Too histrionic for my taste, and I know it was the whole point of the story, but, I adore Carole Lombard but in this one She was so annoying I couldn't enjoy the film. People keep telling how on point was John Barrymore in here, but as Lombard it was bothering hear and see so much drama, wailing and complaining.

Love these lines from Carol Lombard's character:

wrote:Lily Garland:
—That's the trouble with you, Oscar. With both of us. We're not people, we're lithographs. We don't know anything about love unless it's written and rehearsed. We're only real in between curtains.

And yup, that happens to everybody, feeling and comparing to some of the greatest scenes in Cinema, or the beauty in lines from a story in a book; we might as well being educated from all of these mediums, we might as well feel not so real, not so adept to love, not so knowledgeable in human behavior, clumsy at human relations, or unable to find meaning in our lives, at times...

"We're not actors. We're lithographs..."

Twentieth Century is one of the films credited as starting the screwball comedy genre, but I don't think it's one of the greats. It's too shouty for that, and it's rather difficult to sympathize with the leads, both of whom are fiercely over-the-top drama queens. But are they funny if not exactly endearing? The answer is yes. John Barrymore especially. His Broadway theater producer is more an "Actorre" than his protege/ex-girlfriend/prima donna Carole Lombard, tough she tries to give as good as she gets (I find it very amusing that characters keep telling each other to "stop acting" at various points). Barrymore is quite simply a scenery-chewing lunatic in this (someone mentioned Gene Wilder... yes, this only a step away from Young Frankenstein) and that's the #1 reason to watch this. It's certainly not because you hope those crazy kids are gonna get back together. They might deserve each other, but their relationship is completely toxic.