The Bride Came C.O.D. [DVD]

Too bad it's in black and white and old style production.

Love this movie!! Great cast and story

"That's how Eskimo's kiss" Well, that has to be one of my all time favorite funny lines. Not so funny you say? Well, you have to see what James Cagney does to Bette Davis before he says that line to get the joke. In Fact you have to see the whole film to find out why this overlooked comic gem from Warner Brothers is so delightful. Sure the story of the wacky runaway heiress and the down to earth guy who tames her is a staple of screwball comedy, but with the unlikely casting of Bette Davis in the lead and the brilliant idea to team her against an equal powerhouse as James Cagney it what makes this a memorable fling. Davis uses her brittle persona and trademark gestures in a new fresh way when confronted with a comedy as broad as this and it works brilliantly. She looks glamorous and is photographed beautifully. Davis not a cookie cutter Hollywood glamour girl is none the less more memorable than most because she has those eyes and she knows how to use them to make us believe in this film she is indeed the most glamorous heiress of them all. Cagney brings all his gruff tough Irish wit and charm to make his performance in this film as memorable as any comic turn by Clark Gable or Jimmy Stewart. He matches Davis barb for banter and not only wins her in the end but us as well. It really is a shame that Bette Davis didn't do more comedies in her early years but thanks to Warner's we at least have this to treasure. "The Bride Came C.O.D." is not a great film but thanks to the talent and energy of its stars it is well worth paying cash on delivery for the experience and joy of seeing them in sidesplitting comic action.

Really cute movie; good pace & characterization. Fred Mertz plays the cop who's NOT dumb (so he keeps saying); the old ghost town hotel proprietor is a real character (esp his pet crow Cocoa), the heiress's father is short and fat and gravelly-voiced and although he's worth $30 million, loudly grouses about how expensive long distance calls are. The scene where Cagney's assistant gets grilled by the cops is a hoot; the scene where Bette Davis finds out in mid-air that she's being kidnapped is a hoot; the cacti and the jail and the reporters and the mine tunnels and the --- it's just really, really cute and funny and it has a happy ending. What more can you ask for? It's a witty and well-timed script and Davis and Cagney are very good. The Eskimo kiss was cute but the mustard kiss takes the cake IMO. Light-hearted and escapist -- don't miss it!

This was a great movie acted by James Cagney and Bette Davis. I was using filmed in 1938. There were more wise cracks in this movie than a box of Cracker Jacks. The single engine aircraft of the day were literally flying death traps, compared to today. I had to wonder why in small aircraft there are no parachutes in todays small planes? There two supporting actors in it that I had seen from other film projects. George Tobias had played as Sargent York's friend in the movie "Sargent York" and as Mr. Kravitt in the television series "Bewitched". The only resident of the ghost town of Bonanza , California, he also played 10 years before as a judge in the movie, "You Can't Take It With You," that also starred Jimmy Stewart and John Berrymore the great, great, grandfather of Ms. Drew Berrymore who is a great actress in her own right today.

This was a fun movie to watch. Watching James Cagney and Bette Davis change from enemies to sweethearts was priceless. Eugene Pallette was good as her father. She was a spoiled heiress trying to elope.

This is not Bette Davis at her best, as the story and dialogue are insipid. The quality of the DVD was appalling. The movie suddenly ended very abruptly, and the script was all in Chinese

I could not recommend this movie more. I love the fact that these two great actors play against their usual scene personas and star in one of the best comedy of all time. I do not know why this movie is underrated by the movie industry and not given the screen recognition it so richly deserves. It is by far the best comedy that either of these two ever played in. I do enjoy Cagney in the comedy Strawberry Blonde and Davis in the hilarious June Bride, but this one is the standard for them as far as comedies are concerned. Although they play in several movies that I enjoy watching, I have to say that they are not among my favorite actors. However, I forget that fact when I am watching The Bride Came C.O.D. If you are not a big fan of either of these two actors then give this film a try. It will change your mind for at least an hour and half as you watch this hidden gem.

This 1941 black and white film is a charming, delicious, merry and very, very silly romantic comedy. I spend a really nice moment watching it. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.Bandleader (and gold digger) Alan Brice (Jack Carson) and spoiled heiress Joan Winfield (Bette Davis) decide to elope, after knowing one another for a grand total of four days... They hire a pilot, Steve Collins (James Cagney) to fly them to Las Vegas. However, unknown to them, Collins is desperately in debt and in order to save his small flying company from bankruptcy he contacts Joan's father Lucius Winfield (Eugene Pallette), a morbidly rich tyrannical oil tycoon, offering him a very unique deal... And then the film begins.This movie is a pure comedy, made for pure entertainment, without any other pretensions. It is quite obvious from the beginning, that all the actors and the whole crew had tons of fun making this film. Old pals, James Cagney and Bette Davis were at that time already major stars and didn't have anything to prove, but they put a lot of heart in this film which they both considered as a kind of holiday. Indeed, as he was cast all the time as a vicious gangster and she specialised in high quality dramas, they both wanted to play at least once in a cheerful, completely not serious comedy - and they totally aced it!The quality of this film resides of course mostly in a great deal of verbal sniping between the two main characters (and they both knew a lot about it...). Bette Davis certainly is not immediately associated with comedies, but in this film she proves that she could play a silly character in a slightly burlesque film and still be great! James Cagney also proved in this film that he could be a great comic character and he later repeated his performance in such films as "Mister Roberts" and especially the 1961 "One, two, three" - one of my most favourite comedies ever!There are also other treasures and delights. Many secondary characters also manage to exist and bring their contribution to this film, like a deeply insecure sheriff with a unique kind of obsession, a deliciously hapless justice of peace, a very stressed radio-journalist and an aged hermit cow-boy, proud sole owner and manager of a ghost town and a (mostly) closed gold mine... However the best of supporting characters is Joan's father, Lucius Winfield, an authoritarian, rude, morbidly rich oil tycoon who is such a miser that Scrooge himself would be proud of him...))) In principle we should hate this guy - but somehow, it's simply impossible, because with all his defaults he still possesses some kind of integrity and honesty. We can almost hear him say "I don't try to hide the fact that I am a horrible person - to the contrary, I am proud of it and wear my horribleness as badge of honour!". I don't think I would like to work for him - but as long as he can be observed from safe distance, the guy is simply disarming...)))Coyotes, state boundaries, mustard and fields of cactuses also play a significant role in this film...This being a very old film and a silly, totally not serious comedy, there is a handful of scenes in which the humour is still slightly slapstick - in a couple of others the film goes full speed towards joyful creative chaos, Marx Brothers style. However, let's state it again, most of the film is an excellent comedy based on strong dialogs and a great performance by actors.I liked this film a lot and I will keep the DVD for future re-viewing. ENJOY!

I first saw this film many years ago and its just a delightful to watch now as it was then. Bette Davis and James Cagney are extremely witty and they have got some great one liners. Bette Davis is the daughter of an oil tycoon who pays James Cagney to `kidnap` her to stop her marrying a `geek` after her money. CAGNEYS airplane crashes in the desert and eventually the pair are drawn together after sharing accomodation in an old west ghost town that has one old boy as a resident. Very humrous, no violence. Pleasant little film. Enjoyable.

Great little film, the stars were Brilliant together. Well worth a buy.

This film is a collectors DVD for fans of James Cagney and Bette Davis.Both Cagney and Davis give their usual professional star performances and make this film an entertaining watch.It is of course by no means a classic movie, but any film with screen legends such as James Cagney and Bette Davis on the big screen together, with their fantastic acting gifts on show is worth the 5 star rating.

excellent dvd arrived early and was just as described would highly recommend for any bette davis or james cagney fan its not often you see bette in a comedy role and was a very enjoyable film