starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas
directed by Ernst Lubitsch
110 minutes
Nina Ivanovna Yashukova aka Ninotchka (Greta Garbo) an envoy of the Soviet Union, is sent to Paris to help deal with a legal matter that arises when three representatives of her government are trying to sell the confiscated jewels of a Russian noblewoman. Ninotchka meets Count Leon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas), the representative of the Russian noblewoman who seeks to recover her jewelery, by chance on the street in Paris.
The count and Ninotchka fall in love but her boss back in Russia and the Russian noblewoman that he represents are opposed to the match for different reasons.
Sig Ruman played Comrade Iranoff, one of the three representative of the Russian government. I know him from his appearances in a few films of the Marx Brothers including A Night in Casablanca (1946) and other films such as Stalag 17 (1953).
Bela Lugosi played Ninotchka's boss. He is better known for his appearance in many horror films including Dracula (1931).
Ninotchka was nominated for four Academy Awards but did not win any. The Academy Awards it was nominated for included Outstanding Production and Best Actress, for Greta Garbo. This was the fourth and final performance for which Garbo was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The only Academy Award that she won was an honorary Academy Award that she received in 1954.
I like the first hour of this movie very much. It was the funnier part of the movie for me. I thought that the story lagged somewhat after that and my interest started to wane. Maybe if it had been a little shorter or a little sharper then I might think more highly of this movie.
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