Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Kirpianuscus His performance defines this splendid comedy about the world of theater, hypocrisy, a sort of love, succes and mix between art and life. a film who has all the virtues to admire it. the smart dialogue, Carol Lombard giving the right performances, the supporting actors giving the best job, the atmosphere of a lost world who reminds significant details defining us. and a sort of melancolic exotism. short, a film as a remember. about the circle of a way to trnslate the near realities in brilliant manner on the screen.

SimonJack It would be hard to come up with a better cast than this for "Twentieth Century." The cast was perfect for the plot and script of this hilarious comedy. And this is one film that clearly fits the category of "screwball." It starts off slowly, but after the opening scenes it turns into a riotous farce with one crazy scene after another. John Barrymore excels as stage producer Oscar Jaffe. Carole Lombard is wonderful as Mildred Plotka whom Jaffe makes into the star, Lily Garland. Walter Connolly and Roscoe Karns are the ideal supporting cast for the mad and hilarious genius Jaffe – as Oliver Webb and Owen O'Malley. All others of the cast give top performances.No one could play an intentionally hammy role or scene better than John Barrymore. One scene in particular must have cracked up the cast, and I'd wager that it had to be shot a few times. Oliver and Jaffe's secretary are standing in the room when the private eye Jaffe hired to trail Lily (Oscar McGonigle played by Edgar Kennedy) tells him that Lily has boarded a train for Hollywood. Jaffe says, "She has left me," and he feigns an attack of some sort. He swaggers slowly, staggering from side to side as he makes his way out of the room. He seems as though he may fall at any moment. The others stand there watching. Not a word is said for what seems like an eternity. He lumbers slowly through the doorway, and puts his right hand on the doorjamb as if to steady himself. He disappears around the door, but his hand is clasped against the wall – not grabbing or holding onto the doorframe, but lying flat against the wall. The whole focus is on his hand against the wall at center stage. It was a wonderful interlude for laughter by us viewers so that we wouldn't miss any dialog. What a hilarious, hammy scene!More hilarity is added to the film with some new characters and little side plots on the train. Barrymore's changing moods and manners are the things that show the great talent of this actor. But Lombard showed her talent as well in her temperament swings on the train. Overall this is one fantastically funny film. Yet, it didn't receive any awards, or even nominations. The year 1934 was a big one for the Academy Awards. A full dozen films were nominated for Best Picture – then, it was called "outstanding production." That was the year when comedy reigned supreme at the Oscars, with "It Happened One Night" winning top honors. For many years, it was the only film in history to have won the top five Academy Awards -- for best picture, best director, best screenplay, best actor and best actress. Clark Gable won as best actor for that film, but there were only three nominees for best actor. I don't know what kind of politics may have been at play back then, but I can't see how John Barrymore did not at least receive a nomination for best actor for "Twentieth Century." Here is a sampling of funny lines from this wonderful film. Oscar Jaffe to Lily Garland: "Just wait, dear. You're in America now, don't you know? The Old South does not yodel."Jaffe: "Oliver, did you hear that? She's left me." Oliver: "Say the word, O.J., and I'll kill myself." Owen to Oliver: "He won't kill himself. It'd please too many people."Jaffe: "I never thought I should sink so low as to become an actor." Lily: "Well, I showed him. Right on top of the ladder and going up."Jaffe: "I wouldn't take that woman back if she and I were the last people in the world, and the future of the human race depended on it."Jaffe: "Where's Oliver?" Owen: "You fired him." Jaffe: "Oh, he's taking advantage of that, is he?"Jaffe to conductor: "There's a law in this country about riding on trains." Conductor: "What?" Jaffe: "I want you to enforce it. Stop the train."Lily to George: "Who cares about your respect? I'm too big to be respected."Jaffe: "Get Oliver with that contract." Owen: "I'll do my best sire, but we've crossed the river and I've lost the scent."Lily: "What do you want, scorpion?" Jaffe: "If it makes you any happier to call me names, go ahead."Jaffe: "When I love a woman, I'm an Oriental. It never goes. It never dies." Lily: "Phooey!"Jaffe: "I don't want him (the sultan of Turkey), you fool. I want his dervishes, the whirling ones."Jaffe: "That's the final irony. Killed by a lunatic."Jaffe: "She loves me. I could tell it through that screaming."

calvinnme Popular later in the 30's because the manic pace of the comedy could make up for the lack of realism due to the imposition of the production code in mid-1934, this film is one of the rare screwball comedies made before the code began to be enforced. John Barrymore shows that besides being a great serious actor he was terrific at physical comedy as well. He even manages to comically jab at some of his own serious performances, such as when Carole Lombard calls him "Svengali", a part which he played in an earlier Warner Brothers film. Carole Lombard hasn't quite reached the peak of her powers yet though, and she comes off as overacting. I just can't figure where some of her screaming is coming from and what or who exactly it is supposed to be directed at.There is some great comic support in the person of Walter Connally whom Barrymore's Oscar Jaffe is constantly firing and rehiring. The best light touch is in the person of fellow passenger on the "Twentieth Century", Matthew Clark. He goes around the train putting up signs that say "Repent the end is at hand" and also likes writing large checks for which he has no cash reserves. He ends up figuring into the final plot twist in a big way.One odd thing that has come up in other films from the 30's that also comes up in this one is that apparently people could be arrested and jailed for bad debts. At the height of the depression, credit was very hard to come by and you would basically have to lie to get into debt and be unable to repay, thus the criminal offense. Very different from today's situation, at least, so far.

jadedalex Roscoe Karns: "Who was it that said it's always darkest before the dawn?"John Barrymore: "I don't know who it was, but he was an ass."This is pretty much the tone of "Twentieth Century", an hilarious comedy which features Barrymore in his best comedic role, as megalomaniac theater producer Oscar Jaffe, and his equally egotistical protégé, Lily Garland, played by the lovely Carole Lombard.Cynical, sarcastic humor that Ben Hecht was quite adept at.The "Twentieth Century" refers to the train that is taking Lombard to Hollywood to make movies, after her success on Broadway due to the efforts of Oscar Jaffe, consummate ham.Barrymore, who was already drinking himself to death, gives a fine, over-the-top performance. Unlike later films, where he sadly burlesqued himself.Carole Lombard is a jewel. Her greatness was that she could look beautiful and be terribly funny at the same time. Not many actresses accomplish this, but as far as I'm concerned, she is the quintessential screwball comedy actress.The script pokes big holes in the vanity of stardom, and there is an awful lot of satire about religion included.The cast is excellent, with reliably sanguine Walter Connolly, goofy Roscoe Karns, slow-burn par excellence Edgar Kennedy and the forever old Charles Lane.I enjoy this film, as well as "Nothing Sacred" more than "My Man Godfrey". They are all three fine films, but "Nothing Sacred" and "Twentieth Century" make me laugh out loud.It's fun stuff!