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+

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.

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.

I see that Billy Wilder collaborated on this. Was it a studio decision that Garbo wasn't cast as a comedienne? From the evidence in this film, she should have been. Her timing is excellent, her delivery very special. This is a gem I'd never seen that deserves its National Registry status. In 1939 the Soviet Union had sympathizers in the US, and during the coming World War it was an ally. This gentle spoof of Soviet seriousness and self-conscious worker ethics foreshadows the arguments that were later trotted out after the War to begin the Cold War, but here the humor and satire are soft, more Noel Coward than propaganda.

My lament is not seeing more comedy from Garbo. She made such serious and tragic films, when she could have been making us laugh. The film is dated, yes, but Garbo herself shines through along with her three Russian accomplices. I think that Billy Wilder and Garbo would have been a great team

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.