Redundant and unnecessary.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

best movie i've ever seen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

THE TOAST OF NEW YORK (RKO Radio, 1937), an Edward Small Production, directed by Rowland V. Lee, stars Edward Arnold in a fictional account of the rise and fall of Wall Street financier, James "Jim" Fisk Jr. (1934-1872). Having already starred as multi-millionaire, "Diamond Jim" Brady in DIAMOND JIM (Universal, 1935), it seemed natural for Arnold to pursue another biographical story centering upon the life of another famous man called "Jim." While Jim Fisk isn't as better known as Diamond Jim Brady, it does leave one to ask, "Who is Jim Fisk?" Based on "The Book of Daniel Drew" by Bouck White, and the story "Robber Barons" by Matthew Josephson, the opening passage offers an brief explanation to whom Jim Fisk is: "Jim Fisk - half genius, half clown - began life with empty pockets, a pack on his back, and a Yankee gift of gab. Loving a uniform - always in front of every parade - he became the Barnum of peddlers and then skyrocketed into high finance in Wall Street where in a few brief years he started a Nation with his colorful career, but in 1861 - before the first guns of the Civil War were fired - he was still an obscure peddler - somewhere South of the Mason & Dixon line." Set during a span of ten years, the plot opens in 1861 where Jim Fisk (Edward Arnold), a medicine show impresario assisted by Nick Boyd (Cary Grant) and Luke (Jack Oakie), get chased out of town by an angry mob after being exposed as fakes. Once passing the boarder onto the next state, Jim next get-rich-quick scheme has him sending Luke to Boston where he's to open an office while he and Nick remain behind to smuggle Southern cotton to the Northern states. At the close of the Civil War where the trio reunite, Fisk discovers Luke converted their profits into worthless Confederate bonds. Coming up with another plan to make millions, Fisk sells his business to Daniel Drew (Donald Meek), and contrives a controlling interest in the Erie Railroad. Before becoming a wealthy financial wizard of New York's stock market, he encounters Josie Mansfield (Frances Farmer), a maid working for temperamental French actress Mademoiselle Fleurigue (Thelma Leeds), and through his philosophy to "think big, talk big and be big," he arranges for the ambitious actress who becomes Jim's mistress to succeed on stage, much to the displeasure of Nick, who believes in himself Josie could become the cause of his financial ruin.With the champagne glasses and glittering lettering in the opening titles, THE TOAST OF NEW YORK appears to be an expensive lavish-scale production, and certainly is. With its large, impressive cast, THE TOAST OF NEW YORK is very much Edward Arnold's show from start to finish. Reuniting him for the second and final time with Frances Farmer (on loan from Paramount) from COME AND GET IT (Samuel Goldwyn, 1936), where her dual role characterization nearly overshadows Arnold's performance, this time it's Arnold who has the spotlight through his solid performance. Aside from appearing 22 minutes from the start of the story, Farmer's natural acting style which usually garners praise and attention spends much of her time in a Hollywood-ridden cliché pattern in a love/hate relationship with Cary Grant amounting to little challenge here. A fine performance on her part, Farmer's vocalization to the film's theme song is okay, but not as magical as her haunting rendition of "Aural Lee" from COME AND GET IT.Other worthy offering involving Farmer is the montage in segments involving her stage performance of "Twelve Temptations." Jack Oakie, always good to have around for comic relief, resumes his duties here in a some notable scenes, especially one that has Luke drilling a regiment of soldiers where everything goes comically wrong, as observed in disbelief by the Top Sergeant (Stanley Fields). Thelma Leeds as the French actress gives a performance reminiscent to Luise Rainer's Anna Held from THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (MGM, 1936), but unlike Rainer, no Academy Award nomination.During the course of 109 minutes, songs incorporated into the story include: "Opoh La La" (sung by Thelma Leeds); "The First Time I Saw You" (theme song sung by Frances Farmer); and "The Temptation Waltz." Others in the cast include Clarence Kolb (Cornelius Vanderbilt); Lionel Bellmore (President of the Board); and Mary Gordon (Mrs. Callahan). Look quickly for Hal Roach stock players of Laurel and Hardy comedies as James Finlayson and Billy Gilbert in smaller roles.As a biography, THE TOAST OF NEW YORK disappoints in accuracy. As a motion picture overall, it's quite good even with expected results. Largely overlooked and forgotten until distributed to home video in the 1980s, DVD (Turner Entertainment) and broadcasts on cable television including USA (1986-87), American Movie Classics (prior to 2000), the story and the rise to power of Jim Fisk and his relationship with Josie Mansfield can be seen occasionally on Turner Classic Movies. (***1/2)

The first thing I suggest you do before watching this film is to read the Wikipedia article about Jim Fisk -- the subject of this film. On the one hand, this is a fairly entertaining "biopic". On the other hand, it's highly fictionalized...accurate enough to recognize that it is the story of Jim Fisk, but why they didn't just tell the true story and also make it accurate, I don't know...well, actually I do know, because the character played by Frances Farmer was, in real life, a fat prostitute; after all, this picture was made in 1937. But, nevertheless, it's an interesting film, though hardly one you'll want to watch more than once.Edward Arnold plays Jim Fisk, does it nicely, and actually looks a bit like the real Fisk.Cary Grant gets second billing here as his partner; some of our reviewers seem stunned that Grant didn't get top billing, but the year this was made -- 1937 -- was the year that Grant established himself as a lead actor. The film he made just before this one was the great "Topper", and right after this one the equally entertaining "The Awful Truth". After "The Awful Truth", Grant would never again take second billing. He's interesting here, and somehow his performance reminds me a tad of how he presented himself in "The Howards Of Virginia".I really hadn't noticed Frances Farmer in any films before this one, and I can't say I was particularly impressed. Jack Oakie is along as another of Fisk's confederates; he's mildly entertaining here. Similarly, Donald Meek plays Daniel Drew, an unwilling confederate of Fisk, although in real life, Fisk worked for Drew. Clarence Kolb plays himself as Cornelius Vanderbilt. Billy Gilbert is interesting in a small role as a portrait photographer.In some ways interesting, but this film is no great shakes. It's okay for one viewing, and in reality, Edward Arnold has the most interesting role here.

The Toast of New York is directed by Rowland V. Lee and features a screenplay collectively written by Dudley Nichols, John Twist and Joel Sayre. It's adapted from two stories, "The Book of Daniel Drew" written by Bouck White and "Robber Barons" written by Matthew Josephson. It stars Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, Frances Farmer, Jack Oakie and Donald Meek.Jim Fisk-half genius, half clown-began life with empty pockets, a pack on his back, and a Yankee gift of gab.Loving a uniform-always in the front of every parade-he became the Barnum of Peddlers, and then skyrocketed into "high finance" in Wall Street, where in a few brief years he startled a nation with his colourful career.But in 1861-before the first guns of the Civil War were fired-he was still an obscure peddler-somewhere south of the Mason and Dixie Line.Jim Fisk was a very interesting man in the world of finance, his life and death certainly had enough about it to warrant a film being made about him. Sadly this particular biopic is dull, where even the fact that the makers fictionalised some of the plot fails to make it worthy of further viewings. Annoying as well is that RKO really put big money into the production, and you can see that up on the screen in the sets, costuming and the number of people who are in it. It was a troubled production, and numerous stars were linked to play the key roles, and with the Hays Office casting their censorship shadow over things, it's perhaps unsurprising that the film ended up a flop at the box office. The tone is uneven, with the comedy an uneasy fit, and there's not a great deal to laud in the acting. Arnold gives it bluster and Farmer is sweet, while Grant is forced into yet another suit and asked to be a romantic interest. Oakie has his moments, but they are few, while best of the bunch is Meek as Daniel Drew.Disappointing and it perhaps would have been better served being a straight drama and sniping 20 minutes off of its run time. 4/10

The Toast of New York, despite the lavish look, top-notch cast and occasional bursts of energy, is a ten-ton bore - chiefly, I think, because of the long-winded script and pedestrian direction. Others have commented on the production difficulties and personnel changes which may be responsible for the bland result. Early in the story we are treated to a colorful but talky exposition which sets the plot in motion: On the day the Civil War starts, Jim Fisk (Edward Arnold), itinerant peddler, and his partners in crime (Cary Grant and Jack Oakie) devise a scheme to buy cotton cheaply in the South, smuggle it North and sell it at a high price to New England mills, thus launching the career of one of the fabled financial speculators of the 19th century. But, instead of the whiz-bang, rise-and-fall saga laced with comedy which this introduction leads us to expect, we get 100 minutes of routine montages followed by more expository talk (mostly about financial deals), interspersed with boisterous crowd scenes and tepid romantic interludes with the exquisite Frances Farmer, who plays Josie Mansfield, an aspiring stage actress who is taken under Fisk's wing. None of this ever rises above the mundane. Edward Arnold gives his familiar robust, take-charge performance (see the 1937 screwball comedy EASY LIVING and the previous year's COME AND GET IT which this film resembles in theme and plot); Grant and Oakie are pretty much themselves as well, though the full impact of Grant's screen charisma is blunted in this non-comic role. Farmer is presented more as a comely production value than a full-blooded character. She spends most of her screen time in a series of splendid period gowns uttering banalities that barely suggest the emotional states of her character. She too played a similar role in COME AND GET IT, to far stronger effect. One would expect this kind of storytelling from a Warners assembly-line quickie, but it's terribly disappointing to encounter it in a 100-minute-plus grade-A production by RKO. I'll give it a "4" for Farmer and Arnold.