Fast Workers (1933) User Reviews (18)

John Gilbert's Swan Song

[Ron Oliver · 7/10 · 20 August 2001]

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.

Very Touching

[Handlinghandel · 6/10 · 4 April 2006]

In some ways, this is like "La Chienne." The characters are simple, Everyman-types. The characters are basically a guy, a girl, the guy's buddy. The plot seems inevitable.

Tod Browning directed "Freaks" at just about the same time. How different from that this is! And Robert Armongstrong, very appealing as a kind of goofy loser here, played Carl Denham in "King Kong" the same year! Mae Clark, though she plays a tough, hard woman, is appealing. She is costumed interestingly against type. She doesn't look like a siren or a bad girl. She always wears a hat and an innocent looking suit. Though she is not kind of Armstrong, I don't think we're meant to dislike her.

The star is John Gilbert. He was such a good actor, too. He looks dissipated and considerably older than he was. But he is fully up to the admittedly somewhat rather minor demands of the role. What a shame that his career ended so badly and so soon after this came out!

An odd and not especially satisfying pre-code picture from Todd Browning and John Gilbert

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 20 August 2015]

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 John Gilbert

[drednm · 15 April 2010]

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.

Working for love

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 30 April 2020]

There were two main reasons for wanting to watch 'Fast Workers'. Primarily that it was silent film star John Gilbert's MGM swansong and one of his sound pictures, that are not very well regarded at all generally (in a few cases understandably so but others are not bad). Also that it was directed by Tod Browning, known more for his horror films, so he was an interesting choice for director and especially for a type of film that if done right would have been quite light-hearted and witty.

'Fast Workers' to me is actually one of Gilbert's better talkies, 'Downstairs' being his best of the ones where he is the main lead. While it is not a great film and could have done with a much lighter touch later on, it does charm and amuse initially and actually looks and feels competent (something that was not the case with a couple of Gilbert's other talkies, it is much better than 'Redemption' and 'Way of a Sailor'). While the flaws are evident and glaring, a lot works in 'Fast Workers' favour.

One being Gilbert. The role is not a likeable or well fleshed out one, but Gilbert brings a lot of personality and confidence to it and has a lot of appeal. Mae Clark has charm and is at ease with her less serious moments and Robert Armstrong, despite his character being too much of an idiot at times, is amusing. Most of the acting is good. Browning provides some of the best direction of any of Gilbert's talkies, despite some heavy-handedness later on, most of them being badly directed but Browning directs with style and crispness as well as some nice atmosphere (namely because he was one of the few to actually give the impression that he was comfortable in sound pictures).

Visually, 'Fast Workers' is also one of Gilbert's better looking talkies. It doesn't look static and there are some nice visual touches photography-wise without being too clever, the production looks as if a good deal of time and effort went into it. The writing is fun and intriguing in the first two thirds or so and the story mostly engages.

It is an uneven film, having said all of that. Things takes a dramatic turn later on and it becomes heavy on the melodramatic sentiment, pretty ridiculous and almost too mean-spirited, very different to what became before. Browning's direction does as said get too heavy later on and the script loses coherence in the final third too. The central chemistry is too often bland and is agreed pretty turgid. Would have liked the characters to have fleshed out more, these are not really characters worth rooting for, most pretty amoral, and any negative characteristics are sometimes exaggerated.

Not all the acting is great, Sterling Holloway for example came over as annoying and out of place. The ending belongs more in a horror film and doesn't gel with the rest of the film.

Concluding, not a bad film and one of Gilbert's better talkies. Still could have been better though. 6/10

Fast, snappy comedy

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 17 September 2023]

"Fast Workers" is a mostly successful change-of-pace for "Dracula" and "Freaks" director Tod Browning. The story is a rather trifling love-triangle, but it is unapologetically pre-code, and leavened with humor. It is also set in a highly orginal work environment (the building of skyscrapers), and contains what must be one of the earliest movie-going sequences in movie history. The star trio is terrific, especially Mae Clarke who is modern in a Barbara Stanwyck-esque way. There is also an extremely idiosyncratic supporting performance by Sterling Holloway as.... Pinky Magoo, who always says the weirdest things. **1/2 out of 4.

Up in the Air with John Gilbert

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 25 August 2015]

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

Superlative cast with excellent dialogue

[morrisonhimself · 9/10 · 20 August 2015]

Despite its being the work of seven different writers, "Fast Workers" succeeds as an interesting and unusual story very well moved forward with clever dialogue delivered by a large cast of great actors.

Mae Clarke was a welcome surprise. She was given a chance to perform and she did! Ms. Clarke was a uniquely attractive actress, who too often -- as in "Frankenstein" -- didn't have much to do except look pretty and react.

Here, though, she was a pivotal character, and boy did she grab hold and carry the part beautifully.

This one role should have boosted her to major stardom.

Robert Armstrong reached his pinnacle as the impresario in "King Kong," and seemed to play that type of character afterward. Here, though, he played something completely different and he too showed enough talent to prove to casting directors and audiences he should have also been a major star.

Sterling Holloway had what might have been his best part. Instead of the fey characters he did awfully well, he was a real person, one of the crew working the high iron, with a distinctive personality -- as had all the characters in this play-become-movie -- who seemed real (or at least movie real).

John Gilbert was first billed and was, at the time, still the biggest name in the cast. He didn't really still have the looks that had catapulted him into the highest galaxy of stars, but he did still have the talent.

And he did have the best line of the movie, the last.

"Fast Workers" was part of a 24-hour marathon of Mae Clarke films on Turner Classic Movies, presented 20 August 2015. This type of retrospective is exactly why The Good Lord gave us video recorders, to be able to save for more convenient times a whole day of motion picture history and entertainment.

Mae Clarke today is known mostly for getting a grapefruit smashed into her face, but anyone seeing more of her work has to be convinced she was a major talent and, therefore, should have been a major star and should be far better known today.

I highly recommend "Fast Workers."

Fine Performances from Gilbert and Clarke

[drjgardner · 4/10 · 21 August 2015]

The early 30s fascination with high rise construction gives birth to this film about two riveters and the dame they fall for. In an otherwise forgettable script, John Gilbert and Mae Clarke give fine performances. For Gilbert, this may be his finest sound film performance, and it comes just prior to his death a few years later. For Clarke, this is an excellent opportunity for her to show her sexiness as well as her comedy skills.

Tod Browning as the director shows none of the considerable skills he displayed during his silent years. Nonetheless he keeps the film moving.

Robert Armstrong co-stars as a riveter. Interestingly enough he starred earlier the same year in "King Kong" which prominently featured the Empire State Building that had been completed in 1931.

Where Friendship Prevails!!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 2 June 2012]

What was bad news for John Gilbert was very good news for Robert Armstrong and Mae Clark in "Fast Workers" which was a re-working of MGM's earlier "Goldie" which had starred Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy. A major star in silents, talkies found Gilbert adrift, having to prove he had what it takes to get back on top with every picture. Now it is quite clear that John Gilbert could have made a career as a sterling character actor but back then no-one was interested and "Fast Workers" saw his return to a conventional leading man part but with his two co-stars getting all the attention. Initially Robert Armstrong was typecast as a lovable larrikin but he steadily built up credentials as tough talking managers, promoters etc, culminating in the memorable movie maker from "King Kong".

"Gunner" Smith (Gilbert) and "Bucker" Reilly (Armstrong) are two staunch mates who work as riveters on a city skyscraper. They look out for each other and as far as dames go they have a pact that they will shield each other from any "gold digger" types. Enter Mary (Clarke, again sporting an unbecoming "mannish" hairdo) - a good time girl who knows all the answers!! She sets her claws into poor dumb "Bucker" who thinks she is as sweet as they come. Unbeknownst to him she is one of "Gunner's" old flames who still carries a torch for him. Mae Clarke is terrific as the "swell girl" beloved by both who is not above fleecing "Bucker" out of all his available cash. It is a tribute to Clarke that she can engage the audience in what is a very unsympathetic part.

Things take a dramatic turn when "Gunner" shows "Bucker" some cosy photos of him and Mary - he doesn't realise that Mary and "Bucker" have just tied the knot. "Bucker" thinks his world has come to an end and next day up on the girders.... but friendship prevails and while Mary is kicked to the curb, the buddies vow to look after each other in the same old way.

Even though Mae Clarke, along with Robert Armstrong, stole a lot of the movie's limelight, she was beginning to realise that the fame critics had predicted for her was not to be. Virginia Cherrill, who was Charlie Chaplin's blind girl in "City Lights" was the girl in the car who dropped Gilbert off at his building site.

Riveters

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 21 August 2015]

Had this been a project for MGM it would have assigned Clark Gable and Wallace Beery in the roles that John Gilbert and Robert Armstrong played about a couple of riveters building those skyscrapers in Manhattan. But instead this was an indication of how far Gilbert's stock had fallen at MGM. Actually Armstrong fared worst than Gilbert because his character was so dumbed down it was pathetic. Possibly Wallace Beery could have carried it off.

What a racket Gilbert has and poor dumb Armstrong just goes along. If Armstrong meets a woman Gilbert moves in to 'protect' Armstrong from their wiles and clutches. The fact he's getting a lot of nookie in the interim doesn't faze Armstrong a bit.

It all works nicely until Mae Clarke enters the picture while Gilbert is doing a ten day stretch in jail. Armstrong marries the woman and Gilbert makes his moves without knowing that.

Some nice shots of the construction boom that was New York City back then. These riveters were never out of work, even in the Great Depression. Such folks as Bob Burns and Sterling Holloway are wasted in the kind of parts they normally play.

But the story is ridiculous. The film is based on an unproduced play called Riveters. I don't wonder why it wasn't produced.

Underrated

[Michael_Elliott · 29 February 2008]

Fast Workers (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Tod Browning directed film, which I'm going to guess will be my most shocking viewing of the year. Construction working buddies John Gilbert and Robert Armstrong spend the nightlife tracking down girls but Armstrong's got the habit of being hustled by the women. One night he meets one of these hustlers (Mae Clarke) but doesn't know what she's up to. Gilbert does know because he's seeing her on the side. I said this will be my most shocking viewing of the year because this film has one of the worst reputations of any film from the 1930s but I found myself really, really ejoying the film and getting completely caught up in its story. This is also rather shocking because I'm not that big of a fan of Browning's sound pictures. What really worked for me was the three stars who all give very good performances. I was really caught off guard by Gilbert because I had heard he wasn't that good in sound pictures but I found him very entertaining and charming here. Armstrong was very funny in his role and Clarke was giving several good scenes. This is a very strange film as it starts out as a comedy and then moves into a very mean spirited drama and then the director finishes it off like one of his horror films. A very strange film but I really enjoyed it. One of Gilbert's final pictures at MGM as he was to die three years later at the age of 36.

A Sad End to Gilbert's Career

[alfierimc · 2/10 · 13 May 2018]

This is a story of a group of riveters in New York City and the "dames" they hang out with during the early 1930's. None of the characters have any redeeming characteristics (Gilbert and Clarke); some are really annoying ( Holloway, Barnett and Toones) and some are just really stupid (Armstrong). The script is incoherent at best and the story seems to careen from cliche to cliche without any semblance of meaning. It scares me to think who MGM thought this movie would appeal to.

Clarke plays a call girl infatuated with Gilbert. Gilbert of course, cannot be captured by any woman, so he treats her badly throughout the film. Clarke in turn uses Armstrong for his money while cheating with Gilbert. Gilbert's character is essentially bipolar. He lurches from one mood to the next without any motivation.

Browning's direction is merely adequate. There are only a few good close ups, and when they come you are surprised there are not more. As another reviewed noted, the movie turns dark toward the end and Armstrong actually delivers some intensity to his performance. But it is short lived.

If you are an unquenchable Gilbert fan then you will see him in anything and will enjoy the screen time he gets here. If you are not a big fan, then this movie is only a curiosity and difficult one to endure.

money cant buy you love

[tamyabonet2 · 10/10 · 20 March 2006]

I caught the last 45 minutes of the movie but really enjoyed it, it was kinda sad since bucker really loved Mary but then again it seemed like he was always falling in love fast, such as the nurse at the end of the scene..

but its sad how Mary was taking his hard earned dough to pay for Mary's supposedly grandma's hospital bills, thats sad. It made me think wow people played games like that back in the 30's, i guess play as were always here since way back when.. but it made me think and realize that I need to be careful when meeting girls and realize that not all girls are what they seem to be and you cant make a girl fall for you just because you help her out and give her money.

I was especially touched when Bucky told gunner something like " see its good to save your cash because you never know when you can help a good girl and make her happy" that hit home because i see myself giving girls money more than i probably should and that scared me watching that scene because here is Bucky giving her money for her to spend with Gunnar..

I for one don't want to be used.. and it made me think that just because you give a girl money and truly do all you can for her don't mean you'll have her heart, funny most of the times, she'll be in love with someone who may not even give her a dime such is gunner..

that was a wake up call, so from now on, i'll watch my money a little more better and not be so quick to use offer money to get and keep a girl interested in me, i will make sure shes interested in me for me.. thats what this film taught me, this is something everyone knows already but after watching this film it really hit me in the face..

Unexpected

[kcfl-1 · 10/10 · 6 June 2018]

The only way I can explain the film's brilliance is with total spoilers. The movie reaches the pantheon of the top 1% not just because of the dialogue but because it violates all expectations of the genre:

Situation 1: You have the smart, handsome guy fooling around with the girl that his dumb best friend really loves. Expectation 1: The smart guy will give up the girl so his buddy can have her.

Situation 2: Smart guy knows she's a tramp Expectation 2: He proves it to buddy before he gets married...OR they get married, and he keeps it to himself.

Situation 3: Tramp marries dumb guy Expectation 3: She reforms (or is killed)

NONE of my expectations (based o seeing over 9000 films) came to pass. The only Expectation that did was that when dumb guy finds out smart guy slept with his new wife, he tries to kill him (in obvious way since they're building a skyscraper).

Finally: the last scene is perfect. Smart guy plays the same trick he did on dumb guy earlier in the film to show she's OK with the attempted killing.

Nadir of careers of Gilbert and Browning

[lionel-21 · 16 April 2006]

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.

If you're a pre-code fan just watch this and avoid any spoilers

[RickeyMooney · 9/10 · 24 February 2021]

I'm not saying there are any killer spoilers out there. It's just that this is an almost perfect example of a snappy pre-code movie with sex and violence (mostly hinted at), snappy dialogue, comedy, and drama all moving at lightning speed. So the less you know about it, the greater your enjoyment.

But if you must know, it's about two construction worker buddies, Gunner (John Gilbert) and Bucker (Robert Armstrong) and the woman who comes between them, Mary, a gal of easy virtue (Mae Clarke).

Kudos to the film's portrayal of rowdy blue-collar workers ribbing and playing practical jokes on one another, good-naturedly and not so good-naturedly, and to the excellent rear projection work making their high-girder work look convincing.

Gilbert, as you probably know by now, was not at all a squeaky-voiced ham who couldn't transition from silents to talkies, as some have portrayed him. In fact, he's very much in the mold of William Powell and expert in the same sort of fast-talking con man roles. Clarke seems to relish getting to play a tough cookie, an amoral gold digger, instead of her usual victim roles.

If you're still reading this, the gist of the plot is that Mary, one of Gunner's rotating cast of girl friends, becomes engaged to Bucker who, though no sap, is an easy mark for women, and Gunner, well aware of her past and present, tries to break it up without being too obvious about it.

In typical pre-code fashion there's no moralizing and everyone is basically out for whatever he or she can get, plus there's a little social commentary about Prohibition and the Depression. OK, that's enough. Go watch it. Only 66 minutes with, in pre-code fashion, more plot than today's 3-hour epics.

Brotherly affection

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 27 December 2022]

FAST WORKERS would be John Gilbert's last starring role in a motion picture. The actor had enjoyed a long and successful career as a lead in silent films, most notably at MGM. But his work met with mixed results in the talkie/early sound era. In addition to changing audience tastes in the early 1930s (Clark Gable, Wallace Beery and Robert Montgomery were emerging as Metro's most important male stars), execs decided Gilbert cost too much, so his contract was not renewed.

Gilbert would come back to the studio for one more picture as a freelancer, but in QUEEN CHRISTINA he was second-billed under frequent costar Greta Garbo. And a year later, there was an ensemble picture at Columbia where he was fourth-billed. So FAST WORKERS is the last time he is actually the star of a film.

Contemporary critics panned the effort, claiming Gilbert was miscast. I suppose they were used to his playing more polished characters. In this story, he is seen as a riveter who toils on the construction of a high-rise building. He spends most of his workday with a pal (Robert Armstrong) and after hours, he socializes with an attractive woman (Mae Clarke). The drama kicks in when it is learned that Clarke has also become involved with Armstrong, forming a blue collar triangle.

Gilbert does very well in those moments where his freewheeling character starts to take life a bit more seriously. He gradually evolves into a more mature and responsible type of fellow. But in the early part of the movie, he is nearly defeated by his devil-may-care attitude. Adding to the complex nature of the role is the fact that he often tries to steal women away from Armstrong to prove his own successfulness with the opposite sex and to show his friend that these women are no good if they can be so easily seduced away.

Of course, Clarke has her own ideas when she learns Armstrong has a good bit of money saved up. She may have fallen for Gilbert, but she decides to marry Armstrong for his money, which Gilbert is unable to prevent. Things become increasingly dicey for the trio, when Armstrong finds out he's been betrayed. Instead of blaming Clarke, he blames Gilbert and tries to kill him one day up on the scaffolds of the high-rise structure they're building. These are very tense moments on screen.

The last sequence involves Gilbert's hospitalization after falling from the high-rise and nearly dying. At his bedside, he and Armstrong make amends and realize their problems stem not from their mistrust of each other, but the trouble caused by the ladies in their lives. This leaves Clarke's character out in the cold, no longer with a husband, any money or a lover on the side.

I do find it humorous how disposable the main chick is in this movie. Of course there will be other gals and other squabbles between the two men...but their lifelong bond seems to be more important than anything else. It's an entertaining if somewhat uneven blend of action and suds, with brotherly affection winning out in the end.