James M Caan et Camus

« James M Cain, The postman always rings twice, 1934 Chap 1 2 3 film (1946 & 1981) reviews No.

of Content DR comment words 691 A drifter (Frank) comes ashore a roadside sandwich joint Sets the background in a few, in a LA subsurb.

Gets a job there (despite swindling the fast-paced, strokes owner) & is excited with the bonus - the owner's young wife. Chapter ends (opposite) with hitchcockian omen. 1,586 Gets into intimacy with joint's owner (Nick) and with wife First intimation of need for (Cora).

Then with wife on her own. Cora to be beaten up to enjoy sex Long digression on joint's signage - blown up during the Signage: a precusor of what night by storm, with Nick trying to fix it next day. will happen to all three? 1,592 Cora's background: Iowa, Hollywood, hash house, little white bird, hell cat First of many times – this will recur in Chap 5, 12, 13 – Frank’s option to hit the road turned down detective\police\court like chapters Extracts They threw me off the hay truck about noon. From the filling station I could just get a good view of the kitchen. I had what I wanted.

I had socked one in under her guard, and socked it in deep, so it hurt.

From now on, it would be business between her and me. If he had had any brains, he would have known there was something at the back of it, because she wasn't one to let a guy help himself, I'll say that for her. She stayed until the Greek came back, about an hour.

We didn't do anything. We just lay on the bed.

She kept rumpling my hair, and looking up at the ceiling, like she was thinking. "I was working in a hash house (fast food california diner).

You spend two years in a Los Angeles hash house and you'll take the first guy that's got a gold watch." I want to work and be something, that's all.

But you can't do it without love. Do you know that, Frank? Anyway, a woman can't. I kissed her.

Her eyes were shining up at me like two blue stars.

It was like being in church. 4 5 6 Excellent handling of suspense 2,362 First botched attempt to kill Nick.

Interrupted by policeman on his round, but, ultimately, saved by cat and before, during & after attempt fusebox.

Frank & Cora fix together aftermath of failure (cop's visit) with same policeman. Cora would have had another go (see quote opposite) Cop's role anticipating chapters 9,10,11 & 14? 1,298 Nick in hospital and Frank\Cora having a good time back at the joint and on the beach.

Fail to hit the road. Cain goes against the reader's expectation of seeing them elope as he's got a better idea for the dénouement 2,812 Cain opts out, goes to his usual pool room tricks in a new Even if return (and staying town, but feels a pull to come back.

Nick's small world after return) not obvious for about to be smashed again.

Cora is wild about Franks's Frank (see quote) return.

Nick's plan for Santa Barbara (for the 3 of them) and Cora's plan for "stalling him, just this one night." (latter repeated three times) Page 1 of 5 Everything suggested in the 1946 version, with John Garfield & Lana Turner, is made explicit by Jack Nicholson & Jessica Lange, and though some might prefer suggestion, that can only get you so far. "Frank.

He'd better not come to." "He's got to come to.

If he dies, we're sunk." ..

when he gets here we're going to be gone Stealing a man's wife, that's nothing, but stealing his car, that's larceny. He was like a wop that opens a drug store.

Soon as he gets that thing that says Pharmacist, with a red seal on it, a wop puts on a gray suit, with black edges on the vest, and is so important he can't even take time to mix the pills, and wouldn't even touch a chocolate ice-cream soda. James M Cain, The postman always rings twice, 1934 Chap No.

of words Content film (1946 & 1981) reviews detective\police\court like chapters DR comment Extracts Review (film): Roadside joint wife & drifter fall in love and plot to bump off her dull-asditchwater husband in smouldering film noir style.

First they wire up his bath and then when that fails, they opt for the old car-pushed-off-the-cliff lark.

The film skilfully exploits the ambiguous moral subtext as the protagonists wrestle with their consciences and a brooding mutual mistrust.

A dark, menacing atmosphere and a powerful denouement make this a triumph of plot-driven narrative and sparky dialogue.

Both leads excell at showing a true feeling (be it love or lust) but both covered in the guilty angst that one will betray the other.

Edge of your seat stuff. 7 8 1,488 Aligning witnesses (for alibi needed) on way to second murder attempt and finishing job 951 Cover-up, after car down gully and animal love making next to car inside which is the corpse they just killed. Seems strange that this was the trip to Santa Barbara envisaged on day following Frank’s return.

More logical that it was some other, later, time.

It was in fact – to Malibu beach? Reason for obscenity* trial of novel in Boston in 1933? *(material which deals with sex in a manner appealing to prurient interest, utterly without redeeming social importance.) We sat around, and so far as she was concerned, I might just as well have been just a guy that used to work there, only she couldn't quite remember his name.

It was the worst flop of a home-coming you ever saw in your life When she spoke, it was in a whisper that sounded like a snake licking its tongue in and out. I went outside to try and figure out whether to stay there and see if I couldn't get going with her again, or blow and try to forget her. His name was Jeff Parker and he raised rabbits at Encino.

(..) one more mark on our trail, if somebody took the trouble to find it.

(..) That was where he was when the car went by.

(..) He got in, but shoved his face out to the window and let go one.

I braced my feet, and while he still had his chin on the window sill I brought down the wrench.

His head cracked, and I felt it crush. He crumpled up and curled on the seat like a cat on a sofa. "And this you don't know how you got." I hauled off and hit her in the eye as hard as I could.

She went down.

She was right down there at my feet, her eyes shining, her breasts trembling, drawn up in tight points, and pointing right up at me. Hell could have opened for me then, and it wouldn't have made any difference.

I had to have her, if I hung for it. 5,794 Cover-up 2 and start of investigation (prosecuror Sackett) Way Frank getting seriously hurt (car overturning) not credible? Novel has regretably switched to an ordinary police case Roger Ebert: The movie is a triumph of atmosphere.

Every last novel? Not so much if one weathered Coke sign, every old auto and old overcoat and old considers that it shows, jointly cliché have been put in with loving care.

And the performances with chap.

10, 11 & 14, have been cranked up to levels of trembling intensity.

Jessica cynicism & abjection in Lange, first seen in “King Kong,” this time submits to the embrace of a wanton monster.

Jack Nicholson has never been seedier, insurance, in police & in court shiftier, more driven. & in legal matters 9 10 2,910 Continued investigation (lawyer Katz) See comment 2 for chap 9 "After that, I can go through anything." (..) "There's just one thing.

We've got to be in love.

If we love each other, then nothing matters." "For something like that, plenty of guys have said goodbye to the road, rambling feet or not." (..) Eleven o'clock at night, and she was going to drive down there to look at a bunch of houses with waves in front of them." (..) It'll be the rope, with you hanging on the end of it, and when they cut you down they'll bury you out there with all the others that were too goddam dumb to make a deal when they had the chance to keep their neck from being broke." "He (Sackett) looks like a preacher, all full of love for the human race, but he's got a heart like a stone." Katz, a great guy, the only one in this town can throw the headlock on Sackett He might be asleep, but even asleep he looked like he knew more than most guys awake, and a kind of a lump came up in my.... »