Twentieth Century (1934) :
Brief Review-
If Star Is Born or Singin' In The Rain had a Hysterical & Theatrical follow-up story. Howard Hawks' best screwball comedy before classic 'Bringing Up Baby'. If there is any comedy by director Howard Hawks that I remember, then it is the Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn-starrer "Bringing Up Baby" (1938). I just love that film, and it is because of that film that I don't really like Howard's later comedies from the 50s much. Thankfully, I came to know about Twentieth Century Today and I'm glad to know that Hawks had made something really this hysterical before the innocently hilarious Bringing Up Baby. Let's just forget the plot because I think there are a lot of flaws in it, but I must say that the comedy and madness have covered the lost ground. Who cares about the storyline in a good comedy anyway? We hardly get a superb story line in a good comedy, and then that film is called evergreen or cult classic which is very rare in the comedy genre, especially in the 30s when screwball was a new innovation. A flamboyant Broadway impresario who has fallen on hard times tries to get his former lover, now a Hollywood diva, to return and resurrect his failing career. I loved that scene when Lombard says, "That's our problem, we are real and true only in between curtains," and the rest of the time they are just faking it in full romantic mode because acting was in their blood. That's what the metaphor they were trying to explain, I suppose. God will never forgive me if I say I didn't like John Barrymore and Carole Lombard in this film. Having seen Barrymore in classic "Grand Hotel" (1932), I never imagined that the charming guy could be so dramatically funny. Lombard was a riot in classic "My Man Godfrey" (1936), and this was like a rehearsal of that evergreen character for her. As a whole, Hawks' comedy is all about madness, craziness and theatrical & dramatic hysterics. Don't miss this if you are looking to spend your bowl of popcorn and Sunday evening on something funny.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
If Star Is Born or Singin' In The Rain had a Hysterical & Theatrical follow-up story. Howard Hawks' best screwball comedy before classic 'Bringing Up Baby'. If there is any comedy by director Howard Hawks that I remember, then it is the Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn-starrer "Bringing Up Baby" (1938). I just love that film, and it is because of that film that I don't really like Howard's later comedies from the 50s much. Thankfully, I came to know about Twentieth Century Today and I'm glad to know that Hawks had made something really this hysterical before the innocently hilarious Bringing Up Baby. Let's just forget the plot because I think there are a lot of flaws in it, but I must say that the comedy and madness have covered the lost ground. Who cares about the storyline in a good comedy anyway? We hardly get a superb story line in a good comedy, and then that film is called evergreen or cult classic which is very rare in the comedy genre, especially in the 30s when screwball was a new innovation. A flamboyant Broadway impresario who has fallen on hard times tries to get his former lover, now a Hollywood diva, to return and resurrect his failing career. I loved that scene when Lombard says, "That's our problem, we are real and true only in between curtains," and the rest of the time they are just faking it in full romantic mode because acting was in their blood. That's what the metaphor they were trying to explain, I suppose. God will never forgive me if I say I didn't like John Barrymore and Carole Lombard in this film. Having seen Barrymore in classic "Grand Hotel" (1932), I never imagined that the charming guy could be so dramatically funny. Lombard was a riot in classic "My Man Godfrey" (1936), and this was like a rehearsal of that evergreen character for her. As a whole, Hawks' comedy is all about madness, craziness and theatrical & dramatic hysterics. Don't miss this if you are looking to spend your bowl of popcorn and Sunday evening on something funny.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.