Ninotchka (1939) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

 Title: Ninotchka
Year: 1939
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Country: US
Language: English

Greta Garbo was a woman of mystique. Throughout her career until her retirement in 1941, Garbo gave few interviews, refused to sign autographs or participate in publicity for her films. The deeply private actress refused to bow down to the demands of Hollywood, thus enhancing her perception as a true icon. Who better to direct this "icon" than a rebellious Director like Ernst Lubitsch? His sophisticated comedies would push the boundaries of the production code and make the studio sets sweat. Ninotchka was a perfect blend of the two professionals. 

In this, a stern Russian woman (Greta Garbo) sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man (Melvyn Douglas) who represents everything she is supposed to detest. 

The broadstrokes of the idea were based in part on Tovarich, a 1933 play by French writer Jacques Deval, adapted into English by Robert E. Sherwood and in 1937 made into a motion picture by Anatole Litvak starring Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert. MGM wanted to make a similar picture starring Greta Garbo, but could not get their preferred director George Cuckor, who wanted to spend more time on Gone With the Wind.

Made for $1.3 million, in large part because of both Garbo and Lubitsch’s considerable salaries, the film would make modest profits both domestically and abroad. It went on to earn four Academy Award nominations—including Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture—but lost to the considerably more enormous Gone with the Wind. Many said Garbo's performance was incredible, but unfortunately suffered from a terrible leading man. 

The film has an obvious political focus; capitalism is much greater than communism and should triumph that poor idealism at every turn. For its views, Ninotchka was banned from most (if not all) soviet countries. Referencing Stalin’s Great Purge and Ninotchka’s five-year plans with a sense of humor represented an undeniable risk to the country. Had the film caused an international incident at the beginning of World War Two, it's unclear if the US would have survived the attack. That being said, this film required a fair knowledge of current political events from its audience to fully understand the film. This isn't entertainment for the sake of entertainment. 

Overall, I feel that Ninotchka isn't the best film of 1939, nor is it the best film of Lubitsch's, not the best of Greta Garbo's. It's a nice satire, perhaps a great political piece for its time. I think ultimately the film has been dated and is slowly fading from the memory of film historians. It is fairly good, but one viewing is enough.