Twentieth Century Twentieth Century

Oscar Jaffe is a successful Broadway director; Lily Garland, one of his stars. But when she leaves his direction, his success goes with her. When he recognizes her aboard the Twentieth Century Limited, the train that both of them are riding, he tries to get her back for a new show. But accomplishing that feat isn't as simple as he had thought.

John Barrymore Carole Lombard Walter Connolly Roscoe Karns Ralph Forbes Charles Lane Etienne Girardot Dale Fuller Edgar Kennedy Billie Seward

Columbia Pictures

romance comedy

91 mins   More details at IMDb / TMDb

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  • PUNQ

    Review by PUNQ ★★★★

    John Barrymore as the God of self-pitying! And he's got his Goddess with him in Carole Lombard and together they are the emphasis of artistic temperament overacting to extreme levels! One sure got to patient to get through all the screaming in this one, but it's all done in lovely parody on theater and it's creators.


    This is of course right up John Barrymore's alley and he's unbelievable as this eccentric manipulator going all in to direct his plays and being a total diva to play with Lombard's heart and mind. And they are two of a kind as Lombard has almost the same excessive behavior. They leave little room for others in their act/lives.


    But this does have a…

  • Calum Reed

    Review by Calum Reed ★★★★½

    It’s difficult to assess how Meta an endeavour Hawks’ “Twentieth Century” is aiming to be. Events unfold in insanely melodramatic fashion, and some may find the film's theatricality utterly unbearable, but it begs the question: How much of the characters’ behaviour is essentially a ‘performance’? It's loose lack of formality worked wonders for me in cannily demonstrating the ability of people in showbusiness to manipulate, and Barrymore and Lombard are a riot together.

  • Noetic Hatter

    Review by Noetic Hatter ★★★½

    John Barrymore is epic! No one in this picture comes close to him -- not even Carole Lombard, whose performance is terrific in its own right.

    Thanks to Rick Burin for recommending it to me.

  • Evan

    Review by Evan ★★★★

    Very, very great and nearly excellent Hawks comedy and early sound triumph and one of the first, if not the first, screwball comedy. John Barrymore gives one of the best screen performances ever, or at least one of the most exuberant. Carole Lombard, one of my absolutely favourite stars, is her fiery lovable best against him. Exhausting but brilliant.

  • Thorkell August Ottarsson

    Review by Thorkell August Ottarsson ★★★

    Why is this considered pre-code? I saw nothing here that could not have passed a year later. There are three types of comedies, those who make you laugh, those who make you smile and those who do neither. This made me smile but never laugh. It had some nice scenes but it just kept hammering the same idea again and again.

  • anne_f_

    Review by anne_f_ ★★★★

    A Broadway director and his star (played by John Barrymore and Carole Lombard) both of them divas, with the success of director helping to create the success of his star, who then no longer needs her director (and lover). A film that fitted its time, but was very well acted by Barrymore and Lombard, so was well worth watching in these times.

  • Sam Inglis

    Review by Sam Inglis ★★

    Some good gags in this early screwball comedy, but John Barrymore's colossal hammery overpowers everything, and drags other performances (notably Carole Lombard's) down with it. Everyone's working hard, but that's most of the problem; the film is flailing in search of laughs most of the way.

  • Rick Burin

    Review by Rick Burin ★★★★★ 3

    Stage and screen legend John Barrymore was a great many things - not least a lush - but above all he was a ham. Who better, then, to portray Oscar Jaffe, the egomaniacal theatrical impresario who manipulates the lives of all around him as he tries to get back on top, and reclaim the affections of the monster he created: actress Lily Garland (Carole Lombard), the diva to end all divas and the only person who can rival him for histrionics. The film was adapted from a New York hit by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, two writers with an unmatched ability for evoking the world of American theatre at its height ("I'll slit my throat," threatens Jaffe; "If you…

  • Lauren Donis

    Review by Lauren Donis ★★★

    Enjoyable, but it's annoyingly hectic. The film seems to keep the same tone the entire time, which is not really a good thing. It just involves a lot of screaming and whining and that's about it. The actors were good, but John Barrymore overshadowed the others too much and it felt a bit jumbled. The comedy isn't really that funny either, but it's harmless and entertaining.