The Toast of New York

Jim Fisk (Edward Arnold) and his partner (Cary Grant) build a fortune fleecing Cornelius Vanderbilt, culminating in Black Friday.

The Toast of New York is a highly fictionalized account of Jim Fisk’s rise to financial power. Some of the names have been changed (Cary Grant plays Edward Stokes, but the character is called Nick Boyd), and many of the incidents in the film are complete fabrications, but the essence of the story is there, and it’s a good one.

Edward Arnold, a criminally underrated actor, is great as Fisk, a larger than life huckster who goes from medicine show barker to Wall Street titan, and Cary Grant is equally good as his suave partner. The two work well together and their schemes to outwit Daniel Drew (played by a Donald Meek, who bears more than a passing resemblance to the genuine article) and Cornelius Vanderbilt are fun and interesting.

Unfortunately the screenplay had no less than 5 contributors and it shows, as the superior financial tycoon story falls victim to an awkward, slow, and all round boring love story. Frances Farmer (who looks absolutely nothing like the real Josie Mansfield) has no chemistry with either Arnold nor Grant, and no real charisma of her own. In the end, the whole sub-plot feels tacked-on and formulaic.

Despite that misstep, The Toast of New York remains watchable, a testament to the talents of Arnold and Grant, if only for a fanciful look at the way Wall Street worked at the end of the 19th century.