Twentieth Century (1934)

I had seen this once before and I have to admit, this wasn’t a favorite. I wanted to like it for having John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, plus it was directed by Howard Hawks. Why shouldn’t I like it? Twentieth Century is a funny film if you can get past Lombard’s shrieking and the lack of a quick pace. It isn’t to say that the film drags on but at times, there’s only so much you can take. But when I could tune out the things I didn’t enjoy, I found some great lines and a funny Barrymore. I simply wish it could’ve sped up a bit and brought down the whining. In short, it’s still not a favorite, but I didn’t dislike it as much as I did the first time.

I really went into with an open mind and wanting to enjoy it—perhaps the last time I had seen a bad print of it—but while I did find the dialogue funny, I still wasn’t as engaged as I should have been.

Good things about this film? John Barrymore is absolutely wonderful here. He has perhaps the best lines and performs the role of Oscar exactly how you would think an “artist” would behave. Carole Lombard is good at times as well, mostly in the beginning of the film when she quarrels with Barrymore of him suffocating her. The supporting cast is also outstanding. It’s nice to see Walter Connolly, who always amazes me in every film I see him, and Roscoe Karns as the comic relief here. And again, the dialogue, when it can be made out, is really very funny. This isn’t surprising since it’s based on a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Overall, the film has strong points.

Just as well, there are some weaknesses in the film, the big one being Lombard’s shrieking and whining. It might be fairer to point out that the problem really lies within the sound of the film, though. A lot of the dialogue, I felt, is sometimes drowned out by lack of a clear audio track. This makes it hard to follow the story and soon I lost interest, particularly in the train ride. This is also where Lombard’s shrieking begins and instead of it being funny it just turns out to be irritating. You wonder how is it that the queen of screwball could’ve gotten it so wrong. All this drags the film and really it isn’t very long at all so it’s a bit surprising.

I think with a few more viewings that Twentieth Century could grow on me. I think because it is a film from 1934 that perhaps that's why it doesn't run as fast as an average screwball comedy. But if you focus on the good parts, such as Barrymore, the dialogue, the supporting cast, you walk away appreciating the film and especially the effort put into the script.