Ninotchka (1939)

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

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Charles Brackett (screen play), Billy Wilder (screen play)

Stars:

Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Greta Garbo	...	Nina Ivanovna Yakushova aka Ninotchka
Melvyn Douglas	...	Count Leon d'Algout
Ina Claire	...	Grand Duchess Swana
Bela Lugosi	...	Commissar Razinin
Sig Ruman	...	Comrade Iranoff (as Sig Rumann)
Felix Bressart	...	Comrade Buljanoff
Alexander Granach	...	Comrade Kopalski
Gregory Gaye	...	Count Alexis Rakonin
Rolfe Sedan	...	Hotel Manager
Edwin Maxwell	...	Mercier
Richard Carle	...	Gaston

Storyline

Only the royal suite at the grandest hotel in Paris has a safe large enough for the jewels of the Grand Duchess Swana. So the three Russians who have come to sell the jewels settle into the suite until a higher ranking official is dispatched to find out what is delaying the sale. She is Ninotchka, a no nonsense woman who fascinates Count Leon who had been the faithful retainer of the Grand Duchess. The Grand Duchess will give up all claim to the jewels if Ninotchka will fly away from the count.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | playboy | envoy | defector | communism | 

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Taglines:

In Moscow they planted medals on her bosom . . . in Paris they planted kisses on her cheek . . .

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

23 November 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ninotschka

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,365,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 400 movies nominated for the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.

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Goofs

When the three negotiators are on the train platform looking for their comrade from Moscow, their positions change. This happens two times: when they see the man who is actually a Nazi and also when they meet Ninotchka.

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Quotes

Leon: A radio's a little box that you buy on the installment plan, and before you tune it in, they tell you there's a new model out.

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Alternate Versions

In June 1963, the film was re-released in Spain, with a new dubbing and a completely new score with classic music added in scenes that didn't have any kind of music in the original version.

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Connections

Featured in Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood (2009)

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Soundtracks

L'Internationale
(uncredited)
Music by Pierre De Geyter

User Reviews

Garbo Laughs, and Makes Me Laugh with Her

The only word to describe this Ernst Lubitsch comedy is: sparkling.

Tremendously sweet and funny in that gentle way that was unique to Ernst Lubitsch comedies, "Ninotchka" features a winning Greta Garbo as a Soviet envoy dispatched to Paris to check up on the work of her comrades. They have been sent to sell the confiscated jewels of a Russian countess, played haughtily by Ina Claire. She refuses to let them go without a fight, and enlists the help of her attorney and playboy (Melvyn Douglas) to win them back. Unfortunately for her, he falls under the charms of Ninotchka, as do we.

I have never been a fan of Garbo or the moody brooding she was always asked to do in her films. Lubitsch completely understood the image she had in the public's collective mind, and so for the first half of this movie, Garbo presents a parody of herself, refusing to crack a smile despite Douglas's herculean efforts to make her. But then Ninotchka gradually begins to fall under the spell of Paris, its good food and fashionable hats, a pratfall involving Douglas is finally enough to make her laugh, and from that moment on, she's a delight. For an example of just how good a comedienne Garbo could be, watch Ninotchka's face as Douglas's character tells her corny joke after corny joke in an attempt to win a smile from her; or the scene set in a nightclub when Ninotchka discovers the capitalist wonders of champagne.

Grade: A+