Ninotchka (1939)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Melchior Lengyel (story)
Charles Brackett (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 February 1940 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

M-G-M's Laugh Riot !

Plot:

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

Plot Keywords:

Russian | Playboy | Hotel | Jewelry | Moscow Russia

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Nina Yakushova 'Ninotchka' Ivanoff
Melvyn Douglas	...	Léon - Count d'Algout
Ina Claire	...	Grand Duchess Swana
Bela Lugosi	...	Kommissar Razinin
Sig Ruman	...	Iranoff (as Sig Rumann)
Felix Bressart	...	Buljanoff
Alexander Granach	...	Kopalski
Gregory Gaye	...	Rakonin
Rolfe Sedan	...	Hotel Manager
Edwin Maxwell	...	Mercier
Richard Carle	...	Gaston
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothy Adams	...	Jacqueline - Swana's Maid (uncredited)
Monya Andre	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Nino Bellini	...	Swana's Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
Wilda Bennett	...	Swana's Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
Symona Boniface	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Emilie Cabanne	...	Gossip (uncredited)
George Davis	...	Porter at Railroad Station (uncredited)
Paul Ellis	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Frank Fletcher	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Mary Forbes	...	Lady Lavenham, Indignant Woman in Doorway (uncredited)
Jody Gilbert	...	Streetcar Conductress, Moscow Roommate (uncredited)
Lawrence Grant	...	General Savitsky, Duchess' Consort (uncredited)
Jennifer Gray	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Winifred Harris	...	English Lady Getting Visa (uncredited)
Ray Hendricks	...	Waiter (uncredited)
William Irving	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Hans Joby	...	Man at Railroad Station (uncredited)
Charles Judels	...	Pere Mathieu, Cafe Owner (uncredited)
Armand Kaliz	...	Louis, the Headwaiter (uncredited)
Peggy Moran	...	First Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Sandra Morgan	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Lucille Pinson	...	German Woman at Railroad Station (uncredited)
Albert Pollet	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Frank Reicher	...	Soviet Lawyer (uncredited)
Constantine Romanoff	...	Man in Restaurant (uncredited)
Alexander Schoenberg	...	Bearded Man, Eiffel Tower Tourist (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Gurganov, Neighbor Spy (uncredited)
Tamara Shayne	...	Anna, Moscow Roommate (uncredited)
Florence Shirley	...	Marianne, Swana's Phone Friend (uncredited)
George Sorel	...	Swana's Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Soviet Lawyer (uncredited)
Kay Stewart	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
George Tobias	...	Russian Visa Official (uncredited)
Jacques Vanaire	...	Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer	...	Gossip (uncredited)
Paul Weigel	...	Vladimir, With Letter from Leon (uncredited)
Elizabeth Williams	...	Indignant Woman (uncredited)
Marek Windheim	...	Manager (uncredited)
Wolfgang Zilzer	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Ernst Lubitsch

Writing credits
Melchior Lengyel		(story)
Charles Brackett		(screenplay) &
Billy Wilder		(screenplay) and
Walter Reisch		(screenplay)

Produced by
Sidney Franklin	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Ernst Lubitsch	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Werner R. Heymann		(musical score)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(director of photography) (as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Gene Ruggiero

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist: Miss Claire
Beth Langston	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Horace Hough	....	assistant director (uncredited)
John Waters	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Randall Duell	....	associate art director
George Elder	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Conrad Kahn	....	sound engineer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Milton Brown	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Al Lane	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Floyd Porter	....	chief electrician (uncredited)
William Riley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Arnold Webster	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jack Rohan	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Other crew
Eric Locke	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1940) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1945) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Reserva Especial (Brazil) (VHS)
• Süddeutsche Zeitung (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed | Finland:(Banned) (1940) | Finland:(Banned) (1964) | Finland:K-15 (DVD) (2006) | Finland:K-16 (1941) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2006) | Finland:S (cut) (1981) | Germany:12 (DVD, 2006) | USA:Approved (PCA #5494) | New Zealand:PG | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | West Germany:6 | Portugal:M/6 | UK:U (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Ernst Lubitsch disliked Gottfried Reinhardt (I)S.N. Behrman's original screenplay, so he commissioned a rewrite from Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch. Lubitsch himself made some significant uncredited contributions to the screenplay.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Russian trio are drunk, the glasses fall off of the man in the middle, and in the next shot they are back on him

Quotes:

Ninotchka: I must have a complete report of your negotiations and a detailed expense account.
Buljanoff: No, non, Ninotchka. Don't ask for it. There's an old Turkish proverb that says: If something smells bad, why put your nose in it?
Ninotchka: And there is an old Russian saying: The cat with cream on his whiskers had better find good excuses.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

A GREAT FILM CLASSIC!

Ninotchka is a great film classic with great acting by Melvyn Douglas, who really supports Greta Garbo. Garbo is an actress with class and great abilities not found in movie stars today, she was ahead of her times, deep and spiritual. Her supporting actors, Sig Ruman used every expression he could to portray a fumbling Russian and Bela Lugosi showed the movie industry that he had great acting abilities he was never given a chance show to his many fans.

This film shows aspiring actors just how to perform to the highest level of their art.