Oscar Jaffe is a Broadway producer with a penchant for the dramatic and egotism so steeped that his name appears on the billboard for his new play no less than five times. When the director wants to can the hayseed he has personally chosen to star in his production, Jaffe takes the reins and transforms her into a huge success. After a string of hits though his jealousy gets the best of him and she leaves for Hollywood, leaving him with a string of bad luck though. Fortuitously, the two end up together on a New York bound train from Chicago and the maniacal director will do anything in his power to get her back. "Twentieth Century" is one of the earliest screwball comedies and one of the best. Versatile director Howard Hawks' film, written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur from their stage play, is a madcap romp, replete with many belly laughs, thanks to the performances of John Barrymore and Carol Lombard. In a performance that surely inspired Mel Brooks' Max Bialystock in "The Producers", Barrymore gives a wickedly funny performance as the delusional and self-aggrandizing Jaffe. Lombard is just as adept as well, and their onscreen chemistry is marvelous. Hawks' was a maverick director who crossed genres as well as any other colleague. In his early career, his screwball comedies including this, "Bringing Up Baby", and "His Girl Friday" set the standard for madcap movies and remain some of the most riotous ever filmed.
