Ninotchka

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1939 American film by Ernst Lubitsch

title: "Ninotchka" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1939-films", "1939-american-films", "1930s-screwball-comedy-films", "1930s-english-language-films", "1939-romantic-comedy-films", "american-romantic-comedy-films", "american-screwball-comedy-films", "american-political-satire-films", "american-black-and-white-films", "fiction-about-defection", "english-language-romantic-comedy-films", "films-about-communism", "films-about-the-soviet-union-in-the-stalin-era", "films-critical-of-communism", "films-directed-by-ernst-lubitsch", "films-scored-by-werner-r.-heymann", "films-set-in-the-1930s", "films-set-in-istanbul", "films-set-in-moscow", "films-set-in-paris", "films-with-screenplays-by-billy-wilder", "films-with-screenplays-by-charles-brackett", "metro-goldwyn-mayer-films", "united-states-national-film-registry-films", "russian-language-american-films"] description: "1939 American film by Ernst Lubitsch" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninotchka" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1939 American film by Ernst Lubitsch ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

FieldValue
nameNinotchka
imageNinotchka (1939 poster - Style D).jpg
captionTheatrical release poster
directorErnst Lubitsch
producerErnst Lubitsch
Sidney Franklin
screenplayCharles Brackett
Billy Wilder
Walter Reisch
storyMelchior Lengyel
starringGreta Garbo
Melvyn Douglas
Ina Claire
musicWerner R. Heymann
cinematographyWilliam H. Daniels
editingGene Ruggiero
distributorMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released
runtime110 minutes
countryUnited States
languageEnglish
budget$1.4 million ()
gross$2.3 million
::

| name = Ninotchka | image = Ninotchka (1939 poster - Style D).jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | alt = | director = Ernst Lubitsch | producer = Ernst Lubitsch Sidney Franklin | screenplay = Charles Brackett Billy Wilder Walter Reisch | story = Melchior Lengyel | starring = Greta Garbo Melvyn Douglas Ina Claire | music = Werner R. Heymann | cinematography = William H. Daniels | editing = Gene Ruggiero | distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | released = | runtime = 110 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $1.4 million () | gross = $2.3 million Ninotchka is a 1939 American romantic comedy film made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch and starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch, based on a story by Melchior Lengyel. Ninotchka marked the first comedy role for Garbo, and her penultimate film; she received her third and final Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

In 1990, Ninotchka was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It has been listed as one of the greatest films of all time by Empire in 2008 and Time in 2011. Ninotchka has a rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews.

Plot

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Ninotchka_(1939)_trailer_3.jpg" caption="[[Melvyn Douglas]], [[Greta Garbo]] and [[Richard Carle"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/ActGarboNinotchka.jpg" caption="[[Greta Garbo]] and [[Melvyn Douglas"] ::

Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski, three agents from the Soviet Board of Trade, arrive in Paris to sell jewelry confiscated from the aristocracy during the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Count Alexis Rakonin, a White Russian nobleman 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 that her family jewels are to be sold by the three men. Swana's debonair paramour, Count Léon d'Algout, offers to help retrieve the jewelry before it is sold.

In their hotel suite, Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski are negotiating with Mercier, 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 in Paris 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.

Displeased by the telegram, Moscow then sends Nina Ivanovna "Ninotchka" Yakushova, 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.

At his apartment, Léon tells Ninotchka he finds her fascinating and believes that he is falling in love with her; she acknowledges they share a mutual chemical attraction. They begin to 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, despite Léon's protestations.

The next day, Léon follows Ninotchka to a working class bistro where she again rebuffs him. However, after several 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 her communal 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. Commissar Razinin informs Ninotchka that Iranoff, Buljanoff and Kopalski were sent to Constantinople to sell furs but once again have failed to complete their mission. Against her wishes, Ninotchka is again sent by Razinin to investigate the situation and retrieve the trio.

After Ninotchka arrives in Constantinople, her three comrades 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 the three Russians 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, unlike theirs, his name does not illuminate on the electric sign in front of their new restaurant.

Cast

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Ninotchka_trailer_(1939).webm" caption="''Ninotchka'' trailer"] ::

Release

Ninotchka was released in late 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, where it became a great success. It was banned in the Soviet Union and its satellites. It went on to make $2.279 million worldwide. US: $1.187 million. International: $1.092 million. Profit: $138,000.

In a play on the famous "Garbo Talks!" ad campaign used for her "talkie" debut in Anna 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).

Reception

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Douglas-Ninotchka.jpg" caption="Greta Garbo as Nina Ivanovna "Ninotchka" Yakushova and Melvyn Douglas as Count Léon d'Algout"] ::

Critical response

When the film was shown at the Radio City Music Hall, The New York Times film critic Frank S. Nugent praised it:

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table]

AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
Academy AwardsOutstanding ProductionMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best ActressGreta Garbo
Best StoryMelchior Lengyel
Best ScreenplayCharles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Billy Wilder
National Board of Review AwardsTop Ten Films
Best ActingGreta Garbo
National Film Preservation BoardNational Film Registry
New York Film Critics Circle AwardsBest DirectorErnst Lubitsch
Best ActressGreta Garbo
::

Ninotchka is recognized as well by the American Film Institute in the AFI 100 Years... series in the following lists:

Origins

Ninotchka is based on a three-sentence story idea by Melchior 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."

Revival

An attempt by MGM to release Ninotchka later during World War II was suppressed on the grounds that the Soviets were then allies of the West. The film was released after the war ended.

Legacy

In 1955, the musical Silk Stockings, based on Ninotchka, opened on Broadway. Written by Cole Porter, the stage production was based on Ninotchka's story and script and starred Hildegard Neff and Don Ameche. MGM then produced a 1957 film version of the musical directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. Actor George Tobias, who appeared uncredited in Ninotchka as the Soviet visa official, is featured in Silk Stockings as Commissar Markovitch. Rolfe Sedan, who portrayed the hotel manager in Ninotchka, appears uncredited as a stage manager in Silk Stockings. The MGM films Comrade X (1940), starring Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr, and The Iron Petticoat (1956), starring Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn, both borrow heavily from Ninotchka.

MGM had scheduled Madame Curie as Garbo's next film, but pleased with the success of Ninotchka, 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 and Greer Garson eventually starred in Madame Curie.

The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited Ninotchka as one of his favorite films.

Filipino writer and activist Ninotchka Rosca revealed during a 1966 Philippine congressional hearing that her pen name was inspired by the film.

Nazi German Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels remarked in his meeting notes on June 9, 1940 that "The German press should go and see the excellent American anti-Soviet film Ninotchka." He would later tell multiple German actors that he thought it was one of the best films he had ever seen. During the 1948 Italian general election the US State Department encouraged film distributors to show the film as a means of countering the increasingly popular Italian Communist Party.

Cultural influences

"Colonel Ninotchka" was a character in the 1980s women's professional wrestling promotion, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

References

References

  1. "Ninotchka". [[Turner Broadcasting System]] ([[Time Warner]]).
  2. (3 October 2008). "The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time". [[Empire (magazine).
  3. [[Corliss, Richard]] (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20050526005133/http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/0,23220,ninotchka,00.html "All-Time 100 Movies"], ''Time'', October 3, 2011. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  4. "Ninotchka". [[Fandango Media.
  5. "NINOTCHKA".
  6. Nugent, Frank S.. (1939-11-10). "Movie Review - Allegheny Uprising - THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'Ninotchka,' an Impious Soviet Satire Directed by Lubitsch, Opens at the Music Hall--New Films Are Shown at Capitol and Palace".
  7. "The 12th Academy Awards (1940) Nominees and Winners". [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]].
  8. "1939 Award Winners". [[National Board of Review]].
  9. "Complete National Film Registry Listing". [[Library of Congress]].
  10. "1939 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". [[New York Film Critics Circle]].
  11. "America's Funniest Movies". [[American Film Institute]].
  12. "AFI's 100 Greatest Love Stories of All Time". [[American Film Institute]].
  13. 0748630732.
  14. [[Maurice Zolotow. 0879100702.
  15. 0374191891.
  16. Lee Kennett, ''For the Duration. . . : The United States Goes To War'' p. 164 {{ISBN. 0-684-18239-4
  17. Thomas-Mason, Lee. (January 12, 2021). "From Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese: Akira Kurosawa once named his top 100 favourite films of all time".
  18. "Akira Kurosawa's Top 100 Movies!".
  19. Monteclaro, Eddie. (November 25, 1966). "Woman, recorder mar riot hearing". The Manila Times Publishing Company, Inc..
  20. As quoted in Boelcke, Willi A. The Secret Conferences of Dr. Goebbels: October 1939-March 1943, edited by Willi A. Boelcke; trans. Ewald Osers. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970.
  21. (2007). "Hollywood's Cold War". Edinburgh University Press.

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1939-films1939-american-films1930s-screwball-comedy-films1930s-english-language-films1939-romantic-comedy-filmsamerican-romantic-comedy-filmsamerican-screwball-comedy-filmsamerican-political-satire-filmsamerican-black-and-white-filmsfiction-about-defectionenglish-language-romantic-comedy-filmsfilms-about-communismfilms-about-the-soviet-union-in-the-stalin-erafilms-critical-of-communismfilms-directed-by-ernst-lubitschfilms-scored-by-werner-r.-heymannfilms-set-in-the-1930sfilms-set-in-istanbulfilms-set-in-moscowfilms-set-in-parisfilms-with-screenplays-by-billy-wilderfilms-with-screenplays-by-charles-brackettmetro-goldwyn-mayer-filmsunited-states-national-film-registry-filmsrussian-language-american-films