Edward Arnold's baritone makes giving orders sound like the most natural occupation in the world. His authority can be blunt, but Frank Capra knows how to make it frightening.
Fi1m perspective
In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Edward Arnold's Jim Taylor looks thoroughly entitled to get his own way. The round face, piercing eyes and full baritone make a useful combination: he can be imposing without needing to advertise his strength. We found him unsettling because his corrupt authority seems so ordinary to him. Frank Capra gives James Stewart and Jean Arthur the task of keeping the film's idealism lively; Arnold makes the man opposing it solid enough to worry about.
The breakthrough was Diamond Jim (1935), in which he played Diamond Jim Brady. He subsequently moved from leading roles towards character parts, often as tycoons, rogues and men in charge, observing: "The bigger I got, the better character roles I received." Capra made him the ruthless banker Anthony P. Kirby in You Can't Take It with You (1938). Their work together continued with the manipulative media magnate D.B. Norton in Meet John Doe (1941). These parts suit an actor whose physical presence and voice establish power quickly, leaving the director time to show what he does with it.
Taylor provides the clearest reason for our enthusiasm. In a film that asks us to indulge its faith in personal decency, Arnold makes resistance to that decency feel credible. Stewart and Arthur keep the sentiment lively, and our recommendation owes much to their comedy. Arnold's particular strength is making the authority figure and the rogue seem entirely at home in the same man. That gives Capra a persuasive opponent for his idealism, though it cannot make the film's sentiment suit every taste.
Arnold's uncredited politician in Duck Soup (1933) should not determine where we start with him. We rate that film highly for Leo McCarey's pace and Groucho Marx's treatment of political vanity, rather than for Arnold's contribution. Start with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, with a reasonable tolerance for Capra's sentiment.
Biography
Edward Arnold (born Günther Edward Arnold Schneider) was an American actor. He began his career on the New York stage, making his professional debut in 1907, and appeared in silent films from 1916 before returning to the stage and then establishing himself in sound films from 1932.
He was known for character roles as authoritative or roguish figures, including Jim Taylor in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Anthony P. Kirby in You Can't Take It with You (1938) and Daniel Webster in All That Money Can Buy (1941). Arnold also appeared uncredited as a politician in Duck Soup (1933) and played Pawnee Bill in Annie Get Your Gun (1950). He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1940 to 1942 and died in 1956.
