NFR Project: 'Ninotchka' (1939)

 

NFR Project: ‘Ninotchka’

Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

Scr: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Walter Reisch

Pho: William H. Daniels

Ed: Gene Ruggerio

Premiere: Nov. 9, 1939

110 min.

MGM was searching for a comedy to suit Greta Garbo, the mysterious and glamorous star of many dramas, both in the silent and the sound eras. A poolside conference led to the creation of a winning idea: Communist woman goes to Paris, finds out that capitalism and materialism are not so bad.

The expert writing team of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder were put on the assignment, and they produced a witty and captivating script. Then MGM brought in the master of subtle and adult film comedies Ernst Lubitsch, to direct. It was nothing less than a high-class effort, all the way.

Here Garbo plays Nina “Ninotchka” Yakushova, a stern and unsmiling Soviet bureaucrat who flies to Paris from Moscow to straighten out some comrades – the bumbling comic trio of Buljanoff, Iranoff, and Kopalski – who were assigned to sell some jewels taken by the State from their aristocratic owners, but who fell prey to the delights of the City of Light.

Ninotchka gets grimly to work, but she isn’t prepared for the charming onslaught of Count Leon (Melvyn Douglas), who is immediately attracted to her and enjoys the challenge of melting her cold, cold heart. This he does by degrees, loosening her up, making her laugh, introducing her to champagne. He and Ninotchka are rapidly falling in love, but Ninotchka is blackmailed by Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire). Swana agrees to give up her claim to the jewelry if Ninotchka will leave Paris for Moscow immediately.

This she does, returning to a Soviet existence that is defined by crowded tenements and little to eat. Morose, she waits for word from Leon, but the only letter she receives from him is censored completely. When Buljanoff, Iranoff, and Kopalski get in trouble again in Constantinople, Ninotchka is ordered once again to go to the scene of the trouble and clear things up. There she finds the three have opened a restaurant – and that Leon is there waiting for her as well. She abandons Communism and falls into Leon’s arms.

The film was a big success – except in Russia, where it was banned.

The promotional tagline of the film is “Garbo Laughs!” It was her first comedy, an her second-to-last film. After a second comedy, a flop, she spurned Hollywood and lived as a recluse in New York City.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Stagecoach.