Fast Workers

One cannot help but wonder how this film could have been made, even at the height of the era of mass production at the Hollywood dream factory. It is frankly utterly boring and I had lost interest totally two thirds of the way through. It will be of interest only to scholars and film buffs tracking the demise of the career of John Gilbert. That was my reason for viewing it. The basic plot is implausible and there is too much talk and obscure dialogue. The direction is heavy handed and it appears as if the director considered it a chore. Browning was at his best with macabre/horror type films and he is all at sea here. If Mayer was intent on destroying Gilbert's career, then there is no better proof of evil intent than casting him in such a vehicle in his final role under contract to MGM. It could have been intended only as a second feature/programme filler. As a jazz follower I am convinced the leading black musician(uncredited) in the cabaret scene is Lionel Hampton, then totally unknown, who within a very short time became a leading figure of the swing era in the Benny Goodman Trio/Quartet and later a highly successful band leader in his own right.

After working on a New York City high-rise building, manly construction worker John Gilbert (as Gunner Smith) goes out to a speakeasy with less attractive pal Robert Armstrong (as Bucker Reilly). While making time with an attached woman, Mr. Gilbert decks her companion and is brought before the judge. Gilbert calls marriage-minded lover Mae Clarke (as Mary) to help bail him out, not knowing she's about to fleece Mr. Armstrong. Gilbert is the one she loves, but Ms. Clarke is tempted to settle down and accept Armstrong's marriage proposal...

"Fast Workers" found Gilbert nearing the end of his movie career. This was his last film as a top-billed MGM star...

Director Tod Browning and the MGM crew make it look above average. As usual, Gilbert's appearance is better than the legendary stories about his demise. That the studio cared about making Gilbert sound masculine may be evidenced in having squeaky-voiced Sterling Holloway (as Pinky Magoo) given the largest supporting role. However, Gilbert's lack of interest or commitment shows in the mechanics; his collar has three positions in one scene, there is no shot of him after his character has a dramatic fall, and the ending is noticeably abrupt.

***** Fast Workers (1933-03-10) Tod Browning ~ John Gilbert, Robert Armstrong, Mae Clarke, Sterling Holloway

When most folks who love old movies hear the name Todd Browning, they think of the ultra-creepy films he directed--stuff like "Dracula", "Freaks" and "The Unknown". However, Browning did also direct some 'normal' films, and "Fast Workers" is nothing like his scary and dark pictures. Instead, this film is a pre-code sleaze- fest--a film that drips cynicism from start to finish. It also marks the end of John Gilbert's career with MGM.

Gunner (Gilbert) is a guy who spends his evenings in bars and chasing floozies. He is hardly the romantic type--more the sort of guy who can see through cheap dames and loves 'em for what they are. His pal, Bucker (Robert Armstrong) THINKS he's also wise to women but in reality he's naive and kind of stupid. When Bucker meets Mary (Mae Clark), he believes all the ridiculous lies that she hands him to get his money and soon he believes he and Mary are going to become husband and wife. But while she's dating Bucker, she's also hanging with Gunner---and she's more than willing to have both men at the same time and bleed Bucker dry. When Gunner realizes what's happening a rare thing bothers him...his conscience. As for Mary, the same might just be happening as well. What's next?

This film is very typical of many pre-code films--it's extremely jaded and coarse compared to later Hollywood movies. Women are mostly tramps and men are often idiots or pimp-types. Seen today, it might shock viewers who have no idea that films from about 1930 to mid 1934 were often wild and espoused a very loose sort of morality!

For me, despite the film's ridiculously high score of 8.2, it had some serious problems. The writing wasn't great. In particular, Armstrong's character was just TOO stupid--and wasn't very believable. Had the guy been toned down a bit and therefore more believable, the film would have worked better. Plus, with Mary and Gunner being so amoral...how could they possibly have pangs of conscience?! A film with some very interesting moments (such as when the guys building the skyscraper are staring in windows at naked women), but a sub-par film for Browning and a sad end to Gilbert's career with a great studio. Despite excellent reviews by most folks, I agree with Lionel-21--it was the nadir for both guys' careers.

Snappy film that looks and feels like a Warners film, this MGM film bristles with sexual tension. John Gilbert is terrific as the construction worker who tangles with smart dame Mae Clarke and pal Robert Armstrong.

Gilbert had his problems at MGM with LB Mayer, but his talent shines thru the rotten films they assigned him. And this film is a perfect example. It's a B film about the loves and lives of menial workers but Gilbert makes it an event. He's confident, sexy, and terrific as the worker who falls into the clutches of a "working girl." The three stars are quite good. The supporting cast includes Herman Bing, Sterling Holloway, Vince Barnett, Bob Burns, Nora Cecil, and Virginia Cherrill.

As mentioned elsewhere, this film finished off Gilbert's contract with MGM. Mayer had done his best to ruin Gilbert's career by assigning him bad films, but Gilbert is really good in this film as well as THE PHANTOM OF Paris and DOWNSTAIRS.

Two steelworker buddies are real FAST WORKERS when it comes to romancing & dumping the women in their lives - until a loose lady with a shady past shakes up their complacency & threatens their friendship.

According to cinematic legend, all the talkie MGM films starring John Gilbert were dreadful - the result of a bitter hatred between Gilbert (the highest paid star in Hollywood, with a $1.5 million contract) & studio boss Louis B. Mayer. A determination on Gilbert's part to fulfill the contract, and a campaign instituted by Mayer to destroy Gilbert's career - including spreading the rumor that Gilbert's voice was 'high & feminine', culminated in several unwatchable movies.

Not entirely true. The Studio had a huge financial investment in Jack Gilbert and was not going to completely cut its own throat by showcasing him in nothing but dreck. However, of the 8 MGM talkies in which he appeared as solo star (1929 - HIS GLORIOUS NIGHT; 1930 - REDEMPTION; WAY FOR A SAILOR; 1931 - GENTLEMAN'S FATE; THE PHANTOM OF Paris; WEST OF Broadway; 1932 - DOWNSTAIRS; 1933 - FAST WORKERS) most were certainly rather ghastly.

FAST WORKERS was a sad end to Gilbert's MGM contract. Although it boosts some fine moments in the alarmingly vertiginous opening scenes atop a skyscraper (for once using decent rear projection), back on the ground it descended into turgid romantics which were a waste of the stars' talents. Unattractive & depressing, the film could easily be subtitled The Tawdry Lives Of Unpleasant People.

Gilbert was always trying to push himself as an actor, attempting to produce the best performance possible. But the script and the cheap production values gives him no assistance. It is to Mayer's eternal shame that the actor who was the most popular male star at the end of the silent era and who made a great deal of money for MGM, should be treated in such a shabby, humiliating way at the end of his career.

The film was also a Studio letdown for director Tod Browning, who had helmed several splendid silent Lon Chaney shockers and whose talkies included the classics Dracula & FREAKS. His career would soon spiral into obscurity.

Robert Armstrong and a funny Sterling Holloway offer fine support to Gilbert, as do Mae Clarke, Muriel Kirkland, pretty Muriel Evans and unbilled Herman Bing & Nora Cecil, but it's all to no avail. The picture was doomed & John Gilbert was out the door, his contract expired.

It must be stated that there was nothing at all strange or unnaturally high about Gilbert's voice. As a matter of fact, it was of medium range & rather cultured & refined - which was the crux of the problem, of course. While it is possible that no voice could have ever matched the perfect one viewers heard in their minds while watching his strong, virile silent roles, the reality was very different from what they were expecting (imagine Robert Montgomery's voice coming out of Clark Gable's mouth). Gilbert was doomed from his first scene in his debut talkie; his war with Mayer only intensified the agony.

At Garbo's insistence, John Gilbert would return to MGM later in 1933 to appear as her love interest in QUEEN Christina, but she was the star and Gilbert received below-the-title billing. He would make only one more film - THE CAPTAIN HATES THE SEA for Columbia in 1934. Then he retired to his villa to live a life of drunken, sybaritic obsolescence. He was planning to return to the screen to costar with his last lover, Marlene Dietrich, in THE GARDEN OF ALLAH when he suddenly died on January 9, 1936 of heart failure, forgotten by most of his former fans. John Gilbert was only 36 years old.