Excellent, a Must See

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

"The Bride Came C.O.D" is sustained by the performances of James Cagney and Bette Davis, who both manage to overcome a weak screenplay. Both actors manage to demonstrate a talent for light comedy. The laughs aren't exactly plentiful but at least the film isn't depressing or melancholic. Cagney and Davis have brilliant on- screen chemistry and they should have been paired up more often and in better movies. Davis is a rich socialite who is about to marry a famous and rather pompous musician - Jack Carson. They are about to fly to another state so they can be married in secret. Her father doesn't particularly care for the planned marriage and wants to stop it. Cagney as a pilot, is employed to keep Davis from tying the knot but things don't exactly go according to plan! The scenes of Cagney and Davis alone in the desert and then spotting a seemingly deserted town are probably the best in the film. Although the film isn't a very long one, it outstays its welcome about 20 minutes before the end. A lot of the film is tiresome and the comedy "Torrid Zone" is much better (also with James Cagney).

A pilot (James Cagney) is hired by the father of a young woman (Bette Davis) to derail her plans for elopement. This farce starring two screen legends has its share of pranks and pratfalls.The two antagonists wind up in a (nearly) deserted desert town, where their feelings toward each other change, natch.The entire cast is competent, but watch for Harry Davenport, who plays Pop Tolliver, the lone resident of the uncharted town called Bonanza. With a twinkle in his eye, he aids Cagney in his pursuit of the headstrong maiden.The Bride Came C.O.D. was released prior to America's entry into WWII, so it was a good time to release a comedy to relieve homeland worries about the world conflict. It might not be a great comedy, but it's lighthearted fare, adequately done.

Enjoyable screwball comedy with Bette Davis and James Cagney, helped out by a great supporting cast that includes Eugene Palette, Jack Carson, George Tobias, William Frawley, Harry Davenport, and many others. WB movies back in the day were more often than not defined by their supporting players. They had a premium stable of actors to choose from and many times they're more enjoyable to watch than the leads.Davis has a lot of fun with this role and, while her comedic talents were always so-so, she shines here. This is also one of the movies where she looks prettiest and curviest. One dress in particular fits her just right.The movie isn't perfect. It drags a bit more than a screwball comedy should. Davis and Cagney, while having nice comedic timing, don't really have much romantic chemistry. So the inevitable conclusion to a film like this might be a bit hard for some to buy. Still, I recommend it to any Bette Davis or James Cagney fan. Also to any fan of WB films from the 1930s and 40s.

Bette Davis and James Cagney were two of the most revered actors and dynamic personalities on the Warners Brothers lot during Hollywood's golden era, so it was inevitable that they team in a movie. This was actually their second pairing after a minor Michael Curtiz comedy, 1934's "Jimmy the Gent", but the mystery of their 1941 reunion directed by William Keighley is why they decided to do such a predictable screwball farce. The novelty value of their casting may be enough to engender interest in the 2007 DVD release, one of five Cagney movies packaged as "James Cagney - The Signature Collection". The slapstick-oriented story is a rehash of Frank Capra's classic "It Happened One Night", this time with Bette Davis playing the headstrong heiress running away from her wealthy father to marry a vainglorious cad.It's intriguing to see Davis play broad comedy since she seems to make little distinction between this and the intense approach she takes with her memorable dramatic roles of the period like "The Letter" and "The Little Foxes". As spoiled Texas oil heiress Joan Winfield, she manages to be funny almost in spite of herself. The silly plot has her father hiring pilot Steve Collins to kidnap Joan in order to bring her back home to Amarillo. The volatile combination of Joan's petulance and Steve's irascibility causes them to crash-land in the middle of the desert on the California-Nevada border. They end up in a ghost town inhabited only by a crotchety prospector, and needless to say, shenanigans ensue when Joan attempts to get back to civilization. Cagney is amusing but surprisingly subdued as Steve, perhaps in a gallant attempt to hand the picture to Davis. It's a nice attempt, but the lack of romantic chemistry between the two stars dilutes what could have been a breezy if still forgettable concoction. They would have been far more palatable as the battling reporters in Howard Hawks' "His Girl Friday".Concerted efforts at slapstick are heavy-handed, especially a running gag with Davis landing her behind in various cactus plants, though one quick bit stands out - when Cagney kisses Davis, she responds with a characteristic slap, and his unexpected counter-response is knocking his forehead against hers like a coconut. The screenplay by the usually reliable Epstein brothers, Julius and Philip ("Casablanca") is snappy but just not funny enough to sustain the threadbare story, this despite a first-rate supporting cast - Eugene Palette in familiar blowhard mode as Joan's father, Jack Carson as her shallow bandleader fiancée, William Frawley ("I Love Lucy") as the smart-mouthed local sheriff, and Harry Davenport as the prospector. There are two quick cartoons and two vintage shorts included in the DVD to approximate a 1941 viewing experience at the neighborhood theater.