The Postman Always Rings Twice

The 1981 Warner Bros. erotic thriller The Postman Always Rings Twice features a score by Michael Small—a composer whose distinctive sound helped define the music of 1970s thrillers. Yet the composer felt a new approach was necessary for this assignment, finding Postman to be:

"...more than an erotic film, it's a tragedy. In a way it's almost like an opera, with clearly defined act breaks. I think The Postman Always Rings Twice was very difficult for me because it involved a style of music that I really never wrote before. I wound up going with instinct and memories of being scarily enchanted by suspense movies as a kid. I found the style by trial and error and finally internalized it. It became fun and natural and I have drawn on this 'thirties' feel in unusual, somewhat disguised ways ever since."

Small's score is dominated by two main themes: the tense, repetitive "crime" motif and the warm love theme, which has a sad yet pastoral quality that contrasts effectively with the darkness of the storyline. For this premiere release, Intrada had access to the complete 3-track stereo elements stored in the Warner Bros. vaults.

Starring Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, and John Colicos and based on David Mamet's screenplay, the film begins in the midst of the Depression as a drifter named Frank Chambers arrives at Twin Oaks, a roadside tavern near Los Angeles owned by Greek immigrant Nick Papadakis. Frank turns down Nick's offer of a job, but changes his mind after getting a look at Cora, Nick's young and gorgeous wife. Almost immediately, Frank and Cora become lovers and plot to kill Nick, but their attempt to drown him in a bathtub goes awry when a cop drops by at an inopportune moment.