Watch The Bride Came C.O.D. For Free

I love this movie so much

Nice effects though.

Awesome Movie

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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.

. . . in for $80 million, James Cagney's mercenary bachelor pilot "Steve Collins" decides during THE BRIDE CAME C.O.D. If you study the portion of this movie from 9:54 to 11:46, you'll see that it's clear (at least as crystal as the censors would allow in 1941) that Steve is an experienced gigolo, servicing many society ladies of a certain age under the pretense of providing "flying lessons." (Yes, all this decades before Erica Jong's FEAR OF FLYING novel was in print!) Warner Bros. is so discreet that they don't provide cast names or end credits to the trio of slumming dames pictured in this segment. But there's a clear implication that Steve's got hangars full of satisfied female clients. The contrast between Steve's first-shown "date" and his eventual wife "Joan Winfield" (Bette Davis, playing "age 23" here for at least her tenth year running) is stunning. What does homely Joan have that knock-out Ms. No Name lacks? About $80 million worth of Texas oil field profits, that's what! And Steve is a guy who knows which side of his bread to butter. This flick is the male precursor to PRETTY WOMAN.

Pretty standard fare for the time. The cast is loaded with stars of the era lead by James Cagney and Bette Davis. I have always had a problem with Bette Davis as a love interest. She is a heck of an actress but I never have found her attractive. Anyway the humor is not bad and got laughs a few times. You can see the end developing after the plane crash when they spend the night out in the open and then find a ghost town with one old timer still around. The old timer arrests James as a kidnapper and then learns he is not. The old timer and Bette rehab a thirty year old abandoned car. They get it running but there is no way the tires would not have rotted in that time. They crash it and Bette lands in another cactus patch, heh, heh!! An air search finds the abandoned airplane and the race is on between the father who wants to stop the impending marriage of Bette to a bandleader played by Jack Carson, a real ham, of course Jack is in the race, an LA sheriff, and other assorted types. The first to arrive is from the LA county sheriff played by Fred Mertz (William Frawley)!! Next to fly in are four reporters, then Carson shows up with a judge to marry the two. There is some chicanery to keep Bette from being found but she is eventually found, thinking they are in Nevada the judge performs the wedding in the ghost town, then they find out the town is actually in California. They couple don't believe him, take off for LA, Bette sees a pillow that shows the town is in California so jumps from the plane to get away from Carson. Dad has finally shown up and things work out as I thought, Bette and James end up hitched, dad is happy, and all ends well except for poor ol' Jack Carson.

I had always avoided this flick because I love both its stars and had read and heard not-so-flattering things about it. Finally caught up with it on the beautiful DVD transfer, and was either laughing or smiling from beginning to end, and believe me that's a rarity! How nice to see all those naysayers proved wrong. Granted, this is one of the most contrived and tortured "meet cute" setups in screwball history, but the plot mechanics are dispensed with quickly and it's all Cagney and Davis at their most sparkling from there on. I actually think it's best to watch this not knowing what happens, so I'll just say WATCH IT if you have a liking for either -- or both -- of these stars. And the Epstein-brothers' script is hilarious; it should be studied by today's comedy writers.