The Bride Came C.O.D.

A publicity-hungry broadcaster promotes the elopement between Joan Winfield, the daughter of Texas oil tycoon Lucius K. Winfield, and famous band leader Alan Brice. Steve Collins, who runs a small air charter service, is engaged to fly them from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Steve's company is heavily in debt; if he doesn't come up with $1,112.77 ($24,900 in 2025) by midnight, the finance company will seize his airplane. Upon hearing on the radio of the upcoming elopement, Winfield calls his daughter at the airport to attempt to prevent it, accusing Alan of being a fortune-hunter. Steve calls the tycoon back, offering to prevent the elopement and deliver his daughter to him, unmarried, in Amarillo, Texas—for a price. They agree on a freight price of $10 a pound for whatever she weighs, C.O.D. (cash on delivery). At Joan's estimated 115 pounds, Steve will make enough to settle his debt. When the creditor returns to demand the key to his plane, Steve knocks him out cold. Tricking Alan out of the airplane by telling him that he has an urgent phone call from New York, Steve takes off with Joan. The press reports the bride as kidnapped, and the story makes headlines and news reports nationwide.