DIAMOND JIM (1935)

Character actor Edward Arnold was born to play the legendary railroad magnate Diamond Jim Brady. Both had risen from childhoods of extreme poverty to find success in their fields: Arnold as a stage actor and Brady selling railroad equipment. Arnold even met Brady twice when the high-living millionaire came backstage to visit the actor’s female co-stars. Universal Studios invested one of its largest budgets of 1935 to showcase Arnold in a loose biopic featuring a witty script by Preston Sturges. Events were compressed for dramatic effect; some of Brady’s more crooked endeavors were left out, his relationship with entertainer Lillian Russell (Binnie Barnes) was made longer and more romantic, and Sturges even gave him two fictional love interests, both played by Jean Arthur. Arnold was so successful as Brady that he played the role again in the 1940 Alice Faye vehicle Lillian Russell. He remains the only actor to play Brady on the big screen.

d. A. Edward Sutherland, 88m, 35mm

Courtesy of Universal Pictures.