Bette Davis and James Cagney were two of the most revered actors and dynamic personalities on the Warners Brothers lot during Hollywood's golden era, so it was inevitable that they team in a movie. This was actually their second pairing after a minor Michael Curtiz comedy, 1934's "Jimmy the Gent", but the mystery of their 1941 reunion directed by William Keighley is why they decided to do such a predictable screwball farce. The novelty value of their casting may be enough to engender interest in the 2007 DVD release, one of five Cagney movies packaged as "James Cagney - The Signature Collection". The slapstick-oriented story is a rehash of Frank Capra's classic "It Happened One Night", this time with Bette Davis playing the headstrong heiress running away from her wealthy father to marry a vainglorious cad.
It's intriguing to see Davis play broad comedy since she seems to make little distinction between this and the intense approach she takes with her memorable dramatic roles of the period like "The Letter" and "The Little Foxes". As spoiled Texas oil heiress Joan Winfield, she manages to be funny almost in spite of herself. The silly plot has her father hiring pilot Steve Collins to kidnap Joan in order to bring her back home to Amarillo. The volatile combination of Joan's petulance and Steve's irascibility causes them to crash-land in the middle of the desert on the California-Nevada border. They end up in a ghost town inhabited only by a crotchety prospector, and needless to say, shenanigans ensue when Joan attempts to get back to civilization. Cagney is amusing but surprisingly subdued as Steve, perhaps in a gallant attempt to hand the picture to Davis. It's a nice attempt, but the lack of romantic chemistry between the two stars dilutes what could have been a breezy if still forgettable concoction. They would have been far more palatable as the battling reporters in Howard Hawks' "His Girl Friday".
Concerted efforts at slapstick are heavy-handed, especially a running gag with Davis landing her behind in various cactus plants, though one quick bit stands out - when Cagney kisses Davis, she responds with a characteristic slap, and his unexpected counter-response is knocking his forehead against hers like a coconut. The screenplay by the usually reliable Epstein brothers, Julius and Philip ("Casablanca") is snappy but just not funny enough to sustain the threadbare story, this despite a first-rate supporting cast - Eugene Palette in familiar blowhard mode as Joan's father, Jack Carson as her shallow bandleader fiancée, William Frawley ("I Love Lucy") as the smart-mouthed local sheriff, and Harry Davenport as the prospector. There are two quick cartoons and two vintage shorts included in the DVD to approximate a 1941 viewing experience at the neighborhood theater.
It's intriguing to see Davis play broad comedy since she seems to make little distinction between this and the intense approach she takes with her memorable dramatic roles of the period like "The Letter" and "The Little Foxes". As spoiled Texas oil heiress Joan Winfield, she manages to be funny almost in spite of herself. The silly plot has her father hiring pilot Steve Collins to kidnap Joan in order to bring her back home to Amarillo. The volatile combination of Joan's petulance and Steve's irascibility causes them to crash-land in the middle of the desert on the California-Nevada border. They end up in a ghost town inhabited only by a crotchety prospector, and needless to say, shenanigans ensue when Joan attempts to get back to civilization. Cagney is amusing but surprisingly subdued as Steve, perhaps in a gallant attempt to hand the picture to Davis. It's a nice attempt, but the lack of romantic chemistry between the two stars dilutes what could have been a breezy if still forgettable concoction. They would have been far more palatable as the battling reporters in Howard Hawks' "His Girl Friday".
Concerted efforts at slapstick are heavy-handed, especially a running gag with Davis landing her behind in various cactus plants, though one quick bit stands out - when Cagney kisses Davis, she responds with a characteristic slap, and his unexpected counter-response is knocking his forehead against hers like a coconut. The screenplay by the usually reliable Epstein brothers, Julius and Philip ("Casablanca") is snappy but just not funny enough to sustain the threadbare story, this despite a first-rate supporting cast - Eugene Palette in familiar blowhard mode as Joan's father, Jack Carson as her shallow bandleader fiancée, William Frawley ("I Love Lucy") as the smart-mouthed local sheriff, and Harry Davenport as the prospector. There are two quick cartoons and two vintage shorts included in the DVD to approximate a 1941 viewing experience at the neighborhood theater.