The Corpse Came C.O.D.

Joan Blondell and George Brent must have felt like it was old home week and they were time warped back to the Thirties when both were contract players at Warner Brothers. This Columbia Picture has something of the look and feel of one of those Warner studio products from that era. Too bad it wasn't all that good.

Blondell and Brent play a couple of rival reporters who are trying to scoop the other concerning a murder. Adele Jergens plays a movie star who receives a shipment of bolts of cloth for some dress designs and the driver asks for it to be COD. What happens is that with the bolts of fabric is the body of the studio dress designer, The Corpse Comes COD.

As was the case in those days when the studio protects the stars from scandal, she calls a reporter friend George Brent who comes right over to Jergens home to comfort her and get a bead on the other papers. Then at his suggestion, she calls the cops and they come in the person of Detective Jim Bannon.

That gets Blondell's dander up and she's out to best Brent whatever the cost which drives Bannon up a wall.

Both Brent and Blondell are a little older and should be a little wiser fooling with an obstruction of justice charge for one or both of them. The elements of drama and comedy and mystery are not mixed very well in The Corpse Came COD. And the identity of the one behind the killing is not a surprise that is satisfactory as much as it is off the wall.

Brent and Blondell and the rest do their best, but the story just defeats them.

Warner Brothers turned out lots of these comedy/mysteries. After a while, they seem to blend into one another. This has a lot of the same elements. But it has some unique ones too. And it's not from Warner's: It's from Columbia.

George Brent looks as if he'd been filmed for "Hollywood Babylon." He is always a good actor and is fun here as a news hound. But he bears little resemblance to the leading man he played earlier that decade at Warner's. Joan Blondell is a rival newswoman. As always, she is delightful. No, she doesn't look the way she did in the Busby Berkely or earlier Cagney movies. But she always looked great. And I never saw her turn in a bad performance -- even in Hugo Haas's "Lizzie." Adele Jergens p a very glamorous movie star. Talk about perfect casting! The title corpse comes C.O.D. to her Hollywood estate. The movie is concerned with finding out why and courtesy of what evildoer.

ADELE JERGENS is a pampered movie star who gets a crate delivery that turns out to have a body inside it--a studio costume designer she had recently argued with. She tries to persuade newspaper man GEORGE BRENT not to tell police right away, but he does and the plot gets a little more absurd after that, with JOAN BLONDELL as another newspaper reporter looking for a scoop.

The comedy aspect is anything but subtle as Blondell and Brent seem to be trying to upstage each other for laughs as the story strives for a good blend of mystery and mirth. Since it becomes obvious early on that most of the comic elements are pretty stale, you have to pin your hopes that the mystery element will be handled a lot better.

LESLIE BROOKS is attractive as a studio secretary with she and ADELE JERGENS providing the glamor appeal as stunning blondes. As fumbling reporters turning sleuth to solve the case, Blondell and Brent try hard but are less than amusing as they look for leads.

The plot thickens with the murder of a studio publicity director, but the accent still remains on comedy until the merry mix-up is solved after Brent has several run-ins with the killer.

Not too bad as these programmers go, with the final ten minutes filling in a lot of background info that's kept "in the dark" for most of the running time. Brent proves his comedy flair needed some fine tuning but Blondell is one step ahead of him in that department. GRANT WITHERS makes a good red herring in a minor role.

When a movie star accepts delivery of gown materials, she finds out that "The Corpse Came C.O.D.," a B film with an above average cast: George Brent, Joan Blondell, and Adele Jergens. Brent plays Joe Medford, a newspaper reporter in hot competition with Rosemary Durant (Blondell) to get the best stories. When star Mona Harrison (Jergens) discovers the body of a studio costume designer in a box of material, she calls Medford instead of the cops and begs for help. She and the designer didn't get along, and it looks as if she's being set up to take the fall.

This is fairly routine stuff brightened by the always delightful and energetic Blondell, whose character follows Medford everywhere, often getting caught. Brent conveys a light comic touch rarely seen in his leading man days of the '30s. By 1947, at the age of 48, Brent was moving into character parts and television. Ditto 41-year-old Blondell. I suppose B movies were a good way to have them use up their contractual obligations. Jergens is appropriately glamorous.

We actually learn more of the background story toward the end of the film rather than at the beginning, so the plot has a little twist that otherwise might not have been there. Otherwise, it's a lot of running, chasing, and hiding, but Blondell's many fans will enjoy it.

Fast-paced little mystery-comedy involving a movie studio. The mystery's a little murky and the developments hard to keep up with. Nonetheless, Blondell and Brent are energetic, while Jergens has never looked lovelier. As rival newspaper reporters, Blondell and Brent have a friendly rivalry that usually involves him locking her in a closet. But being Blondell, you can't keep a good woman down. Veteran director Levin keeps things moving, and has a nice sense of pacing for a sometimes difficult narrative. As a result, events never drag. And I like the running gag with the wimpy guy in the waiting room who just wants to sing. Sure, this is no more than a routine programmer, but the two leads treat the material like an A-production, along with a rather surprising ending that I sure didn't see coming. All in all, it's an entertaining little time passer.