leethomas-11621 Mildly entertaining '40s romcom. Did Davis enjoy doing this? Probably not. Hers is not a strong female role. By today's standards she and Cagney have to act like teenagers and are too old for their roles.

slymusic Although the prevailing attitude seems to be that it's a weak effort, I personally think that "The Bride Came C.O.D." is a wonderful screwball comedy, starring the talented James Cagney and Bette Davis. (DO NOT read any further if you have not yet seen this film.) Following a whirlwind courtship, heiress Joan Winfield (Davis) and singer/bandleader Allen Brice (Jack Carson) decide to fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for an elopement, against the wishes of Joan's father (Eugene Palette). Struggling to make a go of his airline service, pilot Steve Collins (Cagney) schemes to earn a buck by intercepting the elopement and flying the unmarried Joan into Amarillo, TX, where her father awaits with cash in hand.Here are my favorite moments from "The Bride Came C.O.D.". When Allen Brice announces to his nightclub audience his engagement to Joan, a spotlight searches for Joan and finds her in a phone booth, after accidentally shining on a headwaiter. Watch how Steve's assistant Peewee (George Tobias) lights his cigarette! Some rather exciting aerodynamic action ensues when Joan repeatedly tries to jump out of Steve's plane after being kidnapped. At the ghost town hotel, Steve and Joan search for any inhabitants, and they ultimately find one - a mule! Steve kisses Joan, Joan slaps Steve, and Steve gives Joan a head bop. Joan and lonely old hotel proprietor Pop Tolliver (Harry Davenport) drive down a sloping desert road while their vehicle engine pops, bursts, and backfires; Steve watches all this from inside a jail cell and laughs hysterically. Joan and Steve engage in playful song banter: "I'm not going anyplace with yoooouuu!" "Oh yes you aaaarrre!" "No I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm nooooot!", etc. And finally, plenty of cacti on Joan's ass! Written by the Epstein brothers (Julius J. and Philip G.), with a great cast that includes James Cagney, Bette Davis, Jack Carson, Harry Davenport, George Tobias, Eugene Palette, Stuart Erwin, William Frawley, Edward Brophy, Harry Holman, and Herbert Anderson, "The Bride Came C.O.D." is a delightfully wacky comedy. The music score by Max Steiner (with a little help from Ray Heindorf and Hugo Friedhoffer) is also quite excellent, borrowing snatches of familiar popular songs for comic effect (e.g., "Trade Winds" during Steve's first appearance in the hangar; "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair" to denote unconsciousness after getting slugged; "Oh Susannah" and "Clementine" when Steve and Joan spot the ghost town; and Wagner's famous Bridal Chorus scattered throughout the film).

cordaro9418 Sure it had been done once or twice before, and it was done a dozen times following... but this one is a classic on merit alone.Davis and Cagney were the top two Warner's actors at the time and had fought their own respective legal battles with the studio in the years prior, as well as being very good friends.This film catches them at the tops of their game, just being allowed to be silly and have fun in a movie no one really expected much out of.The formula works and though the pacing isn't the best, hang-in because it's worth it.Saturday afternoon popcorn film.

phd12166 Baffling how this, of all Davis and/or Cagney movies is set on the side burner. It's a riot! Cagney does indignant acts to Davis that make for the charms of both lead actors to be brought out. The public already new that Cagney could play well in comedies; but, with Bette Davis usually performing such serious characters, the surprise is how Davis pulls of playing in this comedy so well. She's really at the mercy of the script that Cagney riotously acts out.Davis is playing a runaway daughter of a tycoon; Cagney plays the plotting private pilot who has schemed to take her home to Daddy for a meager dividend. The hilarity begins when Davis realizes she's been hijacked by Cagney and attempts to parachute out of his airplane.After recently viewing this several times, for the first time, it because curious to me why Bette Davis wasn't cast in many more comedies. Was there anything she couldn't do? (She even sang and did more comedy in a dance during her starlit spot in, "Thank Your Lucky Stars!").