The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)

Director:

William Keighley

Writers:

Kenneth Earl (story) and
M.M. Musselman (story) ...

Release Date:

12 July 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

She Came Collect and his heart paid the freight . . . in the year's romantic explosion !

Plot:

A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.

Plot Keywords:

Heiress | Elopement | Judge | Parachute | Las Vegas

Cast

James Cagney	...	Steve Collins
Bette Davis	...	Joan Winfield
Stuart Erwin	...	Tommy Keenan
Eugene Pallette	...	Lucius K. Winfield
Jack Carson	...	Allen Brice
George Tobias	...	Peewee Defoe
Harry Davenport	...	Pop Tolliver
William Frawley	...	Sheriff McGee
Edward Brophy	...	Hinkle
Harry Holman	...	Judge Sobler
Chick Chandler	...	Riley (reporter #1)
Douglas Kennedy	...	Mac (second reporter and photographer) (as Keith Douglas)
Herbert Anderson	...	Reporter #3
William Newell	...	Andy Anderson (McGee's pilot)
William Hopper	...	Keenan's and Brice's pilot (as DeWolf Hopper)

Runtime:

USA:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #7003)

Filming Locations:

Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The term "C.O.D." of the title stands for 'Collect on Delivery'.

Quotes:

Tommy Keenan: Do you mind if I drink that champagne? I've got to take a pill.
Joan Winfield: Do you feel poorly, Mr. Keenan?
Tommy Keenan: Not yet, but I expect to in 39 minutes.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The American Film Institute Salute to Bette Davis (1977) (TV)

Soundtrack:

There's No Place Like Home (Home, Sweet Home)

Great fun

Two remarkable professionals, Bette Davis and James Cagney, unite for this Warner Brothers comedy, "The Bride Came C.O.D." Cagney is a pilot who is hired by Joan's (Davis) father to deliver her -- unmarried -- to him after Joan announces she is en route to marry a bandleader, Alan Brice (Jack Carson). Her father (Eugene Palette) agrees to pay the freight charges, which is by the pound. Cagney needs the money to save his plane from repossession. The plane goes down when Joan puts a parachute on backwards and tries to jump out - in doing insane manuevers to keep her in the plane, it gives out, and the two get stranded near a ghost town which has one survivor (Harry Davenport).

Davis looks great and is obviously having a ball. Cagney handles the role with his usual confident swagger and two play off one another beautifully. One of Cagney's best scenes occurs when he's locked up in jail and Pop and Joan take off in a jalopy that will obviously only take them a mile or so. He laughs uncontrollably. And their scenes together in the cave are priceless.

Cagney and Davis make a great team - she's so sincere and dramatic, and he always has an angle - it was really an inspired idea to get them together for a comedy. Wish it had happened more often.