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Twentieth Century (1934)

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Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 0

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Average Rating: 3.7/5
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Movie Info

Flamboyant, egomaniacal theatrical impresario Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore) transforms chorus girl Mildred Plotka (Carole Lombard) into leading lady Lily Garland, the toast of Broadway. Once she's ascended to stardom, Mildred/Lily cannot abide Jaffe's obsessive control of her life and career. When he hires a private detective (Edgar Kennedy) to keep tabs on her, it's the last straw. Lily whisks herself off to Hollywood, where she quickly becomes a top movie star. Months pass: without his

Feb 22, 2005

Cast

All Critics (27) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (4) | DVD (11)

There is many a witty remark in this harum-scarum adventure.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie is a veritable concerto for their remarkable talents, put across by Hawks with maximal energy and voltage.

July 28, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A weird look at an actress with a love-hate relation with her outrageous, dominating director.

July 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | Comment
Classic Film and Television

[Howard Hawks'] mix of frantic pacing, whiplash shifts in tone and devil-may-care direction of glamorous stars in wacky parts launched the defining comedy genre of the thirties.

October 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online | Comment
Turner Classic Movies Online

One of the sharpest ever comedy film scripts is turned in by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht.

July 12, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Often credited as the first screwball comedy… an acerbic satire of show-business ego and superficiality.

February 11, 2006 Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | Comment
Decent Films Guide

Classic screwball romance between overbearing Broadway producer and his gorgeous but empty headed protege

July 27, 2005 Comment
Film Journal International

A shining example of moviemaking magnificence.

June 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | Comment
Lessons of Darkness

It's the appealing, engaging turns of its two stars that give the movie its real pop.

April 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | Comment

Funny, but it gets too repetitious in the last act and slowly crumbles into the relatively obscure minor work it has become today.

April 7, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

Less a backstage farce than prototypical screwball, Howard Hawks' brilliantly funny Twentieth Century set the stage for the subgenre that most consider the peak of American screen humor.

March 13, 2005 Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com | Comment
MovieMartyr.com

Witness John Barrymore's brash thee-at-ah director remove puddy from his nose for the sake of his art.

February 26, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Casually reverses and undermines its frumpy thesis by validating the effortlessly supple benefits of the seventh art.

February 26, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

...far from the classic it's often made out to be.

February 26, 2005 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

Hawks was gifted above all at this kind of fast-paced farce, and somehow made it work without the aid of padding or rest periods.

February 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid
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Audience Reviews for Twentieth Century

John Barrymore and Carole Lombard ham it up as thespians who are each other's best audience ... and maybe the only audience the other cares for. The one liners zing like hail in a storm.

July 14, 2007
moonrivers

Super Reviewer

A pretty funny comedy, but very predictable.

September 3, 2010
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Napoleon vom Broadway (DE)
  • Twentieth Century (1934) (UK)
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