This is an entertaining film which, the further it strays from the world of Wall Street, the less interesting it becomes. At the centre of the drama is Jim Fisk, played by the avuncular Edward Arnold - a larger than life performance entirely suitable to the role. He largely dominates the film overawing Cary Grant (Nick) and Jackie Oakie (Luke), who are frequently reduced to the level of stooges. Fisk is a financial gambler, half-crook and a self-centred visionary, whose exploits (assuming the plot reflects something of historical truth) demanded an actor with the right sort of presence. Fisk's attempts to get rich quick are amusing and dynamic but, as soon as his romantic interest is ignited by Josie, the audience finds dramatic tension slackening off. Arnold's loveable rogue persona also serves to deflect any criticisms of his actions, the repeated speculation without conscience, which presumably leaves small investors and stockholders ruined. All of this related misery of course happens off screen and the human cost is largely swept under the carpet (although Josie does express concern for the "little people" for whom Fisk's actions have "cost their lives" towards the end). One couldn't see this film, with its casual treatment of capitalism, appearing during the Great Depression when sensitivities were different. It would certainly make an excellent vehicle for Marxist analysis.
Grant has little to do. Nick's secret love for Josie is a curiously passionless affair, their mutual attraction telegraphed so far in advance it becomes a fait accompli in the eyes of the audience, without the principals having to do very much to prove it. Like Fisk, Luke, Drew, Vanderbilt, and all the other men in the picture, real vitality is gained by exposure to stocks and bonds than any sensual consideration of the opposite sex. Fisk's attraction to Josie, although a major event in his private life, is always just a corollary to his business interests - a distraction which Nick recognises and condemns. Later on Nick has another reason to discourage the liaison, but the absence of any true rivalry between Fisk and Nick for Josie's affections robs this side of the drama of any excitement. As Josie, Frances Farmer's innate cool beauty as an actress rises above all this romantic froth, but there is never any real sense that she and Fisk have much in common, no matter how much the script suggests otherwise. In short, their romance is as hollow as Fisk's conscience, and only his amiable sincerity rescues him from a charge of cynicism..
The best parts of the drama lay with the big set pieces, rather than intimate moments between the principals. The gold corner, the rout of the ruffians by hose, the dash to the ferry, and Luke's incompetence on the parade ground, all stand out as amusing and well mounted, presumably reflecting where the studio's time and money was invested. One particularly relishes the rotund Fisk, dressed in his militia uniform, trying to bring the stock market to its knees like some fat Napoleon of finance. The duping of Drew, the three charlatans pretending to hold a board meeting while the transport magnate stews, is the finest bit of 'business' in the film.
Trivia addicts may notice the presence of Billy Gilbert and James Finlayson down the cast list, both favourite regulars in Laurel and Hardy comedies. Finlayson in particular milks his small part (as the inventor with the self raising hat) so successfully that one regrets that he wasn't offered the larger part of Drew, where the grouchy meanness required is tailor-made for his persona. (Come to that, imagine Oliver Hardy as Fisk!)
SPOILER
"I thought I was bigger than any of them" reflects the bankrupt Fisk at the end as his grandiose plan collapses. His ensuing drop down the stairs, victim of an angry stockholder's bullet, is as much a physical representation of his financial fall from grace as it is anything else. (Ironically, it reminded me of the famous picture of Gordon's murder by the Mahdi at Khatoum.) But the conclusion of the film risks another descent - this time into bathos. His end is not so much tragic as formulaic, as there was nowhere else for the plot to go, and consequentially the resolution has little impact. Josie's sadness as she stoops by the dying man's side lacks real grief. There is a feeling that, as the fat financier dies with a smile and a quip on his lips, he has received a mild rebuke from the fates rather than any real come-uppance. His life has been just another investment that hasn't worked out, and the loveable scoundrel is free to continue his wheeler-dealing in the afterlife, not really bothered by his own demise. The viewer is left with a facile conclusion, barely satisfying beyond the shallow requirements of dramatic closure.
Grant has little to do. Nick's secret love for Josie is a curiously passionless affair, their mutual attraction telegraphed so far in advance it becomes a fait accompli in the eyes of the audience, without the principals having to do very much to prove it. Like Fisk, Luke, Drew, Vanderbilt, and all the other men in the picture, real vitality is gained by exposure to stocks and bonds than any sensual consideration of the opposite sex. Fisk's attraction to Josie, although a major event in his private life, is always just a corollary to his business interests - a distraction which Nick recognises and condemns. Later on Nick has another reason to discourage the liaison, but the absence of any true rivalry between Fisk and Nick for Josie's affections robs this side of the drama of any excitement. As Josie, Frances Farmer's innate cool beauty as an actress rises above all this romantic froth, but there is never any real sense that she and Fisk have much in common, no matter how much the script suggests otherwise. In short, their romance is as hollow as Fisk's conscience, and only his amiable sincerity rescues him from a charge of cynicism..
The best parts of the drama lay with the big set pieces, rather than intimate moments between the principals. The gold corner, the rout of the ruffians by hose, the dash to the ferry, and Luke's incompetence on the parade ground, all stand out as amusing and well mounted, presumably reflecting where the studio's time and money was invested. One particularly relishes the rotund Fisk, dressed in his militia uniform, trying to bring the stock market to its knees like some fat Napoleon of finance. The duping of Drew, the three charlatans pretending to hold a board meeting while the transport magnate stews, is the finest bit of 'business' in the film.
Trivia addicts may notice the presence of Billy Gilbert and James Finlayson down the cast list, both favourite regulars in Laurel and Hardy comedies. Finlayson in particular milks his small part (as the inventor with the self raising hat) so successfully that one regrets that he wasn't offered the larger part of Drew, where the grouchy meanness required is tailor-made for his persona. (Come to that, imagine Oliver Hardy as Fisk!)
SPOILER
"I thought I was bigger than any of them" reflects the bankrupt Fisk at the end as his grandiose plan collapses. His ensuing drop down the stairs, victim of an angry stockholder's bullet, is as much a physical representation of his financial fall from grace as it is anything else. (Ironically, it reminded me of the famous picture of Gordon's murder by the Mahdi at Khatoum.) But the conclusion of the film risks another descent - this time into bathos. His end is not so much tragic as formulaic, as there was nowhere else for the plot to go, and consequentially the resolution has little impact. Josie's sadness as she stoops by the dying man's side lacks real grief. There is a feeling that, as the fat financier dies with a smile and a quip on his lips, he has received a mild rebuke from the fates rather than any real come-uppance. His life has been just another investment that hasn't worked out, and the loveable scoundrel is free to continue his wheeler-dealing in the afterlife, not really bothered by his own demise. The viewer is left with a facile conclusion, barely satisfying beyond the shallow requirements of dramatic closure.