4/10
This 'Toast' Burns On All Corners *1/2
19 January 2007
Dreadful 1937 film where three con men played by Cary Grant, Jack Oakie and Edward Arnold con their way to success. For them, the worst thing could have been was that the civil war ended.

They wind up with a fortune; that is, a fortune in confederate bonds. While they are worth nothing, the trio manages to parlay this nothing into a fortune. Here is a major flaw in the film. It is never adequately explained how they could get away with this. Sounds more like the junk-bond trade of the 1980s and so.

Frances Farmer, as a maid to a chanteuse, is elegantly dressed but does very little else here. Too bad that Miss Farmer spent much of her life combating mental disorders. Starring in this film was a disorder in itself.

Arnold has some moments especially when he allows greed to lead to his downfall. However, you didn't have to be a rocket-scientist to see this coming.

A very poor script certainly did not help this. Jack Oakie was traditionally a comedian of A-1 quality. How many times was he going to refer to Arnold as Yes Boss, Yes Boss.

Slavery ended with the civil war.
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