Ninotchka (1939)

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Charles Brackett (screen play) and
Billy Wilder (screen play) ...
(more)

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:

Russian | Hotel | Playboy | Jewelry | Lawsuit

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Ninotchka
Melvyn Douglas	...	Leon
Ina Claire	...	Swana
Bela Lugosi	...	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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothy Adams	...	Jacqueline - Swana's Maid (uncredited)
Monya Andre	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Nino Bellini	...	Swana's Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
Wilda Bennett	...	Swana's Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
Symona Boniface	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Frederika Brown	...	Swana's Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Emilie Cabanne	...	Gossip (uncredited)
George Davis	...	Porter at Railroad Station (uncredited)
Paul Ellis	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Fred Farrell	...	Attendant (uncredited)
Frank Fletcher	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Mary Forbes	...	Lady Lavenham - Indignant Woman in Doorway (uncredited)
Jody Gilbert	...	Streetcar Conductress - Moscow Roommate (uncredited)
Lawrence Grant	...	General Savitsky - Duchess' Consort (uncredited)
Jennifer Gray	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Winifred Harris	...	English Lady Getting Visa (uncredited)
Ray Hendricks	...	Waiter (uncredited)
William Irving	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Hans Joby	...	Man at Railroad Station (uncredited)
Charles Judels	...	Pere Mathieu - Cafe Owner (uncredited)
Armand Kaliz	...	Louis - the Headwaiter (uncredited)
Ernst Lubitsch	...	Himself - Director in Trailer (uncredited)
Peggy Moran	...	First Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Sandra Morgan	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Lucille Pinson	...	German Woman at Railroad Station (uncredited)
Albert Pollet	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Frank Reicher	...	Soviet Lawyer (uncredited)
Constantine Romanoff	...	Man in Restaurant (uncredited)
Alexander Schoenberg	...	Bearded Man - Eiffel Tower Tourist (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Gurganov - Neighbor Spy (uncredited)
Tamara Shayne	...	Anna - Moscow Roommate (uncredited)
Florence Shirley	...	Marianne - Swana's Phone Friend (uncredited)
George Sorel	...	Swana's Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Soviet Lawyer (uncredited)
Kay Stewart	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
George Tobias	...	Russian Visa Official (uncredited)
Jacques Vanaire	...	Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Paul Weigel	...	Vladimir - With Letter from Leon (uncredited)
Elizabeth Williams	...	Indignant Woman (uncredited)
Marek Windheim	...	Manager (uncredited)
Wolfgang Zilzer	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Ernst Lubitsch

Writing credits
Charles Brackett		(screen play) and
Billy Wilder		(screen play) and
Walter Reisch		(screen play)
Melchior Lengyel		(based on the original story by)

Produced by
Sidney Franklin	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Ernst Lubitsch	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Werner R. Heymann

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(director of photography) (as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Gene Ruggiero		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis		(set decorations)

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup creator
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist: Miss Claire
Beth Langston	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Horace Hough	....	assistant director (uncredited)
John Waters	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Randall Duell	....	associate art director
George Elder	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Conrad Kahn	....	sound engineer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Milton Brown	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Al Lane	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Floyd Porter	....	chief electrician (uncredited)
William Riley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Arnold Webster	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)
Jack Rohan	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Eric Locke	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (An Ernst Lubitsch Production) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1940) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1940) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1942) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1945) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1981) (Finland) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1989) (Finland) (TV) (1998) (2007)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD) (included in 'Greta Garbo: The Signature Collection')
• Warner Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Süddeutsche Zeitung (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• New Star (2012) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Reserva Especial (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design
• Willy Zeyn-Film  German dubbing 1949

Also Known As:

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | West Germany:6 | Portugal:M/6 | UK:U (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:(Banned) (1940) | Finland:(Banned) (1964) | Finland:K-15 (2006) (DVD) | Finland:K-16 (1941) | Finland:K-18 (2006) (DVD) (self applied) | Finland:S (1981) (cut) | Germany:12 (DVD, 2006) | USA:Approved (PCA #5494) | New Zealand:PG | Sweden:Btl | Australia:PG | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Greta Garbo did not wear any makeup for her scenes where she is the stern envoy.

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:

Featured in Kisses (1991) (TV)

NINOTCHKA Still Defies Her Critics

An expertly-played and presented comedy that continues to be dogged by detractors for the oddest reasons. Some feel NINOTCHKA suffers compared to Lubitsch's earlier work, finding it formulaic alongside 1933's TROUBLE IN PARADISE. (I hadn't known Lubitsch had been given 'do-what-thou-wilt' privileges from the Hays Office - I'd labored under the delusion he faced the same restrictions in content and tone every other moviemaker did in 1939.) Other nay-sayers decry the film's jabs at Soviet collectivism as 'dated' if not 'unenlightened'. (Huh? You mean show trials and forced starvation of kulaks were GOOD things that a truly witty screenplay would celebrate?) Still other kibitzers squawk over the casting, of all things! (While it IS fun to picture William Powell or Robert Montgomery in the role of Leon, the boulevardier, Melvyn Douglas was never better than he is here. If he has his spotty moments, it's in those scenes where he must swoon with ardor, reciting dialogue that rings a tad purple to the ear; it's quite possible Powell or Montgomery would have fared even worse reading those lines.) Okay, enough defense - now let's go to NINOTCHKA's numerous strengths. Garbo is magnificent; she has a real knack for comedy (her deadpan entrance is hilarious) yet, as always, is able to break your heart with a look, a word, a gesture. Her three 'stooges' (Sig Rumann, Alexander Granach & Felix Bressart) are broadly funny and genuinely endearing. Ina Claire is everything her legend always claimed she was - though her character is icily calculating, you can't hate any woman who can make dialogue bristle like this. Lubitsch is in complete command throughout; his staging and pacing of the proceedings, masterful in its seeming effortlessness. Even the storied Metro glitz shines in NINOTCHKA, right down to the brilliant artifice of Cedric Gibbons' art direction (the Eiffel Tower sets especially). Last but not least is the superb screenplay by (among other hands) the team of Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder. Wisely, their satiric darts are dipped in a curare leavened by wit and sentiment, and while they are thrown with accuracy, their sting is never such that the satire sinks into the mire of political ideology. NINOTCHKA, after all, is about the triumph of love over politics, and to those who feel trapped in the prevailing toilet-ethic of the Farrelly Brothers' blood-poisoning of modern comedy, represents a much-needed antidote. Inoculate yourself at your earliest opportunity.