| Ninotchka | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ernst Lubitsch |
| Screenplay by | Charles Brackett Billy Wilder Walter Reisch |
| Story by | Melchior Lengyel |
| Produced by | Ernst Lubitsch Sidney Franklin |
| Starring | Greta Garbo Melvyn Douglas Ina Claire |
| Cinematography | William H. Daniels |
| Edited by | Gene Ruggiero |
| Music by | Werner R. Heymann |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.4 million (est.) |
| Box office | $2.3 million |
Ninotchka is a 1939 Americanromantic comedy film made forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer by producer and directorErnst Lubitsch and starringGreta Garbo andMelvyn Douglas.[1] It was written byBilly Wilder,Charles Brackett, andWalter Reisch,[1] based on a story byMelchior Lengyel.Ninotchka marked the first comedy role for Garbo, and her penultimate film; she received her third and finalAcademy Award nomination forBest Actress.
In 1990,Ninotchka was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It has been listed as one of the greatest films of all time byEmpire in 2008[2] andTime in 2011.[3]
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Iranoff (Sig Ruman), Buljanoff (Felix Bressart), and Kopalski (Alexander Granach), three agents from the Russian Board of Trade, arrive in Paris to sell jewelry confiscated from the aristocracy during theRussian Revolution of 1917.
Count Alexis Rakonin (Gregory Gaye), aWhite Russiannobleman reduced to employment as a waiter in the hotel where the trio are staying, overhears details of their mission and informs the former Russian Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire) that her court jewels are to be sold by the three men. Swana's debonair paramour, Count Léon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas) offers to help retrieve the jewelry before it is sold.
In their hotel suite, Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski negotiate with Mercier (Edwin Maxwell) a prominent Parisian jeweler, when Léon interrupts the meeting. He explains that the jewels were seized illegally by the Soviet government and a petition has been filed preventing their sale or removal. Mercier withdraws his offer to purchase the jewelry until the lawsuit is settled.
The amiable, charming and cunning Léon treats the three Russians to an extravagant lunch, gets them drunk and easily wins their friendship and confidence. He sends a telegram to Moscow in their name suggesting a compromise.
Moscow, angered by the telegram, then sends Nina Ivanovna "Ninotchka" Yakushova (Greta Garbo), a special envoy whose goal is to win the lawsuit, complete the jewelry sale and return with the three renegade Russians. Ninotchka is methodical, rigid and stern, chastising Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski for failing to complete their mission.
Ninotchka and Léon first meet on the street near the hotel, their identities unknown to one another. He flirts, but she is uninterested. Intrigued, Léon follows her to the Eiffel Tower and shows her his home through a telescope. Ninotchka tells him he might be an interesting subject of study and suggests they go to his apartment. Léon, fascinated by Ninotchka, continues to flirt and he soon falls in love with her. They kiss, but are interrupted by a phone call from Buljanoff. Both then realize they are each other's adversaries over the jewelry and Ninotchka promptly leaves Léon's apartment, despite his protestations.
The next day, Léon follows Ninotchka to a bistro where she again rebuffs him; but after valiant attempts at making her laugh, Léon finally breaks down her resistance and she falls in love with him. While attending to the various legal matters over the lawsuit, Ninotchka gradually becomes seduced by the west. At a dinner date with Léon where she unexpectedly meets Swana face-to-face (her rival for the jewelry and for Léon's affections), Ninotchka consumes champagne for the first time and quickly becomes intoxicated. The following afternoon, a hungover Ninotchka is awakened by Swana and discovers Rakonin has stolen the jewelry during the night. Swana has come to offer Ninotchka a proposition: the jewels will be returned and the litigation dropped if Ninotchka returns to Moscow immediately so that Swana can have Léon to herself. Ninotchka reluctantly agrees to Swana's proposal and after completing the sale of the jewelry to Mercier, she, Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski fly back to Russia.Later that evening, Léon visits Swana and confesses his love for Ninotchka. Swana then informs Léon that Ninotchka has already left for Moscow. He attempts to follow her but is denied a Russian visa, because of his nobility.
Sometime later in Moscow, Ninotchka invites her three comrades to dinner at hercommunal apartment and they nostalgically recall their time in Paris. After dinner, Ninotchka finally receives a letter from Léon, but it has been completely censored by the authorities, and she is devastated.
More time passes; while inConstantinople to sell furs, Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski once again run afoul of their superiors. Against her wishes, Ninotchka is again sent by Commissar Razinin (Bela Lugosi) to investigate the situation and retrieve the trio.
After Ninotchka arrives in Constantinople, the three Russians inform her that they have opened a restaurant and will not be returning to the Soviet Union. When Ninotchka asks them who is responsible for this idea, Buljanoff points to the balcony where Léon is standing. Léon explains that he was barred from entering Russia to win Ninotchka back, so he and Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski conspired to get her to leave the country. He asks her to stay with him and she happily agrees.
The final shot in the film is of Kopalski carrying a protest sign complaining that Iranoff and Buljanoff are unfair, because his name does not illuminate on the electric sign in front of their new restaurant.
The film was released in late 1939, shortly after the outbreak ofWorld War II in Europe, where it became a great success. It was, however, banned in the Soviet Union and its satellites. Despite that, it went on to make $2,279,000 worldwide. USA: $1,187,000. International: $1,092,000. Profit: $138,000.[4]
In a play on the famous "Garbo Talks!" ad campaign used for her "talkie" debut inAnna Christie (1930),Ninotchka was marketed with the catchphrase "Garbo Laughs!", commenting on Garbo's largely somber and melancholy image (though Garbo laughs several times in many of her previous pictures).
When the film was shown at theRadio City Music Hall,The New York Times film criticFrank S. Nugent praised it:
The comedy, through Mr. Douglas's debonair performance and those of Ina Claire as the duchess and Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart and Alexander Granach as the unholy three emissaries; through Mr. Lubitsch's facile direction; and through the cleverly written script of Walter Reisch, Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, has come off brilliantly. Stalin, we repeat, won't like it; but, unless your tastes hew too closely to the party line, we think you will, immensely.[5]
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Outstanding Production | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Nominated | [6] |
| Best Actress | Greta Garbo | Nominated | ||
| Best Story | Melchior Lengyel | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Charles Brackett,Walter Reisch, andBilly Wilder | Nominated | ||
| National Board of Review Awards | Top Ten Films | 4th Place | [7] | |
| Best Acting | Greta Garbo | Won | ||
| National Film Preservation Board | National Film Registry | Inducted | [8] | |
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Director | Ernst Lubitsch | Nominated | [9] |
| Best Actress | Greta Garbo | Nominated | ||
Ninotchka is recognized as well by theAmerican Film Institute in theAFI 100 Years... series in the following lists:
Ninotchka is based on a three-sentence story idea byMelchior Lengyel that made its debut at a poolside conference in 1937, when a suitable comedy vehicle for Garbo was being sought by MGM: “Russian girl saturated with Bolshevist ideals goes to fearful, capitalistic, monopolistic Paris. She meets romance and has an uproarious good time. Capitalism not so bad, after all.”[12][13][14]
An attempt by MGM to releaseNinotchka later duringWorld War II was suppressed on the grounds that theSoviets were then allies of the West. The film was released after the war ended.[15]
In 1955, themusicalSilk Stockings, based onNinotchka, opened onBroadway. Written byCole Porter, the stage production was based onNinotchka's story and script and starredHildegard Neff andDon Ameche. MGM then produced a1957 film version of the musical directed byRouben Mamoulian and starringFred Astaire andCyd Charisse. ActorGeorge Tobias, who appeared uncredited inNinotchka as the Soviet visa official, is featured inSilk Stockings as Commissar Markovitch.Rolfe Sedan, who portrayed the hotel manager inNinotchka, appears uncredited as a stage manager inSilk Stockings. The MGM filmsComrade X (1940), starringClark Gable andHedy Lamarr, andThe Iron Petticoat (1956), starringBob Hope andKatharine Hepburn, both borrow heavily fromNinotchka.
MGM had scheduledMadame Curie as Garbo's next film, but pleased with the success ofNinotchka, the studio quickly decided to team Garbo and Douglas in another romantic comedy.Two-Faced Woman (1941) was the result and Garbo received the worst reviews of her entire career. It turned out to be her final film andGreer Garson eventually starred inMadame Curie.
The Japanese filmmakerAkira Kurosawa citedNinotchka as one of his favorite films.[16][17]
Filipino writer and activistNinotchka Rosca revealed during a 1966 Philippine congressional hearing that her pen name was inspired by the film.[18]
Nazi GermanReich Minister of PropagandaJoseph Goebbels remarked in his meeting notes on June 9, 1940 that "The German press should go and see the excellent American anti-Soviet filmNinotchka." He would later tell multiple German actors that he thought it was one of the best films he had ever seen.[19] During the1948 Italian general election the US State Department encouraged film distributors to show the film as a means of countering the increasingly popularItalian Communist Party.[20]
"Colonel Ninotchka" was a character in the 1980s women's professional wrestling promotion,Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
Congress probers yesterday irksomely barred aKabataang Makabayan women's bureau leader — Mrs. Antonia Rosca-Peña, 21 — from tape-recording their proceedings and questioned her for almost two hours on the witness stand.[...] Asked by[Salipada K.] Pendatun if Ninotchka was a Russian name, she said it was taken from a 'Greta Garbo movie.' The audience laughed.
Media related toNinotchka (film) at Wikimedia Commons
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