Teaming up two of Warner Bros.’ biggest stars in James Cagney and Bette Davis, The Bride Came C.O.D. owes much of its plot to It Happened One Night. The film is now available on Blu-ray by way of the Warner Archive Collection. The 92-minute black and white comedy is presented in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio with side mattes and a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono soundtrack. The new 1080p HD master of The Bride Came C.O.D. is sourced from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative.

A radio promoter sensationalizes the planned elopement of Joan Winfield (Bette Davis), daughter of Texas oil baron Lucius K. Winfield (Eugene Pallette), and bandleader Alan Brice (Jack Carson). Hearing the broadcast, Winfield panics and hires cash-strapped pilot Steve Collins (James Cagney) to intercept the couple and fly Joan to Amarillo. Steve tricks Alan off the plane, takes off with Joan, and inadvertently sparks nationwide reports of a kidnapping—even though he views the job as a paid delivery.

Joan resists, offering Steve more money to return her, but the flight ends in a crash landing near the ghost town of Bonanza. As law enforcement—pushed by the assistant DA—orders Sheriff McGee (William Frawley) to find Steve for stealing his own plane, Joan and Steve spend a tense night camping before meeting the town’s lone resident, Pop Tolliver (Harry Davenport). After hearing radio reports, Pop locks Steve in the empty jail until further news clarifies the situation.

Joan later flees into an abandoned mine, with Steve following; a cave-in traps them for hours. Believing they may die, Joan begins reconsidering her rash engagement. But when she discovers Steve secretly found an exit earlier, she feels deeply betrayed. Emerging from the mine, they find Alan, a Nevada judge (Harry Holman), and the sheriff waiting—until Pop outsmarts the authorities by claiming the town is in Nevada, nullifying the warrant.

Still furious, Joan agrees to marry Alan, unaware the ceremony is invalid. Once she realizes the truth mid-flight, she parachutes out and reunites with Steve. With her father’s approval, Joan and Steve finally marry and honeymoon in Bonanza—where Joan’s post-celebration weight ensures Steve’s cash-on-delivery fee is enough to clear his debts.

The screwball romantic comedy was the second pairing between Cagney and Davis, who previously worked together on Michael Curtiz’s pre-Code comedy Jimmy the Gent in 1934. This time around, both were major stars for the studio and were looking to change up their careers. Davis had been doing a string of serious dramas, while Cagney was growing tired of playing gangsters. With Hal Wallis executive producing The Bride Came C.O.D., Davis won the role over several other leading ladies of the era. In fairness to the studio, they had preferred an established comedy actress.

Interestingly, Frank Capra wanted Davis for his Oscar-winning It Happened One Night, but Warner didn’t want to loan her out again so soon. They had just loaned her to RKO for her Oscar-nominated performance in Of Human Bondage. As history showed, Davis lost the Oscar to Claudette Colbert. On paper, The Bride Came C.O.D. was meant to be a different variation on the screwball comedy, but unfortunately, the Epstein twins were not quite on their A game.

Because The Bride Came C.O.D. is set in the desert, the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank wasn’t a suitable filming location. Production moved to Death Valley, and the harsh environment didn’t do the shoot any favors. The heat was terrible, the script had issues, and Davis even fell into a cactus rather than relying on a stunt double. Surprisingly, the fall from the plane is left in the final film.

Over eighty years after its release, The Bride Came C.O.D. is not a particularly funny film and is a mediocre vehicle for its stars at best. It’s worth watching to see what Cagney, Davis, and the Epstein twins brought to the picture, but that’s about it. One can understand why they wanted to move away from their previous personas—playing the same thing on screen can get old after a while.

Bonus Features

• WARNER NIGHT AT THE MOVIES 1941 Short Subject Gallery
  • Vintage Newsreel
  • Musical Shorts
    • Carnival of Rhythm
    • Oscar -nominated Forty Boys and a Song
  • Classic WB Cartoons
    • Porky’s Pooch
    • Rhapsody in Rivets
    • Saddle Silly
  • Theatrical trailer for Honeymoon For Three
• Bonus cartoon: The Bird Came C.O.D.
• 12/29/1941 Lux Radio Theater broadcast of The Bride Came C.O.D. with Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr
• Original Theatrical Trailer

DIRECTOR: William Keighley
SCREENWRITERS: Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein
CAST: James Cagney, Bette Davis, with Stuart Erwin, Eugene Pallette, Jack Carson, and George Tobias, Harry Davenport, William Frawley, Edward Brophy

Warner Bros. Pictures released The Bride Came C.O.D. in theaters on July 12, 1941. Grade: 3/5

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