The Toast of New York (1937)

Director:

Rowland V. Lee

Writers:

Bouck White (book)
Matthew Josephson (story)

Release Date:

30 July 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

The terror of Wall Street was a chump for this girl!

Plot:

The story starts just before the Civil War, showing Fisk, Boyd, and Luke conning Southern townsfolk into buying bars of soap that...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Cotton | Civil War | Soap | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Edward Arnold	...	James 'Jim' Fisk Jr.
Cary Grant	...	Nicholas 'Nick' Boyd
Frances Farmer	...	Josie Mansfield
Jack Oakie	...	Luke
Donald Meek	...	Daniel Drew
Thelma Leeds	...	Mlle. Fleurique
Clarence Kolb	...	Commodore Cornelius 'Corneel' Vanderbilt
Billy Gilbert	...	Portrait photographer
George Irving	...	Broker selling gold
Russell Hicks	...	Fisk's lawyer
Dudley Clements	...	Jed Collins
Lionel Belmore	...	President of the board
Robert McClung	...	Bellhop
Robert Dudley	...	Sam, a janitor
Dewey Robinson	...	'Beef' Dooley

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2963)

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Edward Small Productions

Trivia:

Many of the original cast in studio records and casting call lists were not seen in the film. These include (with their character names): George Lollier (Reporter), 'Frank Marlowe' (Reporter), Jack Carson (Reporter), Eddie Hart (Reporter), Max Wagner (Reporter), Frank M. Thomas (Lawyer), Oscar Apfel (Wallack), George Offerman Jr. (Usher), Sidney Bracey (Waiter), Don Brodie, Lloyd Ingraham (Man in New York Restaurant), Frank Mills (First Mug), Russ Powell (Second Mug), Ethan Laidlaw (Third Mug), Edward LeSaint (Member of the Board of Directors), Edward Peil Sr. (First Gentleman), Tom Ricketts (Member of the Board of Directors) and William Worthington (Judge). Henry Kolker was listed in the cast by a news item, but he also was not seen in the film.

Soundtrack:

Temptation Waltz

Superficial, but enjoyable large-scale Hollywood entertainment

While this fact-based picture is wildly inaccurate in it's depiction Jim Fisk's life and death, THE TOAST OF NEW YORK remains an entertaining portrait of the financial scene in New York during the late 1800s. Three writers are credited with a screenplay that does not skimp on moral and financial complexities (although the film's romantic triangle is handled rather routinely), and director Robert V. Lee manages to keep everything moving at a brisk pace while effectively juggling piercing melodrama with lovely moments of light comedy. Edward Arnold and Frances Farmer contribute terrific performances, and Cary Grant is also memorable playing second banana to Arnold's Fisk - although no one else in the cast makes much of an impression. This lavish, expensively budgeted film was a box office flop when originally released, but it holds up quite nicely all these decades latter and deserves to be rediscovered by a larger audience.