"Twentieth Century is good fun, slick, wild and improbable." - Time magazine

"As a vainglorious stage producer, John Barrymore is in fine fettle... And if it be said that it is his best performance since the one he gave in the film Reunion in Vienna [1933] it is by no means casting any reflections on his work in the interim but merely that here he has a role with which to conjure, one that calls for a definite characterization notwithstanding the farcical interludes. Even during the repetitious mad moments of the tale, Mr. Barrymore acts with such imagination and zest that he never fails to keep the picture thoroughly alive." - Mordaunt Hall, The New York Times

"Coolly intelligent and calculatedly alluring in former pictures, [Carole Lombard in Twentieth Century] vibrates with life and passion, abandon and diablerie." - The Los Angeles Times

"Hawks struck comic gold when he cast sexy Carole Lombard opposite the magnificent ham John Barrymore as feuding lovers. Two of Hollywood's most unbuttoned star personalities, Barrymore and Lombard make a stunning, slashing pair, screaming, insulting and even kicking each other all through this fiery tale..." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune, 1998

"Ace writers Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur contribute some wickedly witty dialogue, zingers so effortless we have to believe the authors' newspaper backgrounds were spent among people who actually talked in deadpan one-liners and arcane classical allusions. Viewers who relate John Barrymore only to Grand Hotel [1932] will be surprised to see him maintain a ridiculously overplayed theatrical ham without faltering once. As his emotionally spoiled star performer, the beautiful Carole Lombard is almost as manic." - Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant, 2005

"If you want to see Drew Barrymore's grandfather, the legendary Great Profile, and world-class star actor John Barrymore in his best movie performance...don't miss Howard Hawks' trend-setting show-business comedy... Right up there with him in comic genius - and a knockout in her own right - is the wondrous and unique Ms. Lombard, for whom the term for the movie genre screwball was coined..." - Peter Bogdanovich, 2010

Awards and Honors - TWENTIETH CENTURY

Named to the National Film Registry of the National Film Preservation Board, 2011.

Compiled by Roger Fristoe