The Postman Didn't Ring
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Harold Schuster
Richard Travis
Brenda Joyce
Spencer Charters
Stanley Andrews
William Bakewell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Los Angeles, henpecked husband Jason Peters is cleaning his attic when he finds a mail bag containing letters postmarked 1889. After his attention-seeking wife Myrtle alerts the press, Postal Inspector Brennon arrives and tells them that the mailbag was stolen fifty-three years earlier. Brennon then announces that the letters will be hand-delivered by him to the addressees or their descendents, and is joined by philatilist Julie Martin, who wishes to buy the old stamps from the recipients. Brennon relates the stories behind two of the letters as he and Julie travel to a small town in Utah, where he is to deliver a letter to general store owner Daniel Carter. The idealistic Daniel, who experiments with agricultural innovations, often lends money to the local farmers and consequently is in debt himself. Robert Harwood, Sr., vice-president of the town's only bank and member of the haughty Harwood family, refuses to extend Daniel's own loans. Daniel is pleased when Julie offers him $1,500 for the stamp on his letter, which was originally meant for his late father. The letter contains a note for fifty shares in the Harwood bank, issued in 1872, which a friend of Daniel's father had given to him. Daniel's aunt Martha and friend, Judge Ben Colt, advise Daniel to be cautious, and their reservations are proven justified when the next day Harwood, Sr. lends Daniel one thousand dollars with the stock certificate as collateral. Unknown to Daniel, when the bank's president, Silas Harwood, bought the bank years before, he fraudently issued another stock certificate with the same number as Daniel's, but made out to himself. Ben is upset to learn that the Harwoods have acquired the certificate, for in his research he discovered that the stock is now worth $250,000 and would give Daniel controlling interest in the bank. Meanwhile, Daniel and Julie have fallen in love, but Julie, believing that she could not adapt to small town life, returns to Los Angeles. That same morning, Ben escorts Daniel to the bank, where he gets the sheriff to enforce an order for the Harwoods to give Daniel control. Daniel is elected president and begins lending money to the farmers, regardless of their financial circumstances. The horrified Harwoods file suit against Daniel, claiming that he forged the stock certificate. Brennon and Julie return to testify for Daniel, and although their testimony clears him of the forgery charge, the Harwoods then assert that he has violated bank laws by giving away money. Daniel takes the stand to explain his belief in lending based on character, then offers his stock as collateral for his friends. The case is dismissed, and soon after, Daniel and Julie are just about to leave on their honeymoon when Daniel receives his draft notice.
Director
Harold Schuster
Cast
Richard Travis
Brenda Joyce
Spencer Charters
Stanley Andrews
William Bakewell
Emma Dunn
Joseph Cawthorne
Oscar O'shea
Erville Alderson
Jeff Corey
Frank M. Thomas
Will Wright
Betty Jean Hainey
Ethel Griffies
Henry Roquemore
Mary Servoss
Anne O'neal
Perc Launders
Don Dillaway
Eddie Acuff
Gladden James
Joe Brown Jr.
Frank Austin
Tom Fadden
Otto Hoffman
Larry Wheat
George Lessey
Ruth Gillette
Olive Blakeney
Ruth Clifford
Crew
Harry Brand
Mortimer Braus
Mortimer Braus
Lewis Creber
Richard Day
Nick Demaggio
Ralph Dietrich
Charles Hall
Herschel
Harry M. Leonard
Thomas Little
Joseph Macdonald
Emil Newman
Earl Sitar
Leon Ware
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
All of the film's opening credits are handwritten on envelopes postmarked 1889. A March 23, 1942 studio press release asserted that producer Ralph Dietrich got the idea for the film from a newspaper story concerning "the discovery in Philadelphia some months ago of a mail bag, apparently the loot of a robbery some seventy-five years before." The story reported that the mail would be delivered by the post office to the addressees or their heirs. According to Hollywood Reporter news items, Isabel Randolph was set for a "topline" role in the picture, and Rita Quigley was to be borrowed from Paramount. Richard Travis was borrowed from Warner Bros. for the production. The title May have been a parody of James Cain's famous 1934 novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, which became the basis of a 1946 M-G-M film of the same name.
