MovieChat Forums > The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Discussion > Lana Turner, what a beauty she was!

Lana Turner, what a beauty she was!

posted 18 years ago by jolypm
33 replies | jump to latest

What a beauty she was! Sometimes she's good, sometimes she's not very good! But who cares! Lana is so breathtakingly beautiful, she really deserved to be at MGM and be one of those MGM Queens : Garbo, Ava, Taylor, Grace Kelly! Leonard Maltin gives a 4 on 4 for this one and for once he is right. I loved this film noir classic. Saw it in beautiful black and white. And wish I could also see the colorized version! Garfield was a perfect match for Lana. There is violence but it is NOT exaggerated like what we see today on screen still the punch is there and it is still great!

[–] brupey-1 18 years ago

You are so right.. Lana in her prim white outfit is gorgeous.

[–] segalj-1 18 years ago

Lana Turner was so hot in this movie. That platinum blonde hair looked incredible. Can anybody recommned the essential films of Lana Turner?

[–] jolypm 18 years ago

I saw her in many films: Essentials? Ziegfeld Girl, Honky Tonk (no, not essential, but she and Clark Gable made such a terrific couple), THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, PEYTON PLACE (for which she got an Academy award nomination as best actress in 1957) and IMITATION OF LIFE. I also liked her in Diane (her last MGM movie) and The Flame and the Flesh (as... a lovely brunette!)

[–] joekiddlouischama 18 years ago

She's steamy, especially when she first appears on-screen, barely wrapped in some skimpy white towels ...

[–] Noir-It-All 18 years ago

The hat she wore in that scene was a turban, popular in the 1940's, and does look like a towel. Her sunbathing costume featured hot pants (!) about 25 years ahead of time and a midriff-baring top featuring shoulder pads. Her shoes were open-toe sandals. All were in white, white, white. Jeanine Basinger, a well-regarded writer, has written that Lana's acting ability combined with these clothes made an impact that has gone down in cinematic history.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] fiftyfootqueenie 18 years ago

PRIM?? You've got that one wrong - that's *burning* white, not prim white.

[–] Isaac5855 18 years ago

I don't think Lana Turner was ever as beautiful as she looked in this movie...absolutely stunning.

[–] Sunflower007 17 years ago

~ Lana Turner was one of the type blonde beauty. Breathe taking & classy looking.

*~~*

[–] csu16387 17 years ago

Very true. Lana was at the peak of her beauty in The Postman Always Rings Twice.

"Dry your eyes baby, it's out of character."

[–] AlanSquier 17 years ago

Lana in this was the ultimate Femme fatale,an irresistibly attractive woman who leads men into danger or disaster. That breathtaking shot in which the camera pans from her ankles upward is incredibly hot even today.

Where am I from, you ask? "Pomona, Glendale, ((Fullerton, La Habra, Anaheim)), whatever."

[–] katydid579 16 years ago

Please don't hate me, but I have never really thought Lana Turner was beautiful, in fact I don't even think she's very pretty. Everyone has their own favorites, I suppose. As for this movie, today was the first time I've seen it and although I enjoyed the increasingly complex situations, I wouldn't rush to see it again. When I start paying more attention to the clothes and decorating, I lose interest in the story. Therefore, I may have missed some key dialogue while my attention wandered. Lana Turner and John Garfield alone were simply not enough to keep my interest.

[–] cjr3559 16 years ago

I disagree; I think they were perfectly cast. His rough appearance with her perfect features places the unfortunate lack of actual on-screen sensuality into the imagination of the viewer.

I can deal with the restrictions due to the era in which this was filmed; I just wish they would've shown Lana's navel if it was permitted. Now that would be hot. Please don't hate me, but she was a '40s hottie.

[–] vegwriter 16 years ago

I don't think I had ever seen Lana Turner in a movie before, or if I had, it was so long ago, I had forgotten what she looked like. I could picture Lindsay Lohan playing her. They look similar when Lindsay has blonde hair.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] YouToober 12 years ago

Ha-ha! I agree with you.

Lana Turner fans don't get me wrong, she was, as other posters have stated, "stunningly beautiful". I would have been honored just to have seen her in person. But the legs, uhmmm, well she had a very lovely smile!

The part i didn't like about her legs - her knees didn't show. There were two bumps there instead of kneecaps. And they seemed a bit slender, unshapely. But i guess that’s something that could have been fixed if she had gone to a gym.

But still, her looks overall were *amazing*!

[–] nutsberryfarm 13 years ago

smokin'.

"It's for the pain. Rarely touch the stuff...Can I have another?"

[–] Noir-It-All 16 years ago

I saw somewhere that Lana did her own makeup for this movie. Her usual makeup man couldn't work on this film so she asked him to show her how to apply it. He said that it was a very dramatic makeup; each eyebrow was painted one hair at a time.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] paulbrookes41 15 years ago

Saw the film today and must admit,,what a beaty she was,,and a fine actress to boot...She seemed to revel in the part....

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] lanatic001 14 years ago

Lana was one of only a few perfect beauties of her era, and yes, she does look simply breathtaking in this film. I wouldn't necessarily say she was more beautiful here than in any other film however (she is ravishing in "The Three Musketeers", and in colour to boot!!!). To my way of thinking she had three phases of beauty: her youthful, pretty phase in the '30s to early '40s; her overwhelming loveliness for the remainder of the '40s and into the '50s (perhaps to "The Bad and the Beautiful"); and her mature glamour which is evident in such films as "The Sea Chase", "Imitation of Life" and "Portrait in Black" through to some scenes in "Madame X" (and what a great performance she gave in that one - if ever she showed what she was capable of as an actress she did so in this film).

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 13 years ago

I'm a big Marilyn fan...especially in regard to how, it seems to me anyway, people will go out of their way to NOT mention her when talking about cinema's all time most beautiful/sexiest actresses. It seems people don't want to seem too obvious. Sometimes, however, the most obvious answer is the correct answer, you just need to not overthink it. Marilyn in Some Like It Hot was stacked, and sexier than just about any woman I've ever seen in a movie...

THAT BEING SAID...

I could not agree more about Lana Turner, especially in Postman. Look up other pictures of her, though...she's nearly as stunning in every one, IMHO. She almost seems made of marble, carved by the gods...everything about her face and figure is perfect...symmetrical, etc. Head to toe. And that face! I think Marilyn's pretty, but if there's one area where Lana has her beat by a mile, it's her face.

I'd consider giving up a testicle to have seen her in Schwab's in that sweater (or was that story apocryphal?...can't remember)

"How do you feel?"
"Like the Kling-Klang King of the Rim-Ram Room!"