s masterpiece “double indemnity . ” of course , few films are on the same playing field as wilder’s film . that said , if you put aside the fact lana turner is just too stunning , and too well lit , to be believable as a waitress at a pit stop diner , and ignore the unsatisfying un - noir like ending , “the postman always rings twice” remains a flawed yet significant portrayal of ill - fated passion , and a ground breaking work in adult film entertainment .
frank : well , i never liked any job i ever had . maybe the next one is the one i’ve always been looking for .
initially imposed in the mid - 1930s , and serving as the law of the land until the mid - 1950s , the “awesomely repressive” production code , authored from strict , draconian catholic principles and “prohibiting the showing or mentioning of almost everything germane to the situation of normal human adults , ” made adapting the postman always rings twice a dubious proposition for the better part of a decade ( cook 237 ) . the book was published , and the film rights purchased , right around the time the code came into effect , and it was generally understood – even by cain himself , who admitted in 1946 that he wrote his books knowing they would “have censor trouble” – that any hollywood adaptation would face serious hurdles ( madden 57 ) . the book was practically a checklist of everything the production code forbade . as summarized by leonard leff and jerold simmons :
fun trivia : after buying the rights to this controversial novel in 1934 , it took the studio 12 years to find a way to sneak it past the censors . in the meantime , it was a ( flop ) broadway play , and two foreign films – france’s “le dernier tourant” and the italian classic , “ossessione . ” it’d be adapted again , in 1981 , as the sexy “the postman always rings twice , ” with jack nicholson and jessica lange – and , some feel , slightly ripped off the same year as the even sexier “body heat . ” ( but the eroticism was always there — look quickly , grownups and you might just catch garfield french - kissing turner in some of their clinches . )
the purpose of adaptation , after all , need not be the note - for - note replication of what the source material did well . the postman always rings twice strikes its own path out of necessity – there simply was no way , under then - current conditions , to make such replications – but it does so thoughtfully , as we have seen consistently throughout this section . these surface - level changes made out of production code requirements often give way to meaningful , provocative , and intriguing alterations to the substance of the story , including a largely wholesale reconfiguring of the plot’s thematic arc .
. . . has little of the insinuating nature of the best film noir .
. the film’s cryptic title is explained by garfield’s character at the movie’s conclusion .
background : first published in 1934 , james m . cain’s novel the postman always rings twice was so controversial for its sex and violence that it was banned by the city of boston . although mgm optioned the book shortly after it came out , it took twelve years for the motion picture production code to loosen up enough for an adaptation to be made . by that time , cain’s novel had already inspired two other film adaptations : the french le dernier tournant ( 1939 ) and the italian ossessione ( 1943 ) . incidentally , the latter ( an unauthorized version directed by luchino visconti ) is considered by many to be a pioneering work of italian neorealism .
despite the sexuality and violence , the film is a fairly faithful rendition of cain’s steamy lust driven work . this was cain’s first novel , published in 1934 , after being rejected over ten times by various publishers . originally titled “bar - b - q” publishers alfred knopf purchased the rights and changed the name to “the postman always rings twice . ” the book was a hit and various movie studios were interested in acquiring the property for the screen . however , this was 1934 and the newly enforced production code turned thumbs down on cain’s lurid work . in spite of a promise made by censor joe breen that the novel would never make it to the screen , mgm purchased the screen rights sitting on the property for twelve years .
i have not read mildred pierce” in many years but after just rereading “postman” i am going back to that one too .
there are a lot of good things in this adaptation of the postman always rings twice , and i strongly recommend it , but i can’t help but feel like it misses something from cain’s novel . i think that something is cain’s writing itself : so much of the novel’s urgency comes from it being narrated by frank chambers , and cain uses his memorable writer’s voice to bring that character to life . i guess something stemming from the writing itself is inevitably lost when a great book is translated to film . i mean , just imagine it going the other way : how could someone translate great cinematography or excellent performances into prose ?
“the postman always rings twice” is an absolutely superb mounting of a hollow and disappointing production . it shows a technical mastery of filmmaking , and we are dazzled by the performances , the atmosphere , the mood of mounting violence . but by the second hour of the film we ' ve lost our bearings : what is this movie saying about its characters ? what does it feel and believe about them ? why was it necessary to tell their stories ? the movie is based on a hardboiled , classic novel by james m . cain , which has already inspired three previous films , including the famous 1946 john garfield version . it isn ' t difficult to guess why the director , bob rafelson , wanted to make it again . on the basis of his key scenes , he was attracted by the physical violence in the story and he felt that in 1981 he could deal more frankly with cain ' s sexual savagery .
had director tay garnett shot the postman in the brooding style of film noir – strong on shadows and sparseness – he might well have put the wind back into the breen sails . but the ambience of metro - goldwyn - mayer hardly encouraged garnett to produce a cold and harsh postman . film noir thrived on pinched budgets and intellectual commitment , neither of which characterized mgm . . . garnett knew how the postman should look to please not only joseph breen but louis mayer . when the picture entered principal photography in summer 1945 , he bathed the sets in light and diffused the fatality of the story . ( leff and simmons 135 )
various treatments and scripts were submitted by m - g - m to the pca between 1940 and 1945 , and in may 1945 , the pca approved a revised temporary script . in an april 1946
someone else i’ll have to give serious consideration to is cecil kellaway as nick , who completely embodies the blissful ignorance of cain’s character . the greek is the only innocent character in the postman always rings twice , the only one not trying to screw everyone else over ; he’s too consumed with ouzo and the day - to - day running of the diner to notice the two lovers plotting against him . ( there’s a fun half - suspenseful , half - comedic sequence where he almost catches on . ) cain’s novel is almost like a greek tragedy , with every character possessing a fatal flaw : while frank’s is lust and cora’s is ambition , nick’s is merely stupidity .
non - neurotic men are hard to find in film noir’s broad swathe . the dominant male figures in citizen kane ( 1941 ) , the maltese falcon ( 1941 ) , double indemnity , laura ( 1944 ) , the killers ( 1946 ) , the postman always rings twice , out of the past ( 1947 ) , the lady from shanghai ( 1947 ) , in a lonely place ( 1950 ) , sunset boulevard ( 1950 ) , on dangerous ground ( 1951 ) , kiss me deadly ( 1955 ) , touch of evil ( 1957 ) , and vertigo—as good a canonical list as there is—manifest , in different combinations , greed , treachery , lust , cruelty , narcissism , paranoia , corruptibility , vanity , passivity , and exploitability . excepting bogart’s selfish sam spade in the maltese falcon and ralph meeker’s brutal mike hammer in kiss me deadly , the strongest among them can seem as weak as a kitten .
this remake of the 1946 movie of the same name accounts an affair between a seedy drifter and a seductive wife of a roadside café owner . this begins a chain of events that culminates in murder .
after achieving critical success as one of germany’s leading contemporary film makers with his gespenster / ghosts trilogy ( 2000 , 2005 , 2007 ) , christian petzold’s subsequent film , jerichow ( 2008 ) has continued his interest in utilizing genre conventions to explore the dynamics between his central characters , lost in the forgotten and empty spaces of post - unification germany , this “zwischendeutschland . ” a loose adaptation of james m . cain’s the postman always rings twice , and thus assuming a position in an enduring series of celebrated film adaptations of the novel in hollywood and european cinema , petzold’s film sets the ménage - à - trois in place in the depopulated landscape of northeastern germany . with the inevitable crime playing out against the “immanent borderscapes that make up the heart of late capitalist germany” ( abel 2008 ) , petzold’s use of genre cinema again raises questions about the economic and political settlement of germany set against the urban and provincial spaces of late capitalism , and about the impossibility of returning home .
yet for a variety of reasons – many of them related to hollywood’s extremely restrictive production code – the two noir traditions , literary and cinematic , differ greatly , a truth that is especially evident within the postman always rings twice . garnett’s film displays a profound shift in content and ideology from the book upon which it is based , and while this was largely necessitated by the specifics of the production code , what makes the film so compelling , as both a historical curiosity and a ( mostly ) timeless viewing experience , is how it uses those restrictions to its advantage . by embracing the possibilities of adaptation as a means to find new and meaningful ways of expressing and expanding upon the barest narrative elements of its source material , rather than succumbing to mindless sanitization , the film offers a critical case study in understanding how film noir , working within the content limitations of the time , disassembles its literary antecedents and constructs itself anew as a unique and enigmatic cinematic tradition .
fast forward / freeze frame : you may need to hit the pause button once or twice , especially when the police get involved , and the d . a . starts getting tricky .
this week’s selection emerges from an interesting , challenging assignment . when i applied to the ba / ma program in film studies at the university of colorado last october ( a program in which one earns one’s graduate degree at the same time as one’s undergraduate ) , the biggest part of the application was the ‘october surprise , ’ in which applicants were given a film and a topic on friday afternoon , and tasked with returning a 10 - 20 page research paper on the movie monday morning . it’s quite sadistic in theory , but as i tend to write my major essays in concentrated bursts over a few days , this was actually quite enjoyable , as the film – tay garnett’s the postman always rings twice – encompassed plenty of possible paths for study , and made for a really fascinating research experience . this paper should be fully accessible whether one has seen the film or not , and offers an interesting look at hollywood cinema during the height of the production code era . enjoy . . .
the magic in the film is in the chemical reaction between garfield and lana , their performances are sizzling .
that is interesting pointing out the similarity between “they drive by night” and “postman . ” i have to watch it again , it has been a while .
guest in the house , 1944 , film noir directed by john brahm . avi
a typically noir tale of murderous infidelity . scheming lovers plot to do away with the hapless husband and remove the obstacle to their happiness . there are obvious comparisons with double indemnity , with a hastily drawn - up life insurance policy figuring , and the consequences of the couples ' actions closing around them like a net . but frank and cora ' s path to freedom is haphazard and unplanned - they really are making it up as they go along - and consequently the movie feels less tightly structured . the postman always rings twice still has a lot going for it , familiar noir beats executed with style ; there ' re just a few issues that hold it back from true genre classic status .
of all the filmmakers who have tackled
postman ,
petzold , a precise and analytical director , is the one best suited to approximating the compact vividness of cain ' s prose .
indeed , this is one of the largest points of critical contention in discussions of the film . though there were not , of course , any set conventions for film noir at the time – the term itself not coming into use for years to come – stories that were ‘noirish’ in their narrative construction and ideology obviously called , from the beginning , for “a consistency of vision and effect that compels recognition . . . of a pervasive evil infecting the world in which the characters move” ( miller 55 ) . the stylistic traits of the noir – dark environments , heavy employment of shadows , atmospheres of rain and grime – therefore extend naturally from the stories being told , and by being “brighter and glossier” than its noir contemporaries , most “evident in the lighting , which has much more fill and far fewer shadows” than what we typically associate with the genre , the postman always rings twice is an obvious outlier among noir pictures ( mayer and mcdonnell 342 ) .
david madden calls james m . cain “ . . . the twenty - minute egg of the hard - boiled school , ” and refers to the postman always rings twice as “the quintessential tough - guy novel . . . ” ( 1 ) . the ‘tough - guy’ novel evolves from the related traditions of “hard - boiled private detective” literature ( which itself “departed from the genteel english novel of detection” ) and “proletarian” novels ( “derived from european naturalism and american selective realism” ) , and is distinguished by deeply ingrained pessimism , a stark reflection of the mood of the great depression – without making any overt political statements – and non - psychological forms of character development built around action , rather than inner or outer expressions of emotion ( madden 1 - 2 , 12 ) .
post - production dialogue cutting continuity script for the 1946 film noir , the definitive adaptation of james m . cain ' s legendary first novel , starring john garfield and lana turner in career defining performances . card wrappers , noted as
dialogue cutting continuity
on the front wrapper , dated february 27 , 1946 , credit for film editor george white , and several numeric holograph pencil notations , and with the title in red holograph ink along the top edge . collates complete , detailing 6 reels , mimeograph . bound at the top edge with two gold brads . in a custom clamshell box with leather spine titles . bookseller inventory # 124525
handyman john garfield ' s torrid affair with married lana turner leads to the murder of her husband and a tragic betrayal . mpaa rating : notrated ( c ) 1946 a warner bros . entertainment inc . all rights reserved
by 1946 , the novel had been filmed twice in europe . in 1939 , a french version “le demier tournant” directed by pierre chenal and as “ossessione” in 1942 by italy’s luchino visconti , an unauthorized adaptation . the victory of world war ii was still fresh in everyone’s minds still , there seemed to be a dark void in the american psyche and post war films began to reflect this in works like “the maltese falcon and “stranger on the third floor . ”
adapted forom james m . cain ' s story , the film . . . more info
exploring the worlds of film , tv and gaming with jonathan r . lack and friends !
dixon , wheeler winston . film noir and the cinema of paranoia . new brunswick : rutgers
miller , gabriel . screening the novel : rediscovered american fiction in film . new york :
the most recent
postman
variation and perhaps also the greatest testament to the story ' s adaptability , is a 2009 film ,
jerichow
( on dvd from cinema guild ) , by christian petzold ( whose latest film ,
barbara ,
germany ' s official oscar submission this year , is set to open in the u . s . soon ) .
whether it ' s the 1946 adaptation with lana turner and john garfield , the 1981 version with jack nicholson and jessica lange , or 2009 ' s ' jerichow , ' the movies based on james m . cain ' s bestselling 1934 novel have proved popular .
the best - known version , from 1946 , directed by tay garnett and starring lana turner and john garfield , gave the noir genre one of its most iconic femme fatales and one of its most persuasively doomed love - hate affairs . ( the film has just been issued in a blu - ray dvd edition by warner home video . )
if i were an author i would be upset about some of the changes hollywood has made in transferring material to the screen . i know cain was not happy with what they did with “postman” also .
— . film noir and the spaces of modernity . cambridge : harvard university press , 2004 .
vincendeau , ginette . “french film noir . ” european film noir . ed . andrew spicer . manchester : manchester university press , 2007 . 23 - 54 .
jerichow . dir . christian petzold . schramm film koerner und weber , 2009 .
there is validity to holt’s point . certainly , the undermining of the film’s noir merits due to production code considerations is a more meaningful complaint here than it is anywhere else ( and a much more substantive complaint than those aimed at the film’s aesthetics ) . whether one is offended by the lack of faithfulness to cain’s book or to the preceding 110 minutes of cinema , the postman’s ending is unfortunate , an undeniable blemish that cannot be ignored .
the next day , we were so busy , i hardly had a chance to look at her . not until the middle of the morning . there was always a lull about that time . and nick had just left for la .
wood , mary p . “italian film noir . ” european film noir . ed . andrew spicer . manchester : manchester university press , 2007 . 236 - 271 .
with a supporting role . watch hume cronyn and leon ames . . . both excellent ! theories abound for reasons why this movie was named ' the postman . . . ' . . . .
bergfelder , tim . “german cinema and film noir . ” european film noir . ed . andrew spicer . manchester : manchester university press , 2007 . 138 - 163 .
the film was screened out of competition at the 1981 cannes film festival . [ 4 ] the film got mostly negative reviews from most critics , who felt that the remake was wasted . they also believed the ending was
very weak
compared to the original film . they also criticized the fact that the meaning of the title is not explained in the remake , which can lead to confusion among viewers . it scores an 83 %
fresh
rating on rotten tomatoes , with 10 positive reviews and two negative .
so while mildred pierce deserved— needed —a remake , which it finally got very recently , there was no real necessity for a postman do - over . which we got 35 years after the original anyway .
something the movie adds to the novel though is a credible explanation of the title . in the book , postmen go unmentioned . in the film though , frank makes a nice speech on death row near the end about how punishment for your sins always catches up to you . you might escape it once—as he and cora did once in court—but karma will try again and get you at home the second time .
why adults will like it : glossy , terribly tasteful mgm wasn’t particularly comfortable with noir . but it’s the casting that carries things through here – john garfield brings an urban earthiness to frank , and lana turner was at her unobtainable peak as the devious cora ( always dressed in mockingly innocent white ) . even the miscasting works to the film’s advantage ; gus is supposed to be a hardbitten old slob , but likable , grandfatherly cecil kellaway makes the film all the more powerful .
the first time john garfield , and we the audience , see lana turner in “the postman always rings twice” she is exquisite looking , dressed all in white wearing a turban , a tight blouse with her bare mid - drift exposed , and a tight fitting pair of shorts containing the shapeliest pair of legs ever to stand in high heels . garfield , kneeing down to pick up her lipstick case that rolled across the floor , is hooked from the moment he sees her . his eyes working their way up from her incredible legs to her full breasts to her superlative face . it remains today , more than fifty years later , one of the greatest screen entrances in film . for half the film , director tay garnett had turner wear white , her turban , those fantastic short shorts , her jacket , her waitress outfit , even her hair is platinum blonde . only after plans are set in motion to kill her husband do the outfits all turn to black , visually symbolizing the good and evil of her character . this visual imagery would be used almost fifteen years later by alfred hitchcock with janet leigh’s white and black bras and half - slips in “psycho . ”
since its coining in 1946 by french critic nino frank , who observed from afar something dark , quite literally , going on at the american cinema , the term “film noir” has been debated and debated and debated some more . is it a genre ? a subgenre ? a movement ? a trend ? a commentary ? a style ? for the purposes of this introduction , let’s call it a response .
chance events trap hitch - hiker al roberts in a tightening net of film noir trouble .
the postman always rings twice is indeed an exemplary model for ‘tough - guy’ literature . at a brisk and breathless 100 pages – which , madden correctly notes , “may be experienced in one sitting” akin to a movie – the novel recounts the story of frank chambers , a drifter who arrives by chance at the twin oaks tavern , where he not only finds new employment , but intense temptation in the form of cora , beautiful and mysterious wife to tavern owner nick papadakis ( 38 ) . after discovering mutual attraction in one another , frank , who sees how unhappy cora is in her relationship with “the greek” – as nick is most often called , resulting in a strong , omnipresent undercurrent of racial and ethnic tension that would be abandoned in garnett’s film version – decides to help cora kill her husband . after two attempts , frank and cora succeed , and are both set free in the aftermath of some complex legal wrangling , only for cora to die shortly thereafter in a genuine car accident , with frank sentenced to death for supposedly arranging her ‘murder . ’
[ 7 ] ginette vincendeau argues that this “is the most socially anchored version of the story [ ref… . ] where the 1946 american version emphasizes the erotic charge of the femme fatale ( lana turner ) and visconti’s the attraction of the young male hero ( massimo girotti ) , chenal gives weight and sympathy to the husband , played by michel simon , significantly the greater star of the french trio . the ambiguity of simon’s performance suggests that he is a willing participant in the ‘infernal trio’ rather than simply a victim . ” ginette vincendeau , “french film noir , ” in andrew spicer , ed . , european film noir ( manchester : manchester up , 2007 ) 29 . ↩
these changes were enough to make the postman fit for production , and perhaps the most impressive thing about the film garnett eventually created is that , though most of its alterations to the source material were necessitated by the needlessly puritan ideology of the production code , the film is ultimately just as thoughtful and provocative , if not more so in places , than the novel it is based on ( though critics who get hung up on the undeniably compromised ending would typically argue otherwise ) . it simply builds its drama in different ways , and operates on divergent thematic paths .
pick , pick , pick on lana turner . i’m sick of it . the film is a classic because of her not in spite of her . she was always as good if not better than her material . had anyone else starred in that film it would probably be forgotten by now . there is a reason turner was a true star for some 30 years – nobody lasts that long without something in her favor .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
mayer , geoff , and brian mcdonnell . encyclopedia of film noir . westport : greenwood press ,
but that ' s the problem with this film as a book adaptation . it ' s nearly perfect . nearly .
park , william . what is film noir ? lewisburg : bucknell university press , 2011 . print .
woman in white : cora dresses entirely in white throughout the film , save for two scenes in which she wears black .
. the film features all the elements of an enduring noir classic : sexy leading players , tight script and direction , and a shocking climax .
garnett’s film is in fact so adept at depicting passion that “though [ the ] screenwriters . . . had cut much of the anger and feeling out of the novel , breen predicted that ‘the overall flavor of lust’ would bring the censor boards down on the postman ” ( leff and simmons 134 ) . that did not come to pass , of course , due in large part to another concession garnett made to appease not only the production code administration , but mgm itself :
forty years before the blair witch project popularized the idea of a film being told from the camera’s perspective , actor / director robert montgomery gave this radical idea a spin with lady in the lake , his adaptation of one of raymond chandler’s philip marlowe detective stories . ultimately , the case proves to be minor marlowe and the first - person gimmick does eventually wear thin over the course of the film’s runtime . putting aside these reservations , however , the film is most certainly worth a watch if just to witness montgomery’s sheer audacity and inventiveness . it’s the textbook example of a film being ahead of its time . — m . r .
and rutger hauer , as well as some of the most emotionally intense action set pieces ever put to film . moreover , a good portion of the film’s appeal lies in its incorporation of film noir aesthetics—shadow - filled , rainy metropolitan exteriors , a brooding yet resourceful investigator hero , retro ’40s fashion—into its dreary , dystopian setting . at one point , the film even boasted a philip marlowe - esque voiceover narration that was thankfully excised from future cuts . once regarded as a failed experiment ,
aestheticizes violence without fetishizing it . bullet holes and knife wounds help color the film in dark brushstrokes—such is the coens’ wont—and careful attention to shot composition ratchets the film’s morbid elements to almost intoxicating heights . you’ll want to look away , but the coens keep your eyes glued to their somber fatalism . —
faison , stephen . existentialism , film noir , and hard - boiled fiction . amherst : cambria press ,
it was not until the 1944 film adaptation of cain’s similarly challenging novel , double indemnity , that successfully bringing the postman to the screen became viable . the double indemnity film removed some of the most ‘objectionable’ content from cain’s book , but the core of the story was left intact , thus indicating that the postman might have a similar shot at being told on film . “producers called the release of dobule indemnity ‘an emancipation for hollywood writing , ’” explain leff and simmons , and that very same year , louis b . mayer returned to the property he had long considered a lost cause to see if a production code - acceptable outline could be created ( 131 , 133 ) . mayer was intent on maintaining the core of the story , but he promised production code administration president joseph breen that frank and cora’s “lust would be suggested rather than flagrantly expressed , ” and adjusted in his outline many elements of the story to reflect more normative moral values ( thus leading to the previously mentioned tonal variations , enhanced character introspection , and further justification and punishment for the central transgression ) ( leff and simmons 133 - 4 ) .
many films that represent women’s desire do so in “non gaze” - related ways . jane campion’s the piano ( 1993 ) expresses the heroine’s passionate nature through the film’s famous score .
as a film noir , it lacks some of the shadowy ambiance characteristic of the genre . instead , it is in the twisting , torturous path that cora and frank take on their march to murder and their often brutal interactions with the law and each other as their botched homicide unfolds that gives the film its nasty , noir component .
sizzles and flares with crackling tension , laying waste to the 1981 version with jessica lange and jack nicholson . though criticized for compromising the sexual nature of the story to appease the censors , the envelope gets pushed just far enough to make the film one of the hottest of the least graphic variety .
was a rarity in its heyday , though if you didn’t know lupino held the reins , you might not guess the film was directed with a feminine touch .
some of the postman’s locations also withstood the test of time . the one i was most excited to discover was the now abandoned east los angeles union pacific train station located at 5480 ferguson drive in commerce . i’ve mentioned before that there are few things i love more in this world than abandoned places and this one did not disappoint .
regional censorship reports contained in the mpaa / pca file indicate that the film was banned in indonesia , switzerland and spain , and that deletions to the picture were made in other countries .
holt , jason . “a darker shade : realism in neo - noir . ” the philosophy of film noir . ed . mark t .
when film critics talk about the gaze , they are often referring to the “male gaze” . but what does that really mean ? and is there a female equivalent ?


the death and return of superman is a short film released in 2012 on youtube , by chronicle writer max landis .

the film , as its title implies , is a monologue about " the death and return of superman " storyline from dc comics over parody-like sketches .

the film was produced by bryan basham , creator of cops : skyrim .

the death and return of superman ( film )

the death and return of superman gets a two - part animated . . .
the entire arc including the death , funeral , and reign are often referred to officially as the death and return of superman , taking into consideration his return after several months .
max landis , whose new found - footage superhero film
chronicle
appears in theaters this weekend , has a few opinions about the man of steel ' s demise – and subsequently inexplainable return – in his short film ,
the death and return of superman .
the death and return of superman is a video game released in 1994 for super nintendo and 1995 for sega genesis .
a somewhat - mostly - accurate educational parody film by max landis about superman ' s death and revival by dc .
the death and return of superman the events from this issue or series are related to the death and return of superman , a retroactively named trilogy in which superman is killed by the monster doomsday . later , four superheroes debut in metropolis who claim or are assumed to be reincarnations of him — the last son of krypton , the man of steel , the man of tomorrow , and superboy . this template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the death and return of superman crossovers category .
fans of dc entertainment’s animated movies may remember that 2007’s superman : doomsday , the very first film in the series , also adapted this battle . however , in order to condense the entire epic story of superman’s death and return for a 75 - minute film , many omissions and alterations were made . dc entertainment promises that death of superman will be a more faithful adaptation and include several moments that were left out of superman : doomsday .
a surprisingly insightful ( and entertaining ) cliff - notes version of the dc comics
death and return of superman
story . goes over the story and provides commentary at the same time .
this is the only good
film
that max landis has ever made .
a scrolling beat - em - up video game called the death and return of superman was released by blizzard entertainment and sunsoft for the super nintendo entertainment system and sega mega drive / genesis .
screenwriter max landis accounts dc ' s 1992 multi - issue story arc
the death and return of superman ,
pointing out various plot holes and featuring a number of celebrity cameos .
the death of superman is a comic book storyline ( culminating in superman ( vol . 2 ) # 75 in 1992 ) that served as the catalyst for dc comics ' crossover event of 1993 . the completed multi - issue story arc was given the title the death and return of superman .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
superman comics ceased publication for months following the man of steel’s death , until the adventures of superman # 500 hit stands , offering the first hint of superman’s return . the issue also offered the first glimpse at the four new supermen and each of the replacement took over one superman’s old titles : superman , the adventures of superman , superman : the man of steel , and action comics .
now that you ' ve seen chronicle , josh trank ' s thrilling new take on telekinesis and the found footage genre , the film ' s writer max landis presents the lighter side of superheroes in a brand new short film dissecting one of the most talked about comic book arcs of all time : the death of superman .
in 2018 , death of superman will retell superman’s famous “final battle” against the unstoppable force known as doomsday .
the death of superman at the hands of the nightmare creature called doomsday made headlines across the country in the 1990s , and now dc comics has gathered the story of the man of steel’s death and return in one volume for the first time ever . this amazing story guest stars the justice league of america and many other dc comics heroes as they witness the fall and rise of the greatest super - hero of all time .
one of the biggest comic events of the early 90s was the death of superman , which saw the man of steel fall at the hands of doomsday . superman # 75 sold out multiple printings and reshaped the dcu , leading to reign of the supermen event that teased out the return of kal - el with four potential candidates .
superman actor henry cavill shared an image that may hint at parallels with a comic book storyline that also featured the death of superman . in “the death and return of superman” story , superman returns after seemingly dying in a battle against doomsday . he later returns , sporting a black costume similar to the one teased at by cavill .
the death of superman will be released in late 2018 . reign of the supermen will be released in early 2019 .
and with that , landis and a bunch of people who i have to assume are his actor friends go on a 15 - minute gonzo reenactment of the birth of doomsday , and the dumbassed punching contest that led to superman ' s death , the reign of the supermen , and the eventual return of the newly enfollicled man of steel .
i don ' t know if you caught this over at io9 , but max landis ' drunken , half - crazed retelling of the saga of
the death and return of superman
was the funniest thing i saw last weekend .
during an interview with newsarama . com , timm explained that the story would cover the entire trilogy of the death of superman , world without a superman , & reign of the supermen ! . however , it was necessarily simplified since the film runs only 75 minutes .
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the original “death of superman” story was created by mike carlin , dan jurgens , roger stern , louise simonson , jerry ordway , and karl kessel . superman’s death in superman # 75 was a highlight of the speculator bubble in the 1990s . superman’s death was followed by the “funeral for a friend” story , which saw superman’s loved ones , included the heroes of the dc comics universe , in mourning and attending superman’s funeral .
adventures of superman # 500 : superman ' s apparent revival and the appearance of the four supermen .
at comic - con international : san diego , warner bros . animation , dc entertainment and warner bros . home entertainment announced plans to adapt the popular “death and return of superman ” storyline as two animated movies releasing in 2018 and 2019 .
coincidentally , the death of superman was also the title of the last episode of the super powers team : galactic guardians , although its story was completely different .
max landis ( the son of famed animal house director john landis and screenwriter of chronicle ) has released the death and return of superman , an entertaining , whisky - fueled 17 - minute short detailing that bizarre 1990s storyline . and all of your favorite heroes are here , like bloodwynd , eradicator , and the guardian !
again , like the previous two storylines , the collected edition of reign of the supermen ! did not use its original title , dc comics instead chose to use the return of superman .
the death and return of superman storyline brought in millions of readers to dc comics , despite the entirety of the story being intertwined through numerous different comic series , including action comics , superman , superman : the man of steel , and adventures of superman , among others . the cover of superman ( vol . 2 ) # 75 became an iconic image : superman ' s tattered cape wrapped around a pole , marking a makeshift grave .
it’s one of the most popular and powerful superman stories ever told , but it’s such an epic tale that it can’t be faithfully told over a single film . so when warner bros . animation , dc entertainment and warner bros . home entertainment adapt the famous story of the death and return of the man of steel just in time for its 25th anniversary , it’ll be as two separate feature - length animated movies .
it’s a big weekend for max landis . sure , the son of legendary director john landis has a few screenplays in various stages of production but this weekend marks his first to finally make it to the big screen , chronicle ( read a review here ) . he’s also picked this weekend to release his much ballyhooed short film the death and return of superman .
literal , insider version what happened in 1992 when dc comics decided to kill , then resurrect , superman . chronicle writer max landis made this monologue about “the death and return of superman” storyline from dc comics over parody - like sketches .
is “a somewhat - mostly - accurate educational parody film , ” according to its creators . those creators ?
max landis was born on august 3 , 1985 in los angeles county , california , usa . he is a writer and actor , known for chronicle ( 2012 ) , the death and return of superman ( 2011 ) and me him her ( 2015 ) .
the spirit of the “reign of the superman” story was present in superman : doomsday , but the details were greatly simplified . instead of four different supermen , the superman : doomsday included a single superman clone who was created and controlled by lex luthor . superman : doomsday also saw the true superman return in his fan favorite black and silver costume and “business in the front , party in the back” haircut .
the death and return of superman , described as “an educational parody , ” tells the hilarious , literal , insider version what happened in 1992 when dc comics decided to kill , then resurrect , superman . it’s a story many of us remember , but have long since forgotten .
: superman ' s death would have long - reaching consequences long after his revival . in
superman ' s death - like manner set into motion a series of resurrections in the dc universe . green arrow , donna troy , elongated man , hal jordan , metamorpho , jason todd , and others have experienced comic book death and resurrections . these events have been attributed to the door between life and death being kept open since superman died .
in the appropriately titled
the death and return of superman
- - not be confused with the 1994 video game on snes - - landis speaks directly to the audience as he candidly vents his frustration with the death of superman and dc comics in general . taking a tongue - and - cheek approach , the narrator ' s ramblings are synched with deliberately cheesy dramatizations , a la funny or die ' s drunk history shorts .
the cavalry arrives late : a played for drama version , where ice and bloodwynd return to metropolis to aid superman , only to discover that the battle with doomsday is now over and superman is dying of his wounds .
revealed at the batman and harley quinn premiere at san diego comic - con ( and followed up by an official dc press release ) , the two - part film breaks the story up into its core components , echoing the original dual events . the death of superman will be the first film , releasing in late 2018 ; it will stay truer to the comic story of doomsday ' s rampage than superman : doomsday was , and will feature a number of scenes from that storyline that were cut from the previous film . it will be followed by reign of the supermen in early 2019 , which will go into full detail of all four supermen ( as opposed to the one that was featured in doomsday ) .
finally , in early 2019 , look for reign of the supermen , the second part of the two - part adaptation . while we’ll have to wait for an official synopsis to learn all of the details , that name should be a familiar one to superman fans and suggests we’ll be seeing the rise of the superman alternates that took his place during the year after his death . ( for those unfamiliar with the story , they were steel , cyborg superman , superboy and the last son of krypton . ) this part of the death and return of superman was greatly simplified in doomsday , which instead featured a single alternate superman rather than the four we saw in the comics .
the game follows the events of the death of superman starting from the time that the underworlders take over the metropolis power plant to superman ' s return and defeat of the cyborg . other heroes such as green lantern , supergirl , and the justice league are omitted from the game ( though the league is mentioned in a cutscene ) and other notable enemies such as mongul are also missing from the plot . while an image of an unpowered superman is present in the game , the player never gets to battle with superman in this form .
and actually , the lesson at the end about comic book death . i ' m not sure if superman really did break comic book death , but it does seem as though death has gotten fairly silly in comics over the last ten or so years , to the point that whenever publishers talk up a character ' s big ! shocking ! death ! everyone pretty much knows it will mean nothing .
the golden age superman , kal - l , fought and defeated doomsday alongside the modern superman during the battle of metropolis .
starter villain : the underworld warworlders in the first part of the
death of superman
arc , continuing a subplot that had been going on in the previous issues of superman : the man of steel . they have no relation to doomsday and superman defeats them before they can invade the surface without much difficulty .
the film was screened twice at the san diego comic - con ' 07 as a special sneak preview on thursday , july 26th . both reactions and reviews were positive .
remember when the man of steel died and came back in the 1990s ? well , this is the closest we ' re going to get to a live - action death of superman movie . and it ' s kind of amazing .
an educational parody film by max landis , produced by bryan basham starring elden henson , elijah wood , mandy moore , morgan krantz and many more .
superman : dont let the costume fool you . im superman - and im back .
faux death : many of the adaptations to this story transform superman ' s death into this . the novel would claim that all superman needed was time in the sun to fully recharge , but points out that if he had ran out of solar power , he really would have died .
a trailer released in june 2007 showed a slightly altered animation style from that of the regular dc animated universe . lois and superman have a relationship , but the man of steel hasn ' t revealed his identity to lois until the end of the film , even though she already knows . lex luthor ii and supergirl are not in the film ; present is a similar lex luthor to that of the dcau — the corrupt tycoon of lexcorp ; the fight between superman and doomsday occurs at night ( instead of during the day , as it did in the comics ) ; there are fewer supermen ; among other changes and differences .
batman isn’t alone though . j . k . simmons revealed that he’s wrapped filming as commissioner gordon , noting how they “just kind of introduce him and see a little bit of his interactions with batman and with most of the justice league” in the film .
bloodless carnage : averted . the death portion is pretty brutal , from the first squished bird to the final blow .
the story was eventually adapted as an animated film called superman : doomsday in 2007 , but it was highly condensed in order to fit the plot within the film ' s short runtime . it was also used as the premise for the final act of batman v superman : dawn of justice . now , dc universe original movies is creating a new two - part adaptation that promises to be much more faithful to the original story .
roger stern adapted the death of superman storyline into a novel , entitled the death and life of superman , in the summer of 1993 . it was released in hardcover form and then in paperback a year later . ( hardcover isbn 0 - 553 - 09582 - x , paperback isbn 0 - 553 - 56930 - 9 ) a young adult version book was written by louise simonson under the title superman : doomsday & beyond and released at the same time as the hardcover of death and life . it features cover art by alex ross , his first sale to dc .
berserk button : it ' s generally not a good idea to call superboy anything other than superman , prior to the real superman ' s return . destroying his jacket is also not recommended .
though snyder completed most of the filming , the director will be stepping back from the project as of may 2017 , following the tragic death of his daughter . the filmmaker will hand over the reins to joss whedon for any additional scenes and the remainder of post - production .
this was it . this was the event that heralded the dark age of comics in the ' 90s . dc comics broke death in comic books and nothing was ever the same .
the final episode of super friends ( aired in november 1985 ) , was also titled
the death of superman
, and opened with the funeral ceremony , featuring the coffin being sent into the sun . he gets better he was only mostly dead . an earlier story from challenge of the superfriends also featured superman ( and the rest of the league ) being killed .
: both cyborg superman and the eradicator are pastiches of this 90 ' s trend .
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the trade paperback the death of superman received the comics buyer ' s guide fan award for favorite reprint graphic novel or album for 1992 . the storyline of the reign of the supermen ! won the comics buyer ' s guide award favorite comic book story for 1992 .
this page uses content from wikipedia . the original article was at the death of superman . the list of authors can be seen in the page history . the text of wikipedia is available under the creative commons attribution - sharealike 3 . 0 unported license .
put on a bus : superman supporting cast members gangbuster , sinbad , and thorn made their final appearances in the
legacy of superman
one - shot that was released in - between
doomsday !
and
funeral for a friend
( although thorn would later return elsewhere in the dcu ) . gangbuster made one more appearance in adventures of superman # 500 , but he ' d return much later in kurt busiek ' s weekly series trinity .
an incredible & ground - breaking story line that , combined with the other tpbs
world without a superman
&
the return of superman
presents an incredibly gripping story that takes time to spotlight many of the more minor & lessor known characters in metropolis .
revealed at san diego comic - con tonight at the packed batman and harley quinn world premiere , the death of superman adaptation was just one of the upcoming animated films in the popular dc universe original movies line that was announced for 2018 .
cult : a cult of superman worshipers make their prominence after superman ' s death , proclaiming that he will rise and save them all . the cult splits in four once the superman replacements show up , each claiming that their chosen substitute was the real superman reborn . though we never learn what became of them , especially when it was revealed to the public that none of them are the real superman , and one of them was a villain .
the animated movie is more or less the same as the comics arc ( especially the death sequence ) but with the exclusion of the justice league and the superman wannabes ( except for an ( adult ) clone ) , probably to make the story simpler ( or for licensing reasons . )
the first issue for each of the new heroes featured a cardstock cover and a poster of the new hero .
initially , the death of superman storyline was a huge success - comic - book fans that had never previously read a superman title snatched up the issue en masse . when superman was subsequently revived , however , the backlash was equally strong - diehard superman fans had bought the death issue on the expectation that that the book itself would become a prized collectible , and felt ' cheated ' when he was suddenly revived ( which made the book nearly worthless as a collectible ) .
the confrontation between the man of tomorrow and the last son of krypton initially seems to be an example of this . it turns out that
the climactic event happened in superman ( vol . 2 ) # 75 . the issue only contains 22 panels , and every page was a single panel , which was a structure building on the previous issues — adventures of superman # 497 was done entirely with four - panel pages , action comics # 684 with three , and superman : the man of steel # 19 with two . the entire story was immediately collected into a trade paperback and titled the death of superman .
superman - - dead !
- - the daily planet on november 18 , 1992 , news of superman ' s death shocked the world as the legendary man of steel was killed defending metropolis from the monster called doomsday . here at last is the dramatic story behind the best - selling comic book of all time : the fates of clark kent , lois lane , ma and pa kent , the justice league , and the reign of the four super - beings who mysteriously appeared after superman ' s funeral , each claiming to be the real last son of krypton . and finally , here is the complete incredible story of superman ' s triumphant return ! in this thrilling novel , roger stern , a veteran writer of action comics , chronicles the most amazing comeback in comic - book history - - told with more gripping detail and background than ever before .
the film gives you a look at how much a fanboy landis actually is , and it has an all star cast that includes elijah wood , mandy moore , ron howard , chris hardwick , and simon pegg . this short had me busting up laughing all the way through , because these were all of my thoughts on this comic book fart packed into one of the best rants i ' ve ever seen on the death of superman . here ' s a note from landis . . .
the dtv film was released on september 18th , 2007 . it made its u . s . broadcast premier on the cartoon network saturday , july 12 , 2008 at 9 : 00 pm est .
this isn ' t the first time that dc has adapted classic stories as a two - part animated film ; the dark knight returns was similarly adapted in 2012 and 2013 , with a deluxe edition that combined the two films into a single volume being released later in that year . it ' s possible that death of superman and reign of the supermen will get a similar combined edition in late 2019 , though dc has made no announcements along these lines as yet .
the first half of the reign of the supermen ! story focuses on each of the supermen “resuming” his duty as protector of metropolis and gaining acceptance from the public . of the four , the reader very quickly learns that neither the cloned metropolis kid nor the john henry irons man of steel are the real superman . the cyborg man of tomorrow and the last son of krypton were easily bought in by the people as the possible real superman , since lois questioned both of them , and both recalled memories which clark kent had . cyborg was even tested by dr . hamilton who stated that the cyborg appeared to be the real superman .
in terms of their justice league roster , dc / warner bros . is leaning on known quantities to populate the team . we of course have batman and superman leading the charge , along with wonder woman , aquaman , the flash , and cyborg . notably absent will be green lantern , likely an attempt to further distance the studio from the disappointing standalone film they released back in 2011 .
however , a rumor reported by birth . movies . death . claims that while darkseid will be playing a large role , his uncle , steppenwolf will be the main villain . in the comics , steppenwolf is more of a minor character , giving director zack snyder plenty of creative license to tell a new story . another report from birth . movies . death . claimed that darkseid won’t play as large of a role as originally thought , noting that while “darkseid is a presence in the movie , and fully appears at the end of the film , don’t expect him to do much . ”
however , the most famous instance was the
death of superman
story arc in the superman comics during the 1990s , and the animated movie ( based on that story ) titled superman doomsday ( which started off the dc universe animated original movies line ) that came out in 2007 . additionally , the line will revisit the story with a more faithful adaptation , split into two parts , in 2018 and 2019 .
up until the death of superman event , dc comics writers lived on a fixed set of rules when it came to how the post - crisis superman ' s powers were portrayed . this was changed upon his return . the change could be traced to when the eradicator transformed the kryptonite radiation into something that would re - empower the revived superman . in a battle with lobo , he discovered he could survive the vacuum of space indefinitely , something the post - crisis superman could not do . he also noticed his strength has increased . although this was part of a subplot involving superman ' s powers growing out of control as he absorbed too much solar energy , the depiction of his power was not as consistent as before .
even though it sounds as if he’s completely trashing the genre , you could say the younger landis has a keen interest in superheroes . he wrote the screenplay for the new film chronicle , which revolves around a group of teenage boys who find themselves with superpowers .
rounding out the 2018 releases will be death of superman , the first part of the two - parter . adapting the legendary story of superman’s fatal battle with doomsday , this will actually be the second dc universe original movie to adapt the material . the first , 2007’s superman : doomsday , was the very first dc universe original movie and greatly condensed and altered the original comic book event to fit within its 75 - minute running time . the upcoming adaptation will be more faithful to the source material , much less condensed and will include many of the fan - favorite moments from the story that were left out of doomsday .
superman throws doomsday into the bottom of a lake , slowing him down long enough so that the man of steel can return and save the mother and her infant daughter . after doomsday escapes from the silty lake bed , he and superman tear up a city street . maxima then re - enters the fray . lois lane and jimmy olsen are sent to cover the battle for television , while lex luthor ii dissuades supergirl from joining the fight . the fight continues at a gas station , where maxima rips a light post from the ground ; the sparks from the wiring ignite the leaking gasoline and the station is destroyed in a huge explosion . guardian arrives after doomsday leaves , finding superman and maxima , and offers his aid .
to prepare earth to be converted into a warworld ( basically like a death star ) . he started by annihilating
naturally , dc comics was not planning on really killing off one of their main most famous characters permanently : it was a publicity stunt to boost sales , and the plan was to soon bring him back . however , the general media picked up the story and ran with it , and a lot of people believed it . this is because , at the time , this thing hadn ' t been done to death ; this story may have been the trope codifier for death is cheap ( whose former trope namer is
comic book death
) .
superman is always fun to watch , and i didn ' t mind the new clark kent and lois lane .
the metropolis kid , who hated being called superboy , is a reckless teenage clone of superman . this superman appeared in the the adventures of superman starting with # 501 . he is a result of the brief time cadmus attempted to clone superman . he later had a career as superboy .
as a kryptonian , superman ' s alien genetic material enables him to absorb sunlight and perform superhuman feats . superman survived his death by entering into a hibernation - like state , and the eradicator ' s use of him as a ' conduit ' by which he could absorb solar energy ' restarted ' superman ' s body .
on the last page of several comics prior to superman : the man of steel # 18 , a gloved fist is shown punching a steel wall , accompanied by the caption :
doomsday is coming !
in that issue , superman fights the underworlders while a hulking figure in a green suit rampages through a pastoral field . this marks the first of seven issues in the
death of superman
story proper , which would continue through all four of the superman books at that time , and one issue of justice league america , before culminating in superman ( vol . 2 ) # 75 .
antagonist in mourning : zig - zagged . toyman is shown to genuinely be mourning superman ' s death , while lex is only upset at being robbed of the chance to kill superman himself . parasite meanwhile has zero problem hearing the news and even makes a couple snide comments .
2016 was a transformative year for the superhero genre . deadpool proved that an r - rating can actually be profitable . captain america : civil war kicked the door down for the next age of marvel movies . and not to be overlooked , batman v superman : dawn of justice kicked things off for dc’s own film universe , subsequently setting the stage for the next five years of planned releases from warner bros .
the death of superman took place months before the breaking of batman ' s back in the
knightfall
storyline . some critics praised dc for boldly and innovatively drawing in more readers . however , others were critical , citing the two concurrent storylines as publicity stunts , since it was unlikely that dc would ever eliminate its most popular characters . some years later , chuck rozanksi , owner of retailer mile high comics , would pen a controversial essay in the comics buyer ' s guide which blamed the death of superman promotion for playing a significant role in the collapse of the comic book industry in the late 1990s .
in 2019 , the story of superman’s fate will continue in reign of the supermen . while the official synopsis for reign of the supermen hasn’t been released yet , fans will remember that the “reign of the superman” comic book storyline saw four would - be supermen step up to replace the fallen kal - el : steel , cyborg superman , superboy , and the last son of krypton ( later known as the eradicator ) .
superboy ( who turned out to be only a partial
clone
of superman ) and the man of steel ( whose name became simply
steel
) went on to become recurring characters in the dc universe , each eventually getting his own monthly title . superboy was a member of the ravers , young justice , the legion of super - heroes , and the teen titans , before perishing in infinite crisis . steel appeared in some episodes of the animated series , as well as his own film , and became a member of the justice league of america ; he also briefly became a true superhuman , no longer relying on outside sources ( i . e . the armor ) to provide his powers . the eradicator became leader of a new team of outsiders and his status is currently unknown after the events of infinite crisis . the cyborg superman became a recurring nemesis in the superman and green lantern titles .
the death of superman arc happened by accident : originally , the then - current superman writers were going to get superman and lois lane married ; however , lois & clark : the new adventures of superman was already green - lit at abc , and the producers of the show wanted the wedding to happen first on the show . forced to come up with a new storyline to replace
the wedding
arc , jerry ordway , the then - current writer for the adventures of superman , jokingly said at the next meeting ,
let ' s just kill ' im !
normally , the other writers would laugh it off , but this time , they would do the deed .
the man of steel : john henry irons was an ironworker and ex - weapons designer for the military who wears a suit of armor and wields a hammer . he did not claim to actually be superman , but rather to represent the spirit of superman and continue his legacy . the man of steel appeared in superman : the man of steel starting with # 22 . he later changed his name to just
steel
.
this event or storyline is specifically related to superman , or to members of the superman family . this template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the superman storylines category .
how the cyborg superman is defeated : in a last - ditch effort to kill superman again , the cyborg grabs a fuel line and attempts to douse superman in kryptonite . the eradicator , living up to his programming to protect kryptonian life , throws himself in front of the shot and his energies re - power superman , allowing him to finish off the cyborg superman .
each of the supermen were designed with ideas taken from some of the monikers that superman is often associated with . the four new heroes were :
rex leech and a couple of big goons also tried to intimidate jimmy olsen into selling him the licensing rights to the picture of superman ' s torn cape .
the storyline , devised by editor mike carlin and the superman writing team of dan jurgens , roger stern , louise simonson , jerry ordway , and karl kesel , met with enormous success : the superman titles gained international exposure , reaching to the top of the comics sales charts and selling out overnight . the event was widely covered by national and international news media .
superman -
the greatest hero of all time , superman guards metropolis and the world against all evil forces .
superman uses his heat vision as a projectile attack . his super move is a powerful divebomb .
with the original storyline set aside in the comic , an original event was needed to replace it . according to a documentary on superman : doomsday , the superman writing team members were miffed at having a year ' s worth of story planning put aside , and flustered for ideas . at the end of one meeting , adventures of superman writer jerry ordway suggested , jokingly ,
let ' s just kill ' im .
the joke became a running gag in story meetings , but eventually gained traction with superman group editor mike carlin . in the documentary film look , up in the sky : the amazing story of superman carlin states :
the world was taking superman for granted , so we literally said ' let ' s show what the world would be like without superman ' .
at comic - con ' 06 , bruce timm announced that he would produce the death of superman story as a direct - to - dvd ( or dtv ) project , which was titled superman : doomsday , with adam baldwin as the man of steel , with anne heche as lois lane , and james marsters as lex luthor .
pragmatic adaptation : the novel version of the saga , the death and life of superman , made a number of alterations to the
funeral for a friend
and
reign of the supermen
storylines , due to the fact it was being done while the series was being written . most of the dc universe don ' t make an appearance , outside of the justice league , wonder woman and batman ( which is very odd since they obliterate coast city , yet hal jordan doesn ' t show up at all ! ) , the entire fourth chapter of
funeral
is omitted ( where the other dc heroes answer the christmas mail superman usually gets ) , steel ' s story is greatly compressed and the final chapters , due to the lack of hal jordan , is heavily altered . as well , anything to do with the underworlders and keith , the young orphan , is omitted and the newsboy legion takes their place .
roger stern not only [ tells ] the story of superman ' s death and resurrection but also the entire post - crisis history of the man of steel , his world and his supporting characters . stern breaks everything down into a manageable , easily digestible form . it ' s all there . sure he makes some major and minor tweaks to the overall story but they all work for this version of the tale . i really can ' t say enough good things about this book . if you have only read the comic - book version of the death and return you owe it to yourself to read this version as well .
- - michael bailey , urltoken
stern is a highly underrated writer . his novelization of the death of superman showed that a single writer on that storyline could have made it a more effective story .
- - jeff nettelton
stern doesn ' t only write action / adventure , he writes real , compelling characters .
- - thomas piperson
the best attribute in roger stern ' s work is his heart . his stories tend to be rooted in the decency of heroes - - his heroes have heart .
- - brian cronin
) takes viewers through an nsfw recap of the infamous dc comic series that saw the fall ( and rise ) of the last son of krypton . hit the jump to check it out .
in - universe , bibbo comes across a man selling the
death of superman
issue of the daily planet along with a black armband . outraged at someone profiting off his dead friend , bibbo yells at him and buys every copy so he ' s out of business . when the man explains that he lost his job in the doomsday disaster , bibbo calms down and offers him a job .
in the days before the anniversary of superman ' s death , ty duffy , the daily planet ' s staff reporter , retraces superman ' s cross - country battle with doomsday ; duffy resents the assignment . during the investigation , a mysterious figure also follows doomsday ' s cross - country path , and commits a series of murders along the way . duffy discovers that many of superman ' s rogues have claimed to have created doomsday , and many survivors of doomsday ' s rampage and coast city ' s destruction he interviewed with expresses hatred to the last son of krypton . he ultimately comes face - to - face with the man of steel himself and reveals to superman that his father committed suicide because of losses suffered connected with the battle with doomsday . duffy reproaches superman , telling him that thousands have died due to his battle with doomsday . although superman disagrees , he carries considerable guilt over the deaths .
some fans may worry about how the storyline will be adapted following the backlash against batman : the killing joke and its handling of batgirl . unlike that adaptation , however , the death and return of superman didn ' t come from a single graphic novel . the changes made to the killing joke were made to provide more material and fill screentime . these stories were presented in full arcs across multiple comics , so there won ' t be a need to add additional material . in fact , the stories will still need to be condensed somewhat to fit them into just two films . with any luck , the films will provide fans with the experience that they missed out on with the killing joke .
the new version of five for fighting ' s painfully cloying piano ballad
superman .
, nekron used superman ' s revival as part of a scheme to conquer the universe .
the giant hint at darkseid in batman v superman : dawn of justice | warner bros .
this is the best version of the death and life of superman out there . i ' ve tried reading the graphic novels and collections from this event , and they ' re awful . the 90 ' s were not a great era for comic books , and it shows . however , this novelization really grabs the best parts of the story . you get a real feel for the characters and their ordeals . we see clark / superman for the hero he is , learn about the pretenders as they emerge , and are captivated by the villains as their plots unfold . i got it as a gift on my 11th birthday and read it a bunch of times . i lost it a long time ago , and when it came up in conversation i had to get another copy . the book is just as good as i remember
adventures of superman # 502 and action comics # 689 : a battle between superboy , supergirl and a badass normal terrorist leads to the destruction of the hobsneck bridge , something that wouldn ' t be fixed for a few years irl . also , the issue superman is revived .
warner bros . , the owner of dc comics , had canceled the superboy television series produced by alexander salkind ( salkind produced the first three superman films starring christopher reeve , as well as the supergirl movie ) . warner bros . created their own superman television series , lois & clark : the new adventures of superman , premised upon a romantic relationship between lois lane and clark kent / superman . one of the ideas that arose during production was the wedding of lois lane and clark kent / superman . warner bros . learned that dc comics was planning a similar plotline in the superman comic books , and as a result dc , warner bros . , and the superman writing staff came together and reached an agreement : the lois and clark wedding arc in the comic book would be put on hold , to resume once the lois & clark tv show reached its wedding episode .
even after superman had returned to life , plans for lois and clark ' s wedding took some time to develop . the relationship between the two became rocky , and for a time , they separated . finally in 1996 , tying into the wedding of lois and clark in the lois & clark : the new adventures of superman television program , lois returns to metropolis and rekindles her romance with clark . the two set into motion their plans for a wedding and are married in superman : the wedding album .
ice delivers one to maxima when the latter was willing to let blue beetle die
a warrior ' s death
in order to go after doomsday .
the cyborg superman decides to ventilate the eradicator and allow coast city to be destroyed by mongul . then , it turns out the cyborg superman was actually a very minor character who was an expy of reed richards !
new certified fresh movies on netflix and amazon prime : e . t . , indiana jones , superman , and more
the first occasions were as
imaginary stories
( that is , set outside of the official continuity ) published during the silver age of comics . notably , the first
the death of superman
story ( superman # 149 ) was written by jerry siegel in 1961 . originally an imaginary story , absolute crisis on infinite earths revealed that this story is in fact an alternate real universe : earth - 149 .
the man of tomorrow ( cyborg superman ) : a cyborg version of superman , whose dna was a match for the original ' s and whose mechanical parts were kryptonian tech . he claimed amnesia about who repaired him , yet he could recall crucial details about superman ' s past . featured in superman vol . 2 .
“i’m not drunk in the video , i only get about three cups in , ” writes landis . “the original rant was 45 minutes long , so of course we had to cut a bunch of stuff out for time , and because it was just too stupid . like for instance the part where pa kent dies of a heart attack and literally goes to heaven . and sees superman . ” yeah , that also happened . he also neglected to include the real impetus for the 1992 death of superman storyline . that was lois lane and clark kent’s marriage in the comic being put on hold to coincide with their marriage on the abc television series , lois & clark : the new adventures of superman and the creators needing another big event to take its place . yes , true story .
in the three issue mini - series superman / doomsday : hunter / prey ( 1994 ) , superman journeys to apokolips and calaton to find doomsday ' s body . assisted by waverider , he confronts darkseid and hank henshaw , and finds that his killer is still alive and discovers the details of doomsday ' s origin . in superman : the doomsday war ( 1998 ) , doomsday ' s mind is under the influence of brainiac and superman fights two of his most powerful enemies , in order to rescue lana lang ' s newborn child .
following a mysterious absence of several years , superman comes back to earth - - but things have changed . while an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all , the man of steel faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves , lois lane , has moved on with her life . or has she ? superman ' s bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him . in an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction , superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space .