Ninotchka (1939)

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Melchior Lengyel (story)
Charles Brackett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 March 1940 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

M-G-M's Laugh Riot !

Plot:

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

Plot Keywords:

Playboy | Diplomat | Parade | Eavesdropping | Singing

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Nina Yakushova 'Ninotchka' Ivanoff
Melvyn Douglas	...	Léon - Comte d'Agoult
Ina Claire	...	Grand Duchess Swana
Bela Lugosi	...	Kommissar Razinin
Sig Ruman	...	Iranoff (as Sig Rumann)
Felix Bressart	...	Buljanoff
Alexander Granach	...	Kopalski
Gregory Gaye	...	Rakonin
Rolfe Sedan	...	Hotel Manager
Edwin Maxwell	...	Mercier
Richard Carle	...	Gaston

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1940) | Finland:K-15 (DVD) (2006) | Finland:(Banned) (1964) | New Zealand:PG | Finland:S (cut) (1981) | Germany:12 (DVD, 2006) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2006) | USA:Passed | Finland:K-16 (1941) | USA:Approved (PCA #5494) | Argentina:13 | West Germany:6 | Portugal:M/6 | UK:U (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1990.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ninotchka tells a funny story, objects on the desk change positions.

Quotes:

Leon: A Russian! I love Russians! Comrade, I've been fascinated by your five-year plan for the last fifteen years.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Garbo (2005)

A great movie -- timeless

This is a fantastic movie. I can't understand why some people have problems with it. Makes me wonder if we don't have some people recoiling at some innocent cracks made at the Soviet Union's expense. As a romantic comedy it has very few peers and is a great introduction to black and white films for those used only to color. There are a plethora of interesting secondary characters. Garbo is wonderful, of course, and Dougless is as good as I've seen him any film. Lubitsch's direction is masterly, but not 'ground-breaking', a fault for which some are willing to run him under the harrow -- a case of holding someone to impossible standards. Nobody can break new ground in every film -- sometimes we have to settle for mere masterly competence. See this film! Unless you happen to romanticize the former Soviet Union, you will enjoy it.