The Bride Came C.O.D. (Warner Bros.) (1941)

ADVANCE AND CURRENT PUBLICITY—"THE BRIDE CAME C. O. D.” Cagney Takes It— When Bette Does The Dishing Out The Hollywood he-men who have been “dishing it out’ for a decade, are learning to “take it” now and they aren’t liking it particularly well, either. It is Bette Davis who slaps Jimmy Cagney, the actor who started all the rough stuff with women in pictures, in their new production, “The Bride Came C.0.D.” That was Jimmy’s own idea, however. The script writer had it that Jimmy would belt Bette but the reformed Cagney flatly refused to hit another woman in or out of pictures. So Bette had an inning that she has, presumably, been awaiting for a number of years. When she and Jimmy worked together in “Jimmy the Gent,” neither of them was a top-rank star and Jimmy couldn’t very well refuse to do what the director and writer proposed, any more than Bette could refuse to be roughed up by the redhead. She was willing to “turn the cheek” for the Cagney slap, knowing that he is an expert and probably would not hurt her, but he wouldn’t stand for it. So Bette slapped Jimmy and all the actresses in Hollywood who have been hit by Cagney,probably told themselves that he was getting just what he deserved. e STAR BIOGS e JAMES CAGNEY — Product of New York’s lower East Side... Started earning his way at 14 as office boy on the New Veordke Sie. ce Entered Columbia University, but Mat 105—15¢ had to leave to make money. He began as a chorus boy on Broadway ... 5 years of vaudeville, then Broadway success . Brought to Hollywood, the Cagney progress since has been film history. BETTE DAV[S32 born 2 Lowell, Mass. During her school days her work in dramatics decided her on a theatrical career. Stock engagements led to Broadway ... Broadway Mat 104—15¢ tg Hollywood, fame and 2 Academy Awards. Mat 301—45c ANYTHING TO OBLIGE A LADY—James Cagney extracts cactus needles from Bette Davis after she does a sit-down strike in a cactus bed. C.O.D.", the year's comedy highspot, currently showing at the Strand. Even if it wasn't much fun for Bette, it's all part of the fun in "The Bride Came Cagney, Davis Win Top Comedy Honors in ‘Bride Came C. O. D.’ It’s a laugh hit at the Strand! Living up to the intriguing promise of its title and exciting star combination, “The Bride Came C.0.D.” with James Cagney and Bette Davis, easily walks away with top comedy honors. The two stars have pooled their considerable talents to make “The Bride Came C.O.D.” hilarious entertainment. Cagney, who had some practice in his recent hit “Strawberry Blonde,” approaches his comedy role with an effortless savoir faire that is a joy to behold. As for Miss Davis, playing her first light role in several years, she proves that comedy is just as much her forte as drama. The story, adapted for the sereen by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein, twin scenarists responsible for some of the screen’s wittiest output, has the supreme virtue of getting comedy from legitimate situations, rather than trumped-up ones. Briefly outlined, the plot concerns itself with a spoiled young debutante who becomes engaged to band leader. Planning to elope, they hire a taxi plane to take them Path of True Love Proves Rocky Road for Cagney The path of true love, never smooth, according to wellauthenticated legend, led James Cagney along three rugged Mat 102—15c routes this season, and today he is a weary man, ready to rest himself in the cool, quiet evenings of his New England farm. He started his vacation as soon as he disposed of a romance with Bette Davis, the bride in his newest Warner Bros. picture, “The Bride Came C.O.D.,”’ which is currently showing at the Strand. “You are,” said Miss Davis, just before kissing him, “a cheap and: vile and deceitful liar.” That’s the kind of thing Cagney has had to put up with this year. His tenderest love scene in db “City for Conquest” was achieved only after 60 rounds of prize-fighting a day for five days before the camera. Immediately after that, Cagney started in pursuit of Rita Hayworth in “The Strawberry Blonde.” He lost her entirely. He got Olivia de Havilland, which seems like a fair trade, but only after a tedious series of black eyes and five years in the pen. In his first attempt at lovemaking with Bette Davis in “The Bride Came C.O.D.,” Cagney kissed her lightly on the lips, got soundly slapped in the face. The Cagney-Davis love making in “The Bride Came C.O.D.” takes place in an abandoned gold mine, deep in the earth. Rotted timbers support sagging boulders. A cave-in has blocked their exit. A small fire, burning fiercely, fills the tunnel with smoke. They are convinced that they are there to die. In this setting, romance blossoms. Bette calls Jimmie a deceitful liar, but she shows she doesn’t mean it by lifting her head to be kissed. “It was like the fusing of two white-hot metals into one alloy,” according to the authors of the script. A minute later they were fighting again. A vacation is what James Cagney needs, far from the allure of Ann Sheridan, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth and Bette Davis. Let him who would make love to these ladies be forewarned—a man takes an awful beating before he gets anywhere with them. (Prepared Review ) to Las Vegas. The pilot, however, decides he can make more money by delivering the bride C.0O.D. and unmarried to her father, who opposes the union. He captures the bride and flies off with her, but they are grounded in the desert. They find shelter in a nearby ghost town, populated solely by a philosophical old inn-keeper. From then on, it is a tug of war between the heiress and the aviator—with the girl trying to get back to civilization and her fiance, the man trying to keep her until he gets his plne fixed and deliver her to her father. During the battle they reluctantly fall in love with each other. The climax is refreshingly different and we won’t spoil it by giving it away. William Keighley, whose knack with comedy is well known through his work on such films as “Yes, My Darling Daughter”’ and “No Time For Comedy,” has directed “The Bride Came C.0.D.” superbly, keeping the story going at a fast clip, without a wasted foot of film, deftly emphasizing the humor, without pounding it down. Scores of inspired little touches pop up here and there through the story to contribute to the general merriment. An unusually grand supporting cast lend able aid to the stars in bringing the picture to such a high peak of perfection. Jack Carson is marvelous as band leader, so egotistical that when his bride-to-be tells him she hates him, he asks with genuine amazement, “How is that possible?” Harry Davenport is even better than his usual best as the ghost town innkeeper, and Eugene Pallette is properly apoplectic as the bride’s father. Stuart“firwin does a clever caricature of a radio gossip columnist who tries to engineer the wedding in order to have a juicy item for his broadcast and George Tobias contributes a clever comedy bit as Cagney’s dumb but adoring assistant at the airport. If it’s laughter, entertainment and sparkling romance you’re after, treat yourself to a seat at the Strand and see “The Bride Came C.O.D.” YU We've checked this story because we think it deserves your special attention. CAGNEY EVENS AN OLD SCORE In “The Bride Came C.0.D.” He Steals Bette Davis From The Guy Who Cheated Him Out of the Strawberry Blonde You can get James Cagney down, but you can’t keep him there. Authority for this statement is Jack Carson, who ought to know. Cagney and Carson were together in a picture recently. “Strawberry Blonde” was the title and Rita Hayworth, the red-tressed one. Cagney was doing fine with her until Carson breezed in and beat his time. When the picture was finished, the two men shook hands and even made a date to play golf together. To all appearances, they were the best of friends. Even Carson thought so. Then came their next assignment together. It was “The Bride Came C.O.D.”. Cagney is co-starred with Bette Davis . score one for Cagney. The opening scene of the picture, however, has Carson announcing his engagement to Bette. A draw, but Carson has a slight edge, possession being nine points of the law. All pretence of friendship now being at an end, Cagney kidnaps Davis in the next scene. Although the script says he’s doing it in order to deliver her, unmarried to her father who has agreed to pay him $10 a pound on a C.O.D. basis, we’re pretty sure Cagney had had a heart-to-heart talk with the -seript writers. There may even be a light touch of bribery involved. Carson is definitely worked up now, especially since the technique of movie-making makes it possible for him to be right there on the set listening in while he is, according to the story, miles away. Just as he—and we— might have suspected, Cagney is making time in the well-known Cagney fashion. He has Bette in the middle of the desert now. Their plane is grounded and they have to spend the night out there in the wide-open spaces. Although Bette is giving him the brush-off, it’s obvious she is a little taken with his roughhouse tactics. Carson isn’t sitting by idly, however. He’s organizing a searching party to go out and hunt for his fiancee, and with the aid of the U.S. army he finds her and her abductor, nicely set up in a ramshackle hotel in a desert ghost town. Things are now beginning to look up for Carson. Cagney challenges him SHORTS AND PATTER Lesson Boomerangs James Cagney, whose timing of slaps, left hooks and body punches is as accurate as the mechanism of a machine gun, taught Bette Davis that one-two blow she landed on Mary Astor in “The Great Lie.” It is said to be the most devastating double-slap ever aimed at one actress by another. Cagney, proud of his teaching ability, later regretted it. In “The Bride Came C.O.D.,” Bette slapped him, not once, but more than 25 times during a day’s shooting. Bette showed Cagney that she had learned her lesson well. He is nursing a swollen jaw as a result. No Trimmings for Tobias George ‘Tobias had finally been cast in a role in which he speaks straight American English, and he didn’t know just how to act. Director William Keighley noted Tobias’ nervousness in the first scene of ‘The Bride Came C.O.D.,” at Warner Bros., in which George plays the part of an assistant airplane mechanic to James Cagney. Cagney is costarred with Bette Davis in the new comedy opening Friday at the Strand. “I'll get over it,’ grinned Tobias. “But it’s funny. I mean, speaking English before a camera. Doesn’t seem quite natural.” Tobias had just finished “Strawberry Blonde,” in which he was a Greek. Bringing Up Father Harry Davenport, 75-year-old actor who holds a world record of 70 years on stage and screen, confesses that he is taking lessons in acting from a teacher less than half his age. Davenport was always letterperfect in his lines in Warner Bros.’ “The Bride Came C.O.D.” and this is why: his coach is his 27-year-old son, Ned Davenport, who recently became a dialogue director. Introducing Jean Ames! There’s somebody new to look for when you see ‘The Bride Came C.O.D.’, the new Jimmy Cagney-Bette Davis co-starrer at the Strand Theatre. She’s Jean Ames, blonde, beautiful and blueand a promis somewhere a Mat 103—15¢ long Reel 5 of the opus and she doesn’t have very much to say ... what she does say she says in a cute manner all her own. P. S. Bette Davis thinks she’s swell. P. P. S. And so does Jimmy Cagney. Ooh! That Kiss! Bette Davis got an ‘emotional hotfoot’ on the set of “The Bride Came C.O.D.” at Warner Bros. during a love scene. As a results, Bette gave James Cagney one of the most realistic screen kisses on record. The scene called for Bette to come down a flight of steps, then walk to Cagney, and have a kiss planted on her lips. Just as Bette was coming down the last few steps, however, a lamp above her head sizzled sparks. Bette listened, leaped without looking—and next thing was in Cagney’s arms, holding tight. “Print it,’ roared Director William Keighley, “it’s perfect.” What Price Glamour? A glamour girl debutante is worth $100,000 to Bette Davis, but only $1,100 to James Cagney. They argued it out during a kidnaping scene in Warner Bros.’ “The Bride Came C.O.D.” Bette is the kidnaped glamour girl, Cagney is the captor. “How much are you asking?” asks Bette, trembling. “Oh, about eleven hundred dollars, more or less.” “Only eleven hundred! For me! Why that’s ridiculous. It’s humiliating. A girl of my social standing is worth at least $100,000.” Cagney considers the figure. “To tell you the truth, you glamour girls are a drug on the market. The most I could possibly ask for you is maybe fifteen hundred;” he says. Mat 205—30c CAGNEY VS. CARSON in a knock-down, drag-'em-out battle. No wonder the boys are taking it seriously, ‘cause the winner gets Bette Davis in "The Bride Came C.O.D.," the new comedy at the Strand. to a fist fight. Cagney’s down, and it looks as though he’s lost his pull with the script writers. But he’s a good loser. Such a good loser, in fact, that he’s now arranging things so that Carson and Bette can have the knot tied immediately. Carson has brought a justice of peace with him from Nevada and the wedding goes off on schedule with Cagney officiating as best man. Carson kisses the bride and breathes a sigh of relief. It was a close shave, but he made it But not so fast, Mr. Carson. That Cagney is a cocky little guy, and the licking he took in “Strawberry Blonde” rankled deeply. He’s acting peculiarly now, and while he’s being perfectly charming to the happy groom and the somewhat disgruntled bride, he seems to be trying to delay their take-off for a honeymoon. In spite of all his efforts, however, Carson gets Bette into the plane. With truly commendable sportsmanship, Cagney runs and fetches a pillow to make them more comfortable for the trip. As he waves to them from the ground, Bette is annoyed. She had no idea he’d give up so easily. She stares dully at the pillow. Then she sees the light. The pillow is one of those fancy ones of the pre-war era, tastefully emblazoned with the name of the ghost town and the word “Calif.” after it. A Nevada justice of the peace has no call to marry folks in California, consequently she’s not legally married to Carson. Love conquers all, and Bette does a neat parachute jump, landing not too far from Cagney’s waiting arms. As for Mr. Carson, he is left up in the air, a disgruntled bridegroom flying off to a brideless honeymoon. All of which goes to prove, as we said in the beginning, that Cagney is no guy to fool around with. Bette Davis Tops as Bride Who Came C. O. D. Bette Davis did not precisely have her legs on exhibition but she came as near to it as she had in many a recent picture. It was nine o’clock in the morning but Stage 4 was a night club. Champagne glasses tinkled in the hands of more than 100 dress extras —tall, tail-coated young men, pretty girls in evening dresses, all, apparently, with an unquenchable appetite for breakfasting on stale ginger ale and weak tea. Jack Carson stopped the band and made an announcement. He was saying that he was going to marry Bette Davis. He ealled her “Joan Winfield,” her name in “The Bride Came C.O.D.”, her new co-starring comedy with James Cagney, which appears Friday at the Strand. His drummer rattled an introduction, a spotlight pencilled a _ brilliant glare across the smoke-filled room and picked up Bette Davis at a ringside table. Miss Davis wore a black and extremely low-cut evening gown. It revealed a great deal of Miss Davis. A corsage of orchids was pinned to a shoulder strap. She wore tiny, glistening glass slippers with gold heels, and her toenails were red. At ease, casually smoking a cigarette in a holder, talking, laughing lightly, occasionally touching the silverware or the glasses, Miss Davis was the perfect picture of a debutante glamour girl, a representative of the “privileged classes enjoying their privileges.” That is exactly what she’s supposed to be in “The Bride Came C.O.D.” Her legs are long and slim and beautifully rounded where they are not supposed to be straight. She knows how to cross them in the most alluring manner, and that is the way she crosses them. Her stockings were sheer. Mat 101—15c They are, without any equivocation about it, among the bestlooking pair of legs in Hollywood. It’s a mystery how they have escaped public acclaim for so long. Or perhaps it isn’t a mystery. They simply haven’t been featured because never before has Miss Davis deliberately played the part of a girl whose chief feature would be a pair of pretty legs.