The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1982 opera with a libretto written by Colin Graham and music by Stephen Paulus, based on the 1934 novel by James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice.

It opened to generally strong reviews, and prompted the critic from the New York Times, in an otherwise mixed notice, to call Paulus "a young man on the road to big things".

The story is of a drifter, Frank, who stops at a rural diner for a meal and ends up working there.

The diner is operated by a young, beautiful woman, Cora, and her much older husband, Nick.

Cora and Frank scheme to murder Nick to start a new life together without her losing the diner.