Ninotchka (1939)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

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

Release Date:

1 February 1940 (Australia)

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:

Paris | Russian | Hotel | Playboy | Jewelry

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Nina Yakushova 'Ninotchka' Ivanoff
Melvyn Douglas	...	Léon - Count d'Algout
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:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Ernst Lubitsch disliked Gottfried Reinhardt (I)S.N. Behrman's original screenplay, so he commissioned a rewrite from Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch. Lubitsch himself made some significant uncredited contributions to the screenplay.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Russian trio are drunk, the glasses fall off of the man in the middle, and in the next shot they are back on him

Quotes:

Leon: What kind of a girl are you, anyway?
Ninotchka: Just what you see. A tiny cog in the great wheel of evolution.
Leon: You're the most adorable cog I've ever seen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Il compagno Don Camillo (1965)

Perfection!

My all-time favorite comedy! All right, I am a Garbo fan regardless of the role, and I happen to think that Melvyn Douglas was perfectly cast here. In fact, the entire cast excels, without exception, in one of Lubitsch's finest and most elegant films. Those who think that lines like "The show trials were a great success...there are now fewer, but better, Russians" are dated, or that making fun of totalitarianism is tasteless and politically incorrect need to lighten up. Garbo is not only very funny in this classic, she is inexpressibly lovely (as always). A must-see for any lover of beautifully crafted and entertaining film comedies.