Film

Twentieth Century

A madcap Broadway farce about a tyrannical producer and the starlet he molded, now equals in ego and ambition. Rapid-fire dialogue, theatrical chaos, and two leads perfectly matched in their refusal to yield. It's exhilarating, funny, and deeply silly in the way only 1934 can be. For anyone who loves sharp banter and controlled mayhem.

TMDb rating3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love fast-talking backstage vanity, two hard-headed egos trading barbs at full speed, and romance played as a battle of wits rather than sweetness.

Skip it if you want a gentle, slow-building love story or find 1930s stage talk exhausting; its rhythm is relentless and the romance is more sparring than swooning.

What it asks of you: About ninety minutes at a clip that rarely lets up, so it wants your full attention on rapid overlapping dialogue; the pace is quick and brisk rather than dark or heavy.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

His Girl Friday1940

Similar rapid-fire screwball comedy with two leads sparring brilliantly, set in a similarly theatrical world of newspaper intrigue. Grant and Russell are dazzling together.

But The pace is relentless and the plot deliberately thin; if you need a strong story over pure wit, it may feel exhausting.

His Girl Friday poster

Singin' in the Rain1952

Broadway egos, Hollywood chaos, and a male lead determined to control his leading lady. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Jean Hagen navigate showbiz betrayal with the same theatrical energy and dark edges.

But It's a musical, and the tone shifts toward sentiment; less acidic than Twentieth Century, more in love with spectacle.

Singin' in the Rain poster

The Philadelphia Story1940

A former flame returns to disrupt a wedding, and everyone is too witty and self-interested to behave sensibly. Grant, Stewart, and Hepburn spar with the same effortless superiority and romantic sparring.

But It's longer, slower-paced, and romance takes over by the end; the farce gives way to feeling.

The Philadelphia Story poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Twentieth Century

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Star Is Born1937

Both examine the maker-and-made dynamic in show business, but where Twentieth Century finds it funny, this asks what it costs the person being molded.

A drunk, fading actor discovers and shapes a starlet, then must watch her surpass him. Same power dynamic, same theatrical world, same question: who owns whom? But it's a tragedy, not a comedy—the chaos costs something real.

But It's bleak and emotionally heavy; Janet Gaynor's vulnerability is the opposite of Carole Lombard's defiant energy.

A Star Is Born poster
More like this (8)

Bringing Up Baby1938

Cary Grant trapped in escalating chaos by a woman he can't control or escape. Pure farce, breakneck pacing, and two stars who revel in looking ridiculous.

But The comedy is anarchic to the point of plotlessness; if you prefer structure, it may feel like noise.

Bringing Up Baby poster

The Awful Truth1937

Grant and Dunne as a divorcing couple who can't stop competing and sabotaging each other. Sharp romantic comedy with real bite and a similar theatrical cruelty.

But Lighter than Twentieth Century and more sentimental; less interested in purely intellectual sparring.

The Awful Truth poster

Sullivan's Travels1941

A director determined to make serious art gets repeatedly thwarted by circumstance and human nature. The theatrical pomposity and clashing egos feel kindred to Oscar Jaffe's world.

But It veers into darker territory and becomes unexpectedly solemn in the second half.

Sullivan's Travels poster

It Happened One Night1934

Released the same year, another screwball romance where two strong personalities spar their way to feeling something real. Gable and Colbert have genuine chemistry beneath the bickering.

But It's more focused on the romance; less interested in theatrical artifice and more grounded.

It Happened One Night poster

The Lady Eve1941

Barbara Stanwyck outwits and outplays everyone, including Henry Fonda. Intricate plotting, quick-witted dialogue, and a heroine who refuses to be managed.

But The con-artist plot is complex; if you're not following every beat, some gags land softly.

The Lady Eve poster

Libeled Lady1936

Multiple couples trapped in escalating deception and farce. An ensemble scramble where everyone is equally self-interested and determined to win.

But The setup is labyrinthine and the tone uneven; it can feel scattered.

Libeled Lady poster

42nd Street1933

Both films are love letters to Broadway's cruelty and artifice, written by filmmakers drunk on the world they're depicting.

A hard-bitten Broadway producer (Warner Baxter) driving an ensemble toward opening night, with impossible egos and backstage warfare. The theatrical machinery and pressure cooker atmosphere match perfectly, and it's in the same moment of cinema.

But It's a musical with backstage realism; if you're not interested in the numbers, stretches will feel slow.

42nd Street poster

Contempt1963

Both are about two people incapable of subordinating their will, but Godard makes it tragic and erotic where Hawks makes it comic.

A screenwriter, a director, and a starlet navigate egos and power on a film set. Godard's meditation on creation and control, shot in gorgeous color. Slower, stranger, but asking the same question: what happens when two people who love their own vision collide?

But It's an art film from 1963; deliberately paced, sometimes opaque, with long scenes of moral argument instead of joke-telling.

Contempt poster

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Recommended by

Bringing Up Baby, My Man Godfrey, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dinner at Eight, The Palm Beach Story, Midnight, Design for Living, The Egg and I, My Little Chickadee, Bachelor Mother, Footlight Parade, Nothing Sacred, Stage Door, A Day at the Races, The Taming of the Shrew, Libeled Lady, Sylvia Scarlett, Star Spangled Rhythm, Christmas in July, A Tale of Two Cities, Tales of Manhattan, Bombshell, The Whole Town's Talking, My Favorite Wife, Just Imagine, Pigskin Parade, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Roberta, Ruggles of Red Gap, Morning Glory, Easy Living, Room Service, After Office Hours, Alice Adams, The Royal Family of Broadway, The More the Merrier, Daddy Long Legs, She Done Him Wrong, Straight, Place and Show, The Woman Condemned, The Big Broadcast of 1938, The Phantom President, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, The Big Broadcast, La Conga Nights, Girls About Town, International House, Murder at the Vanities, Platinum Blonde, The Good Companions, College Humor, The Awful Truth, The Milky Way, Laugh and Get Rich, It's in the Bag!, Merry Go Round of 1938, I Love You Again, The Gay Desperado, Klondike Annie, The Magnificent Dope, The Horn Blows at Midnight, The Gilded Lily, Practically Yours, The Bride Comes Home, Accent on Youth, Check and Double Check, If You Could Only Cook, Stage Struck, Sky Devils, Three Smart Girls Grow Up, Hands Across the Table