Romancefest 2018: Twentieth Century

Welcome to Romancefest 2018, 28 romantic movies in 28 days. Most of them will be movies I've never seen before with maybe the occasional flick I saw a long time ago and forgot about or saw part of but never finished.

This year I'm starting with TWENTIETH CENTURY. This 1934 romantic comedy was directed by Howard Hawks and stars John Barrymore as an eccentric Broadway producer/director molding a lingerie model he's discovered (Carole Lombard) into a star.

This works too well, and the couple has a falling out after becoming romantically involved with Lombard moving to Hollywood to make it in the movies and Barrymore moving on to a string of flops without his muse. The two estranged lovers meet again on a train (the titular Twentieth Century) and much intrigue and slapstick ensues as Barrymore schemes to win Lombard back, if not as his mate, at least as his lead.

TWENTIETH CENTURY is worth a watch if only for Barrymore's manic performance. He reminded me of Gene Wilder. What with his crazy hair and pencil mustache, I began to wonder if Mel Brooks and Wilder had Barrymore in mind when they shot YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.