The Toast of New York (1937)

Notorious robber baron financier Jim Fisk, who makes and loses fortunes, tries to corner the gold market as well as the heart of a beautiful actress.

Director:

Rowland V. Lee

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay), John Twist (screenplay),

Stars:

Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, Frances Farmer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward Arnold	...	Jim Fisk
Cary Grant	...	Nick Boyd
Frances Farmer	...	Josie Mansfield
Jack Oakie	...	Luke
Donald Meek	...	Daniel Drew
Thelma Leeds	...	Fleurique
Clarence Kolb	...	Vanderbilt
Billy Gilbert	...	Photographer
George Irving	...	Broker
Russell Hicks	...	Lawyer
Dudley Clements	...	Collins
Lionel Belmore	...	President of Board
Robert McClung	...	Bellhop
Robert Dudley	...	Janitor
Dewey Robinson	...	Beef Dooley

Storyline

The story starts just before the Civil War, showing Fisk, Boyd, and Luke conning Southern townsfolk into buying bars of soap that, might, have a $10 gold piece inside. Found out, they're chased out of town and escape across the Mason-Dixon Line just as the war starts. Fisk hatches a plan for him and Boyd to return to the South and buy cotton then smuggle it to the North where Luke is to sell it to the Northern textile mills. By the end of the war they have made millions, only to find out that Luke had been re-investing their money into Confederate Bonds. This fact-based movie shows Jim Fisk as one of the greatest con-men and entrepreneur's in history. It concludes with his involvement in "Black Friday", the Financial Panic of 1869, with fellow financier Jay Gould (who's not represented in the movie) and their attempt to corner the U.S. gold market. There's a love triangle between Fisk, Boyd and Mansfield, which is also based on historical accounts.

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Plot Keywords:

gold | civil war | actress | financial panic | cotton | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | History | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 July 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alla conquista dei dollari

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,072,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Bowery Boys employed by Vanderbilt against Fisk have no relation to the long-running series of the same name but were a real-life Manhattan gang later portrayed in more detail in Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York."

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Goofs

After the photographer's first attempt to take the picture is ruined by being over-exposed, he fails to change the plate before taking the second one.

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Quotes

James 'Jim' Fisk Jr.: [Preparing to enter a festive room] Are you ready?
Josie Mansfield: I'm frightened to death.
James 'Jim' Fisk Jr.: You're in the circle now. You've got the prettiest feathers in the room. Now spread 'em.

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Soundtracks

" (I Wish I Was in) Dixie's Land"
(1860) (uncredited)
Written by Daniel Decatur Emmett
In the score for the opening scene

User Reviews

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.