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A group of some of the most talented people in Hollywood came together to film “Twentieth Century” and the result was one of the great classics of screwball comedy. Howard Hawks was actually an unlikely choice as director as he had thus far been associated with action and drama in films like the original “Dawn Patrol” (1930) and “Scarface” (1932). He had not been Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn’s first choice as director. Yet he not only came through, but came through spectacularly, becoming noted as a director of comedies like “His Girl Friday” and “Bringing Up Baby”
Like many pictures of its era, the film was adapted from a hit Broadway play.The play was by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, two of the most talented writers of the day and was based on an unproduced play by Charles Bruce Millholland, “Napoleon of Broadway ”. Hecht worked fast and was a notable script doctor and would go on to write a number of screenplays for Hawks. He often worked with MacArthur, who was an Algonquin Round Table personality. Screwball comedy took full advantage of sound with fast-paced, witty dialogue that moved the film along often more than the plot with which it was framed. This film is an absolute master class in this style and whether cutting and satirical or purely comic, virtually every line hits the bullseye, and they just keep on coming. It’s one of the funniest scripts ever.
John Barrymore, usually a dramatic actor, turns in a wonderfully over the top performance as Oscar Jaffe, Broadway playwright and impresario. The character was based on famed producer and showman David Belasco, the undisputed master of Broadway in his day. He is still considered important for his technical innovations in lighting and production which included having a spotlight follow an actor from above. Like the film character, he launched many careers including Mary Pickford and Barbara Stanwyck and promoted actresses like Maud Adams and Jeanne Eagles. Everyone wanted to work with him. He was notably eccentric, sometimes wearing a clerical collar and having a miniature cathedral built inside a large closet. He purchased a bell once owned by George Washington and kept at his office, and when he rang it, everyone within hearing had to rush there. When writing a play he had a secretary accompany him around town and escort him across streets so he wouldn’t have to interrupt his concentration.As wild and flamboyant as Barrymore’s Jaffe is, he’s not quite this odd.
Barrymore’s Jaffe has the full theatrical temperament and authority of such a man. He’s self-centered, very dramatic and always “on”. He has a volcanic temper and is given to firing underlings, announcing that he’s “Closing the iron door” to them with a dramatic gesture, only to call them back when he needs them, sometimes only minutes later. He’s a child who lies and even fakes dying to get what he wants and is what we would call today, “high maintenance”. Though he’s a scoundrel in many ways, Barrymore keeps him somehow lovable. For one thing he’s not bogus; he really can spot talent and has produced and written a long string of hit plays. His facial expressions are hilarious as is his ability to suspend one of his “performances” when he needs to attend to something else. He’s also jealous, possessive and isolating when it comes to actress Lily Garland (Carole Lombard) and in many ways is a perfect example of the kind of man a woman should avoid. Barrymore wisely acts the role so broadly that you have to get its comic intent. He played the same kind of role seriously in “Maytime” causing great grief for Jeanette MacDonald and if played that way here, would never work as a comedy.
Carole Lombard broke through with the film’s role of Mildred Plotka, lingerie model rechristened Lily Garland by Jaffe. She’s temperamental herself, and at one point while having a fit in front of new boyfriend George says, “I despise temperament” without batting an eye. She transforms beautifully and convincingly from shy Mildred to divaish Lily, and even both simultaneously. At one point as diva Lily, she has a boat-shaped bed with a cherub on the prow, but is still Mildred enough to tell press agent Owen O’Malley (Roscoe Karns) not to sit on it because “That’s real lace!” She also keeps up with Barrymore which is no mean feat in this film. She had had a decent career up to now, but from this point went on to triumphs like “My Man Godfrey”and “To Be or Not To Be”. In an amazing example of coincidence, her own experience paralleled the actress she was playing. Cohn had wanted any number of Hollywood’s top actresses for the role, but Hawks had insisted that Lombard was perfect for it after seeing how funny she could be at a party. At rehearsals she was stiff and lifeless as Lily, but after Hawks told her to just be herself, she came alive in a way she never had before on film.
Though it’s all Lombard and Barrymore’s show, there are plenty of nice bits for the secondary cast of actors who get more lines here than in many of their other films. Roscoe Karns and Walter Connolly are funny together as Jaffe’s put-upon press agent and business manager. Not everyone will recognize the name Charles Lane, but you’ll recognize the face and voice of this dependable character actor. Even here at age 29, he’s playing the mean, irascible character he would play in scores of films from “It’s a Wonderful Life” to television shows like “Petticoat Junction”. He even cracks a rare smile when he arrives on the train and greets Lily. Two German actors with gigantic beards just add to the overall zany atmosphere in the climactic train scenes. Etienne Giradot, a “little old man” type, recreated the role he had on stage as an eccentric who causes all kinds of mischief on the train posting religious stickers everywhere. The light banter about religion and the Passion Play worried the censors and had to be toned down and I would imagine it would offend some people back then if they saw it.
Some find the film shrill and too full of arguments, and really, it is like one big argument once it gets going, but that is one of the hallmarks of screwball comedy and is one of the elements that gives it the firecracker energy it requires. There’s just no such thing as a mellow screwball comedy. Everything works in this film, the script, the direction and the acting and it’s truly funny
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2023
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Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2009
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Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2011
Top reviews from other countries
Reinhold Schoeler
Twentieth Century (2020) Untertitel: "Napoleon vom Broadway"
Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2022
Reinhold Schoeler
Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2022
den Produzenten entfallen, dass dieser Film bereits 1974 in deutscher Fassung im Ersten Programm (ARD) ausgestrahlt wurde: Sendetermin am Donnerstag, den 31. Mai 1973 um 20.15 bis 21.45 Uhr. Leider ist diese deutsch synchronisierte Fassung niemals im Kino erschienen. Die Blu-Ray DVD Neuauflage wäre perfekt geworden, wenn man diese Deutsche Tonspur mit verarbeitet hätte. Vielleicht ist das eine Anregung für eine weitere/nächste Auflage (es scheint auch eine spanisch synchronisierte Fassung als VHS-Kassette zu geben. Damit hätte man dann eine 3 sprachige Fassung).
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Big Bill
Dated , but worth a look for fans of screwball comedy or the stars.
Reviewed in Canada on April 13, 2015Lasse Pettersson
Yet another exceptional release from INDICATOR
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2021
Lasse Pettersson
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2021
I have purchased quite a few titles from INDICATOR in the past and I love what they do in terms of packaging, bonus features and booklets. The movie looks beautiful, audio is clear and the movie itself is a riot. This is a movie I'll be watching over and over again.
Very highly recommended.
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Amazon Customer
Carole Lombard begins her conquest of Hollywood
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2017Kirk Davidson
once again super fast delivery which I know is not easy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2021