Twentieth Century
Napoleon vom Broadway
Source: Collection Austrian Film Museum, © 1934, renewed 1962 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Carole Lombard, John Barrymore
Twentieth Century | Napoleon vom Broadway by Howard Hawks
USA 1934, Retrospective
Source: Collection Austrian Film Museum, © 1934, renewed 1962 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Carole Lombard, Ralph Forbes
Twentieth Century | Napoleon vom Broadway by Howard Hawks
USA 1934, Retrospective
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek,© 1934, renewed 1962 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Walter Connolly, Carole Lombard, John Barrymore
Twentieth Century | Napoleon vom Broadway by Howard Hawks
USA 1934, Retrospective
Source: Park Circus, © 1934, renewed 1962 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Mildred Plotka owes her ascent from lingerie model to Broadway star, as well as her new name – Lily Garland – to temperamental theatre impresario Oscar Joffe. But despite being her lover, he’s a hard taskmaster. Lily escapes his clutches and flees to Hollywood, where she soon becomes a star, while Joffe’s career goes on a downward spiral. The two meet again by chance on the Twentieth Century express train. As it travels from Chicago to New York, Joffe pursues the single-minded goal of getting Lily to sign a new contract with him. And he’ll use whatever (histrionic) means are at his disposal … Howard Hawks helped shape the genre with this screwball comedy, which afforded Carole Lombard an opportunity to show off the full range of her comedic talents, finally raising her to star status. This high-volume battle of the sexes is literally a laugh riot, not least of all because it brought together two leads from utterly different acting styles. On one side was serious Shakespearean tragedian John Barrymore and on the other, the antic comedienne of Mack Sennett’s silent slapstick classics.
With
- John Barrymore
- Carole Lombard
- Walter Connolly
- Roscoe Karns
- Ralph Forbes
- Charles Levison
- Etienne Girardot
- Dale Fuller
- Edgar Kennedy
- Billie Seward
Crew
| Director | Howard Hawks |
| Screenplay | Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur based on the play “Napoleon of Broadway” by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur as well as the play “Twentieth Century” (1932) by Charles Bruce Millholland |
| Cinematography | Joseph August |
| Editing | Gene Havlick |
| Sound | Edward Bernds |
| Producer | Howard Hawks |
Produced by
Columbia Pictures Corp. (A Howard Hawks Production)
Additional information
DCP: Park Circus, Glasgow, UK