Rate And Review

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer
Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified.
Fandango

AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
- Fandango
- AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
  
  Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info
- Cinemark Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Regal Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You haven’t finished your review yet, want to submit as-is?

You can always edit your review after.
Are you sure?

Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers.
Want to submit changes to your review before closing?

Twentieth Century Photos

View All Photos (10)

Movie Info

When down-on-his-luck Broadway impresario Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore) meets his discovery and former flame, Lily Garland (Carole Lombard), on the glamorous 20th Century Limited train between Chicago and New York, he uses every scheme at his disposal to win the movie star back both professionally and romantically. However, Lily, along with her new beau, George (Ralph Forbes), and Jaffe's rival producer, Max Jacobs (Charles Levison), who hired Lily to star in his latest play, have other plans.

Genre:

comedy
Original Language:

English
Director:

Howard Hawks
Producer:

Howard Hawks
Release Date (Theaters):

May 11, 1934 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

Apr 19, 2016
Runtime:

1h 31m
Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation
Sound Mix:

Mono

Cast & Crew

John Barrymore
Oscar 'O.J.' Jaffe

Carole Lombard
Lily Garland, aka Mildred Plotka

Walter Connolly
Oliver Webb

Roscoe Karns
Owen O'Malley

Etienne Girardot
Mathew J. Clark

Ralph Forbes
George Smith

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for Twentieth Century

Peter Bogdanovich’s Five Favorite Films

View All

Critic Reviews for Twentieth Century

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (4)

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

February 11, 2006 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide
A shining example of moviemaking magnificence.

June 25, 2005 | Rating: A- | Full Review…

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

February 26, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine
There is many a witty remark in this harum-scarum adventure.

May 20, 2003 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Mordaunt Hall
New York Times
Quote not available.

April 16, 2003 | Rating: 4/5

Nell Minow
Movie Mom
It was the first of Hawks' three immortal screwball goldmines,

March 11, 2003 | Full Review…

Raoul Hernandez
Austin Chronicle
With all the slimy tricks, delusions of grandeur, and high-pitched shouting matches, it's difficult to appreciate even the moments that demonstrate creative commentary on love and art.

August 1, 2020 | Rating: 3/10 | Full Review…

Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
The witty repartee and lightning fast pacing keeps viewers breathlessly entertained.

July 25, 2019 | Full Review…

Leslie Combemale
Cinema Siren
A highly operatic duet of temperament, with John Barrymore as a theatrical producer and Carole Lombard as his star actress. Extremely good comedy.

July 22, 2019 | Full Review…

Ann Ross
Maclean's Magazine
A weird look at an actress with a love-hate relation with her outrageous, dominating director.

July 7, 2010 | Full Review…

Michael E. Grost
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…

Sean Axmaker
Turner Classic Movies Online
One of the sharpest ever comedy film scripts is turned in by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht.

July 12, 2008 | Rating: A | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

View All Critic Reviews (28)

Audience Reviews for Twentieth Century

Sep 03, 2010

A pretty funny comedy, but very predictable.

Aj V Super Reviewer
Jun 14, 2009

great early screwball comedy with a hilarious performance by john barrymore as a hammy broadway producer and carole lombard as his adorable diva. hawks soon perfected his rapid-fire style with bringing up baby and his girl friday

Stella D Super Reviewer
Jul 14, 2007

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.

Kevin M. W Super Reviewer