The 11 Mar 1922 Exhibitors Herald announced the Warner Brothers’ acquisition of motion picture rights for Brass, the bestselling 1921 novel by Charles Gilman Norris. On 15 Aug 1922, FD reported that producer Harry Rapf initially hired Wallace Worsley to direct, before replacing him with Sidney A. Franklin. The 19 Aug 1922 Moving Picture World attributed the adaptation of the novel to Monte M. Katterjohn. One week later, the 26 Aug 1922 Exhibitors Herald stated that Rapf was making preparations for principal photography.
       After filming was completed, studio executive Abe Warner told the 13 Jan 1923 Exhibitors Trade Review that a group of scenarists spent nearly four months attempting to adapt the novel. Unhappy with the results, the studio organized an “executive session,” including Rapf, Franklin, and scenarist Julien Josephson, to create a satisfactory screenplay. Principal photography was completed in nine weeks. Following a preview in Glendale, CA, Franklin expressed his approval of the film in the 3 Mar 1923 Motion Picture News, and asked exhibitors to share their opinions with him.
       Brass premiered 5 Mar 1923 at the Park Theatre in Boston, MA. The 24 Mar 1923 Motion Picture News reported overflow crowds, and reprinted positive reviews from major Boston newspapers. The engagement lasted three weeks. An 11 Mar 1923 opening at the Mark Strand Theatre in New York City was accompanied by an innovative publicity campaign, according to the 31 Mar 1923 Motion Picture News. Several days before opening, the picture was screened for “an audience of prospective divorcees” in the chambers of Judge Weil, of the Domestic Relations Court of New York, “as an object lesson for troubled couples.” In addition, E. P. Dutton, publisher of the source novel, created a display with a papier mache wedding ring surrounding copies of the book. A Jun 1923 opening was scheduled for San Francisco, CA, as reported in the 9 Jun 1923 Exhibitors Herald.
       Author Charles Gilman Norris told the 14 Apr 1923 Motion Picture News that he was pleased with the adaptation, saying it captured “the spirit, the lesson, the purpose of the book.” However, the Mar-Aug 1923 Picture-Play noted that the film bore little resemblance to the novel, and reduced its controversial view of marriage to “a conventional romance.” A news brief in the same issue made disdainful mention of New York censors taking offense to a scene that featured a naked infant. Other critics agreed with the Picture-Play review, although several commended the actors, particularly Irene Rich in the role of “Mrs. Grotenberg.”