The Bride Came C.O.D. - Warner Archive Collection

Runaway brides have populated countless Hollywood movies since 1934's It Happened One Night, but seven years after that iconic romcom swept the Oscars, Warner Bros gave the material a (slightly) new spin. The Bride Came C.O.D. still centers around an impulsive rich girl who rebels against her powerful, domineering dad, but instead of ditching her fiancé at the altar, the headstrong heiress is kidnapped at her father's request(!) to prevent her from marrying a Casanova band leader whom he deems an unsuitable match for his darling daughter. What follows is a madcap romp that can't hold a candle to director Frank Capra's classic, but remains a pleasant diversion, thanks to the magnetism of its mega-watt stars.

Those stars are James Cagney and Bette Davis, the reigning king and queen of Warner Bros, who checked their sizable egos at the door and gamely lightened their serious personas with this bit of slapstick nonsense that delivers more laughs than it has any right to. Part of the amusement stems from watching these two sober thespians make fools of themselves as they trudge through the blistering Mojave Desert, fall repeatedly into thorny cacti, navigate the hazards of a dilapidated ghost town, and get trapped in an abandoned, crumbling gold mine.  The breezy direction by William Keighley keeps the story chugging along, while the script by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein, shows glimmers of the wit that would distinguish their priceless, Oscar-winning screenplay for Casablanca the following year.

The silly narrative chronicles the (mis)adventures of cocky pilot Steve Collins (Cagney) and spoiled heiress Joan Winfield (Davis) after Joan's engagement to musician Allen Brice (Jack Carson) sends her millionaire father Lucius Winfield (Eugene Pallette) into an apoplectic fit. Steve is supposed to shepherd the eloping couple to Yuma, Arizona for their whirlwind nuptials, but Lucius intercedes, promising to pay Steve a tidy sum if he can separate Joan from Allen and deliver the unmarried "cargo" back to her daddy at a rendezvous point in Amarillo, Texas.

The plans go awry when the plane crash-lands in the desert, forcing the oil-and-water Steve and Joan to deal not only with each other, but also their dire circumstances and the unforgiving natural elements. As Joan's father, her abandoned fiancé, and a hungry press corps eager to devour this juicy tabloid story all race to rescue her, Joan and Steve butt heads (literally, at one point) before they eventually realize oil and water just might mix after all.

In their respective autobiographies, the two stars don't remember The Bride Came C.O.D. very fondly, if they recall it at all. In his memoir, Cagney claims "I have never seen that one so I have no firsthand information as to how it came out." In hers, Davis never mentions whether she ever saw the finished film, but doesn't mask her disdain for the material's inanity. After praising Cagney's talent and ruing the fact they never were able to work together on a substantive project, she bluntly writes, "We both reached bottom with this one."

Audiences of the day didn't share their low opinion of the film. They flocked to theaters in droves and made The Bride Came C.O.D. one of the year's top-grossing pictures. Mussing up their hair, rolling around in the desert sand, taking a projectile in the derrière, and tangling with all those prickly cacti paid off for both stars, as their legions of fans enjoyed the respite from Davis melodramas and Cagney gangster flicks. Yes, the plot is ridiculous, but so are the plots of most screwball films during Hollywood's Golden Age. Cagney and Davis certainly could have done a lot worse.

As a romantic couple, however, the two struggle to connect. Their chemistry is tepid at best, but they're both such pros they bring out the best in each other and the material. Though comedy isn't either actor's strong suit, they each enjoy several fine moments and deliver their verbal zingers and pratfalls with aplomb. An array of top-notch character actors enhance their performances, led by the rotund, raspy-voiced, cantankerous Pallette, who easily steals the picture. The always reliable and charismatic Carson as Joan's hapless and fickle fiancé, Harry Davenport as the ghost town's crusty, feisty codger, Stuart Erwin as an opportunistic gossip hound, George Tobias, and William Frawley all add color to this black-and-white romp.

If you're a Cagney or Davis fan, you'll welcome the release of The Bride Came C.O.D. on Blu-ray, even while recognizing the movie will never rank among their best. The film may be silly and predictable, but it's also fast-paced fun that's perfect for a brainless, laid-back movie night.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

The Bride Came C.O.D. arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative yields a terrific 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer that revitalizes this romcom and faithfully honors the lovely cinematography of Ernest Haller, who photographed Davis 14 times and won an Oscar for Gone with the Wind. Excellent contrast and clarity, deep blacks, bright and stable whites, and a healthy grayscale produce a vibrant picture that brims with detail and a fair amount of depth. Process shots are seamlessly integrated, the day-for-night sequences look realistic, the dingy interior of the mine is well defined, and sharp close-ups showcase dirt smudges, glistening sweat, Cagney's rugged face and twinkling eyes, Davis' unique beauty, and Davenport's wrinkles. A bit of softness creeps in now and then, but no nicks, dirt, or scratches mar the pristine source. This is another stellar presentation of a black-and-white classic by Warner Archive.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track outputs clear, well-modulated sound. Sonic accents like revving and humming airplane engines, the knocking of Cagney's and Davis' noggins, and collapsing mine structures are crisp, while a wide dynamic scale embraces all the highs and lows of Max Steiner's bouncy music score with ease. All the dialogue is easy to comprehend and no age-related hiss, pops, or crackle intrude. 

Warner Archive imports the Warner Night at the Movies program from the 2007 DVD and adds a bonus Looney Tunes cartoon and a radio adaptation of the film.

• "Warner Night at the Movies" (SD, 55 minutes) - This selection of shorts, cartoons, a newsreel, and trailer recreates a typical night at the movies circa 1941. First up is the Technicolor two-reeler Carnival of Rhythm, an 18-minute short that celebrates the music of Brazil and features dancer/choreographer Katherine Dunham and her accomplished dance troupe. Up next, the 10-minute musical short Forty Boys and a Song, which received an Oscar nod for Best Short Subject, One-Reel, takes a tender look at the special school that provides a musical education to underprivileged boys. A one-minute newsreel that previews Easter fashions precedes three classic cartoons. Porky's Pooch, a seven-minute black-and-white Looney Tunes installment starring Porky Pig, kicks off the lineup, followed by the eight-minute, Oscar-nominated Technicolor cartoon Rhapsody in Rivets, which depicts animal construction workers making music with their tools and machinery, and the eight-minute Saddle Silly, which amusingly honors the Pony Express. A trailer for the Warner Bros comedy Honeymoon for Three starring George Brent and Ann Sheridan completes the almost hour-long program.
• Vintage Cartoon: The Bird Came C.O.D. (HD, 8 minutes) - Conrad Cat, who only appeared in a few Looney Tunes cartoons before getting the axe, stars in this animated short about a pesky bird who turns Conrad's normal day upside down. 
• Vintage Radio Adaptation (59 minutes) - Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr take on the roles created by Cagney and Davis in this truncated radio adaptation of The Bride Came C.O.D., which aired on December 29, 1941 as part of the long-running Lux Radio Theater series. Host Cecil B. DeMille introduces the broadcast and acts as the narrator. Some amusing banter between Hope and Lamarr and a heartfelt speech by DeMille just three weeks after America's entrance into World War II close out the broadcast.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 3 minutes) - The film's original preview hypes the teaming of Cagney and Davis and their change-of-pace parts.

The Bride Came C.O.D. offers Cagney and Davis a chance to show to some comic flair, and while this madcap romcom doesn't rank among their best work, it remains a rollicking diversion that's cute, funny, and often endearing. A brand new 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, remastered audio, and a boatload of vintage supplements make this disc a welcome addition to any classics collection. Recommended.