First of all, The Twentieth Century is a terrific movie. It’s Howard Hawks, with Carole Lombard and John Barrymore, based on a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. It’s one of those plays/movies about theater/Hollywood, and there’s a wonderful, outrageous and oversized performance by Mr. Barrymore which makes me wish I’d seen him onstage.
I had vaguely known that there was a musical, but I had never seen it, or been aware of a local production of it, or seen the cast album. Until recently, when I grabbed the CD and the book (On the Twentieth Century) from my local performing-arts library.
No, it isn’t very good. So there’s that. But the thing that really struck me was the cast—the star is John Cullum, who I know from Northern Exposure, and who I sort of know is a big deal theater guy, but it’s still odd to me to see his name above the title like that. And he’s wonderful, in the Barrymore role, although I have to say that they seem to have watered it down a little bit. He doesn’t close the iron door on people. I loved that in the movie.
The second star is Madeline Kahn, and this was a big surprise to me. I mean, of course you would choose Madeline Kahn for that sort of role. And then, thinking about it, I started to wonder why Ms. Kahn hadn’t been a big musical-theater star. I mean, she was one of the funniest comic actresses of her time, with a terrific singing voice and operatic range. She sang in comic movies, brilliantly and hilariously (particularly in Blazing Saddles, of course, but in other movies as well). Why wouldn’t people have been writing shows particularly for her, for her skills and range, showcasing her like they did Judy Holliday or Joanna Gleason or Mary Martin? Judging from the CD, and from her early departure from the show, it seems as if she just wasn’t very good at it. I don’t know why. Her songs just don’t work. Very disappointing.
And then, down in the small type, is Kevin Kline.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.