New Books Network

Twentieth Century


Listen Later

Twentieth Century (1934) is a screwball comedy that moves like a runaway train and we are delightfully tied to the tracks. John Barrymore’s audacious performance as director Oscar Jaffee is awe-inspiring; Carole Lombard is equal to the task of pushing back against the man who, in a sense, created her. It’s Frankenstein meets His Girl Friday; it’s ninety minutes of screaming and yelling; it’s filled with as many coincidences as a Wodehouse novel; it’s a great portrait of theatrical types; and it’s laugh-out-loud funny from the first scene to the lastJoin us for a ride!

Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

Michael Morrison’s John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor tells the story of Barrymore’s triumphs as Hamlet and Richard III, which informed his performance as the overly-dramatic Oscar Jaffee.

Please subscribe to the show and consider leaving us a rating or review. You can find over three hundred episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the show on Letterboxd and email us any time at [email protected] with requests and recommendations. Check out Dan Moran’s substack, Pages and Frames, where he writes about books and movies, as well as his many film-related author interviews on The New Books NetworkRead Mike Takla’s substack, The Grumbler’s Almanac, for commentary on offbeat topics of the day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

New Books NetworkBy New Books

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

147 ratings


More shows like New Books Network

View all
The New Yorker: Fiction by The New Yorker

The New Yorker: Fiction

3,330 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,917 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

314 Listeners

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast by Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

2,118 Listeners

New Books in Critical Theory by Marshall Poe

New Books in Critical Theory

147 Listeners

Jacobin Radio by Jacobin

Jacobin Radio

1,460 Listeners

London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

London Review Bookshop Podcast

134 Listeners

Philosophy Bites by Edmonds and Warburton

Philosophy Bites

1,532 Listeners

The TLS Podcast by The TLS

The TLS Podcast

181 Listeners

The Dig by Daniel Denvir

The Dig

1,590 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,380 Listeners

The Paris Review by The Paris Review

The Paris Review

805 Listeners

What's Left of Philosophy by Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, and William Paris

What's Left of Philosophy

290 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,525 Listeners

Past Present Future by David Runciman

Past Present Future

347 Listeners