Directed by Howard Hawks • 1934 • United States
Starring John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter Connolly

Carole Lombard established her genius for screwball comedy with this madcap classic, which practically set the template for the genre. Scripted by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (adapting their own Broadway play) and directed at breakneck pace by Howard Hawks, TWENTIETH CENTURY unfolds in large part aboard the titular train en route from Chicago to New York. Onboard are Lily Garland (Lombard), a shopgirl turned movie star, and down-on-his-luck Broadway producer Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore), Lily’s former lover and impresario, who will stop at nothing to convince her to star in his new show. Reunited by fate aboard the speeding locomotive, the pair match wits in a dazzling display of comic firepower.