Bette Davis, in her autobiography The Lonely Life, didn't have to much good to say about this film. It's true the critics thought that this film was beneath the talents of Davis and Cagney, but time proves otherwise. Some films just seem to age like a bottle of fine wine which makes this movie play better today than it did when it was first released. So, the story goes, our Bette was doing a lot of tear jerker's and I guess Warners thought it was time for her to take a breather and do a light comedy for a change of pace. What's amazing is that here we have two Acadamy Award winners playing hoke and camp with La Davis spending most of her time falling on top of cactus plants and screaming! The musical score by Max Stiener is just fine and dandy and the funniest part in the film is when Davis deiced she's going to run away from Cagney in an automobile that hardly can run after Henry Davenport locks Cagney up in the town jail. So, she and Davenport get in the car. The car starts down the hill with the song In My Merry Oldsmbile being played and Cagney laughing so bad that you have to laugh with him as the car makes all kinds of noise and sputtering when it finally turns over, and I'm surprised that somehow they didn't find a way for our Bette to fall on top of another cactus plant! Even though Davis said that they really didn't like making this movie, it seems to me, when viewing it, that Davis and Cagney, with the rest of the cast were having a lot of fun making it! You could never remake this film and make it work today. I mean, who would you get to play the roles? Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston? But, on second thought, it would be hilarious to see Aniston falling on top of cactus plants!
Review of The Bride Came C.O.D.
