Twentieth Century (1934)

 Howard Hawks' "Twentieth Century"


What can be said about Howard Hawks' 1934 film "Twentieth Century?" For me, not much unfortunately. For a screwball comedy, I've seen a lot better. This is not to say the film is bad by any means. In fact, I found some of it rather comedic and enjoyable. However, I also found myself bored and uninterested in the happenings between John Barrymore and Carole Lombard. 

There was one small aspect of the film that I did notice and perhaps it was incidental on the part of the filmmakers. The film is called "Twentieth Century" because the name of the train the characters are in for most of the film is called "20th Century Limited." However, if you take the title more literally to mean the actual twentieth century, it could seem from a certain lens that the film muses on the selfishness, ego, fame-mongering, and wealth obsession of the people of the century. After all, all of the characters seem to act in this way. 

Beyond this little aspect, I found the film a bit uninteresting, albeit mildly humorous and a tiny bit reflective. 

 

 


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