Ninotchka

source: Ninotchka

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+

I had heard much about this movie but I only saw it recently on VHS. Its premise, a Soviet comrade who falls for a dilettante in pre-War Paris, has potential. But the 1930s requirement for evening dress scenes, a bedroom scene or two, always with lavish studio sets, suddenly makes the plotline seem foolish. When the third act moves to a communal apartment in Moscow, the movie becomes ludicrous. Garbo is both sultry and radiant and when the camera moves in for a closeup, she glows under the special lens. And true, you get to see Garbo laugh. But since I never bought into the love affair between Garbo and Douglas, I found the remainder of the film concocted. The ending is atrocious and unsatisfying. There is no one to blame for this. This is a period movie that hasn't survived the period. Ironically, there is a good Russian film 'Sluzhebnyj roman' which deals with similar characters: a strait-laced, hard, professional woman who meets a man and opens up to love. No doubt the theme is universal. It's just that "Ninotchka" misses the execution, at least to modern eyes.

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.

Ninotchka has been making a hit with audiences since she hit the screen in 1939. A fascinating, yet little known, "second life" of the film was played out during the Italian Elections of 1947-48. The U.S. was most anxious that the Communists not be elected and pulled out all the stops to prevent it. One was to approach MGM and request prints of Ninotchka - to be shown widely to working class audiences in Italy. Since no 16mm prints of the film yet existed, MGM Labs did "print downs" from the original nitrate negative. The resulting prints are astonishingly beautiful (I have one) and they estimate five million Italians viewed it and other propaganda films each week before the elections - in spite of the efforts of the Communists to prevent its showing. One pro-Communist worker said afterward "What licked us was Ninotchka!" (See "Killing Hope" by William Blum). To paraphrase Carl Denham in King Kong, once again "Beauty Killed The Beast!"

This is not a good film, and not funny, even though Garbo laughs. Garbo has a unique presence, which transcends any material, good or bad. In about two cases, Cristina and Camille, the material of her films was pretty good, but that is not the case here. Nor was this a good role for Melvyn Douglas. In fact, he was for me completely unconvincing; and the plot seemed much more concerned with East-West politics and ideologies than with any kind of romance. Romance seemed to me to be non-existent, since I simply could not believe Garbo falling for Douglas. Watch it for Garbo, who is a totally compelling and inexplicable screen enigma.

Slightly disappointing, given the promise of the cast and writer/director combination, this one turns out to be an only slightly better than average comic take on the American abroad falls for exotic foreigner genre. In this particular variation, Douglas is the American, and Garbo is a comically dour Soviet (her forced demeanor grows stale for me before her character gives it up). Some moments of nice humor, pleasant romance. I thought Cole Porter's musical version ("Silk Stockings", also filmed by MGM) was more entertaining.

While it's a given that Greta Garbo was the most enigmatic of film stars during Hollywood's golden age, it's also fair to state that she may be the least relevant today for her austere beauty and cool, sometimes unapproachable demeanor. Yet, all that is erased with this 1939 comedy masterwork which brilliantly teams her with the master of innuendo-filled scintillation, Ernst Lubitsch. With a laser-sharp, witty script by Walter Reisch, Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder (before he became a master director himself), this classic is one part political comedy, one part screwball farce and one part romantic whimsy, all blended impeccably with the famous Lubitsch touch. The plot involves Nina Ivanovna Yakushova, a Soviet envoy sent to Paris to ensure that the government receives the proceeds from the sale of jewels once owned and still coveted by the Grand Duchess Swana, now an expatriate. The cold, emotionless envoy goes about superseding the three lesser envoys who have been assimilating themselves into the frivolous, capitalistic world of Paris thanks to Count Leon, a tuxedoed dandy and the duchess's constant escort. It is Leon who dubs the envoy Ninotchka, and after initial resistance, the two find themselves falling in love but not at the expense of her convictions about the omnipotence of Communist values. The jewels become a negotiation ploy that complicates their affair as does the Grand Duchess herself. The plot develops in unexpected ways and through such clever observational humor that the ending comes all too soon. While she is deified by many for the operatic tragedy of "Camille" and the mannered mystique of "Mata Hari", Garbo seems at first to be a parody of her sullen screen image with witty one-liners delivered in hilarious deadpan, but she, like her character, blossoms into a warm, comically romantic presence as the film progresses. It's a wondrous transformation and the one performance that assures Garbo her lasting stature more than any other. As Leon, Melvyn Douglas specialized in William Powell-knockoff roles like this one and while he does get a bit excessive in his 1930's-style romantic gestures, he is sophisticated and genial enough to have us believe Ninotchka may give up Mother Russia for him. At first, stage legend Ina Claire seems like she will play the Grand Duchess Swana as a dotty ninny, but when her talons show, she is an excellent match for Garbo in their scenes together. As the trio of envoys ensconced in the good life, Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart and Alexander Granach make a merry chorus to the proceedings. I particularly like the scenes back in Russia when they share an omelet dinner with Ninotchka in her Soviet-sanctioned, multiple-occupant room. The print transfer on the 2005 DVD is pristine and brings out William Daniels' sparkling, black-and-white cinematography, though the only extra is the film's original trailer. This is truly a must-see.

If any film is chosen by most people as the typical Ernst Lubtisch comedy, it is NINOTCHKA. TROUBLE IN PARADISE is usually pointed at as his best comedy, and his best musical comedy is THE MERRY WIDOW with Chevalier and MacDonald, but NINOTCHKA is the elegant comedy of some point that people recall. I think the real reason is that it is, for most people, the best known of Greta Garbo's movies (after all, she laughed in it), and it does dismiss Communism with such sweet aplomb. Actually it does not do so that well. It shows that given an opportunity to relax and speak one's mind, and not worry about informers and gulags, people will be happier. That is true, but one could also say (as Lubitsch would show in TO BE OR NOT TO BE, that a form of extreme capitalism mixed with racist ideals called Nazism could be just as deadly. Moreover, Leon (Melvin Douglas) does read up a bit on Marx and his theories, and has an interesting conversation with his elderly valet (Richard Carle). Douglas feels that Carle has been oppressed over the years as a servant. Carle, though, reminds him that while he does not mind that Douglas has not paid him in quite a while, the thought that in a Communist world he (Carle) would have to share his money with Douglas, frightens the hell out of him. Douglas is the lover of Grand Duchess Swanna (Ina Claire) whose property was appropriated by the Soviet Government in the Revolution. Her jewelry is now in Paris, in the hands of a trade mission led by Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart, and Alexander Granach. They plan to use it to get needed farm equipment for the Soviet Union. Douglas goes to work to corrupt the three men, which is not too difficult, so he can try to get his hands on the jewels for Swanna. But the Russians send an additional member to head the mission: Garbo as Ninotchka. She is quite hard nosed and business like. Ruman and company try to get her to understand what is going on is a good thing, but she keeps reminding what they are there for. She is not impressed that she is in the "City of Lights". Instead, on her first afternoon in Paris, she is determined to see the city's power plant! Douglas sees her and is instantly charmed, but she keeps resisting his efforts. Her background is quite different from what he is used to - we learn, for instance, that she actually distinguished herself in the Russo - Polish war of 1920 - 21, getting wounded, but killing the Polish soldier who wounded her (and comforting him as he died). She is not without a heart, but she is determined to do her duty. What finally breaks her down is not Douglas' attempts at romance, but his making a fool of himself trying to tell her a joke. She does break down, but she never loses sight of the reason for her mission. And she and Swanna finally reveal their willingness to sacrifice in a showdown scene, where the Grand Duchess gives up the jewels for Leon, while Ninotchka gives up Leon for the needs of her country. Leon too grows, determined to try to bring her back. The scene between Douglas and George Tobias is one of the funniest in the movie, as Douglas desperately offers to return to Soviet Russia, and Tobias (knowing what people like Douglas think of the Soviet regime) refuses to give him a visa (he might try to blow up a dam!). How he succeeds in the end I will leave to the viewer to find out. My only other comment is that this film is also recalled as the only time Greta Garbo shared a scene with Bela Lugosi, as her supervisor Commissar Razinin. It is only a three minute scene, and has only one funny line for Bela (describing the antics of Ninotchka's old mission buddies). He seemed stern and properly in control of his job, but he was far more funny in INTERNATIONAL HOUSE. Please also note Sig Ruman's comment to Garbo, asking her if she wanted to be alone. It is an interesting little reference to her most famous line of dialog from GRAND HOTEL, six years before.

When I saw this 10-15 years ago, it was my first look at the famous Greta Garbo and I was impressed She was a pretty woman who exhibited class and intelligence, reminding me of Ingrid Bergman, although not as pretty. There are a number of subtly-funny lines in here which kind of characterizes the film: okay bit a little slow-moving and not what it could be if it just had a little more a spark to it. The dialog from Melvin Douglas and Ina Claire really date the film. Douglas, as he was in a lot of movies I've seen with him, is not a likable guy. He can be very annoying, but some of that is because he's doing such a fine acting job. "Ninotchka" develops into a nice romance story in the second half of the movie with a short, satisfying ending and a pointed comment about living in Russia, at that time, as opposed to a free country. I don't own this movie but it was worth the rental.