About

A delightfully hammy John Barrymore stars as Oscar Jaffe, a doyen of Broadway. Taking the unknown model Mildred Plotka (Carole Lombard, in the role that would launch her run as one of the leading lights of screwball comedy), he turns her into a star of theatre and his romantic partner. When his controlling ways become too much, she leaves him for the promise of Hollywood and his power begins to falter.

Often cited alongside It Happened One Night 1934 as the genesis point for the screwball comedy, Twentieth Century establishes many of the key elements of the genre amidst the framework of a searing showbiz satire. Adapting their own play, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s firecracker of a script is adroitly brought to screen by Howard Hawks, in what would be the first of many key screwball works by the masterful filmmaker.

Twentieth Century will screen from an imported 35mm print.