Twentieth Century

Hecht and MacArthur never wrote a better film script (or play) than this madcap tale of a theatrical producer chasing after his absconding star. Barrymore was an actor (and a drinker) after their own hearts, particularly since his grandiloquent gestures and delivery were then edging towards self-parody - exactly what the part of Oscar Jaffe, Broadway producer extraordinary, demands. And Lombard's mercurial beauty, Lily Garland, is a perfect match. Thanks to Hawks, the film not only takes place on an express train, it moves like one too.