Editing Tod Browning (section)

=== ''Fast Workers'' (1933) ===
In the aftermath of the commercial failure of his 1932 ''Freaks'', Browning was assigned to produce and direct (uncredited) an adaptation of [[John McDermott (director)|John McDermott]]'s play ''Rivets''.<ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 11: "Keeping his hands clean from controversial material after the scandal that ''Freaks'' (1932) had caused, Browning shot some 'lighter' movies..."</ref>

The script for ''[[Fast Workers]]'' by [[Karl Brown (cinematographer)|Karl Brown]] and [[Laurence Stallings]] dramatizes the mutual infidelities, often humorous, that plague a [[ménage à trois]] comprising a high-rise construction worker and seducer Gunner Smith ([[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]]), his co-worker and sidekick, Bucker Reilly ([[Robert Armstrong (actor)|Robert Armstrong]]) and Mary ([[Mae Clarke]]), an attractive "[[Gold digger]]" seeking financial and emotional stability during the [[Great Depression]].<ref>Cady, 2004 TCM: "...both Gilbert and Browning managed to transform Fast Workers into a perversely fascinating melodrama cut with streetwise humor."The title "fast workers" is a [[double entendre]] alluding "both to the construction workers' skill at riveting and to their style with women."<br />Rosenthal, 1975 p. 44<br />Wood, 2006 TCM: "Browning and Gilbert re-teamed in 1933 for the racy pre-Code drama Fast Workers, where Gilbert plays 'Gunner' Smith, another detestable womanizer in need of redemption."</ref> Browning brings to bear all the thematic modes that typically motivate his characters.<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 23-24</ref> Film historian Stuart Rosenthal writes:

{{blockquote |In ''Fast Workers'' the four varieties of frustration<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 23-24: See here for explanation of categories.</ref> are so well integrated among themselves that it is difficult, if not impossible to say where one ends and another begins. These interrelations make it one of the most perplexing of Browning's films, especially with regard to morality and justice.<ref name="Rosenthal, 1975 p. 44">Rosenthal, 1975 p. 44</ref>}}

The betrayals, humiliations and retaliations that plague the characters, and the moral legitimacy of their behaviors remains unresolved. Rosenthal comments on Browning's ambivalence: "''Fast Workers'' is Browning's final cynical word on the impossibility of an individual obtaining justice, however righteous his cause, without critically sullying himself. Superficially, things have been set right. Gunner and Bucker are again friends and, together are equal to any wily female. Yet Gunner, the individual who is the most culpable, finds himself in the most secure position, while the basically well-intentioned Mary is rejected and condemned by both men."<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 46</ref> An outstanding example of Browning's ability to visually convey terror—a technique he developed in the silent era—is demonstrated when Mary perceives that Bucker, cuckolded by Gunner, reveals his homicidal rage.<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 44: "...the series of events that lead to Bucker's premeditatedly allowing Gunner to fall off a skyscraper." And p. 45: "The technique that Browning used for constructing instants of terror was workably carried over into the sound era. It is apparent that Browning conceived horror primarily in visual terms...the camera movement in ''Fast Workers'', when Mary realizes that Bucker is contemplating murder, is positively chilling."<br />Cady, 2004 TCM: "As for Browning, he stages several strong scenes, particularly one in which Robert Armstrong's Bucker realizes the depth of his friend's betrayal. The director's style here has echoes of his [silent era] work with Lon Chaney..."</ref>

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer committed $525,000 to the film's production budget, quite a high sum for a relatively short feature. Ultimately, MGM reported earnings of only $165,000 on the film after its release, resulting in a net loss of $360,000 on the motion picture.<ref name="TFSociety">[http://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/fast-workers-1933/ "Fast Workers (1933)], Toronto Film Society ([[Ontario, Canada]]), June 20, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2020.</ref>