Ninotchka (1939) |
||
|
|
||
Ninotchka Cast |
||
|
||
On-Screen Couples |
||
Greta Garbo
(as Nina Yakushova 'Ninotchka' Ivanoff)
with Melvyn Douglas
(as Léon - Comte d`Agoult)
|
||
Movie Highlights |
||
Other InformationPlot SummarySoviet emissaries Buljanoff, Iranoff, and Kopalski no sooner arrive in Paris to sell some jewelry for the government, than soft capitalist ways begin to corrupt them. Grand Duchess Swana, former owner of the jewels but now exiled in Paris, sends her ... (www.imdb.com/title/tt0031725/plotsummary) TaglineM.G.M.`s laugh hit is here! The picture that kids the commissars! Garbo laughs "It`s only human to kiss!" In Moscow they planted medals on her bosom . . . in Paris they planted kisses on her cheek . . . Don`t Pronounce It . . . See It ! M-G-M`s Laugh Riot ! Related MoviesDomicile conjugal [Spoofed in] (Year of movie: 1970) Whatever Lola Wants [Featured in] (Year of movie: 2007) Garbo [Featured in] (Year of movie: 2005) AFI`s 100 Years... 100 Passions [Featured in] (Year of movie: 2002) Greta Garbo: A Lone Star [Featured in] (Year of movie: 2001) AFI`s 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America`s Funniest Movies [Featured in] (Year of movie: 2000) 100 Years of Comedy [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1997) Lugosi: Hollywood`s Dracula [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1997) The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1995) O Espectador que o Cinema Esqueceu [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1991) MGM Greatest Moments: A Video Sampler [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1987) The American Film Institute Salute to Billy Wilder [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1986) Precious Images [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1986) That`s Entertainment, Part II [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1976) The Big Parade of Comedy [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1964) From the Ends of the Earth [Featured in] (Year of movie: 1939) Warner at War [Referenced in] (Year of movie: 2008) Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood [Referenced in] (Year of movie: 2008) AFI`s 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America`s Funniest Movies [Referenced in] (Year of movie: 2000) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic [Referenced in] (Year of movie: 1990) Mannequin [Referenced in] (Year of movie: 1987) Lugosi: The Forgotten King [Referenced in] (Year of movie: 1985) Il compagno Don Camillo [Referenced in] (Year of movie: 1965) Grand Hotel [References] (Year of movie: 1932) Hollywood: The Dream Factory [Edited into] (Year of movie: 1972) Ninotschka [Remade as] (Year of movie: 1965) Ninotchka [Remade as] (Year of movie: 1960) Silk Stockings [Remade as] (Year of movie: 1957) |
||
Full Cast and Crew |
||
Actor CreditsNon Actor Credits |
||
Awards |
||
Ninotchka (1939) was nominated for the following awards:
Academy Awards |
||
Snapshot |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Photo Gallery |
||
|
|
||
Fans |
||
|
|
||
Trivia |
||
Trivia and QuotesQuotes Russian Visa Official: To an unseen caller: "Hello! Comrade Kasabian? No, I am sorry. He hasn`t been with us for six months. He was called back to Russia and was investigated. You can get further details from his widow." Russian Visa Official: Everything is in order. Enjoy your trip to Russia, Madam.
English Lady Getting Visa: Thank you. Oh, by the way, I`ve heard so many rumors about laundry conditions in Russia. Is it advisable to take one`s own towels?
Russian Visa Official: Certainly not, Madam! That is only Capitalistic propaganda. We change the towel once a week. Leon: What kind of a girl are you, anyway?
Ninotchka: Just what you see. A tiny cog in the great wheel of evolution.
Leon: You`re the most adorable cog I`ve ever seen. [Ninotchka is examining a map of Paris]
Leon: Pardon me, are you an explorer?
Ninotchka: No. I`m looking for the Eiffel Tower.
Leon: Good heavens, is that thing lost again? Oh, are you interested in a view?
Ninotchka: I`m interested in the Eiffel Tower from a technical standpoint.
Leon: Technical? No, no, I`m afraid I couldn`t be of much help from that angle. You see, a Parisian only goes to the tower in moments of despair to jump off.
Ninotchka: How long does it take a man to land?
Leon: Now isn`t that too bad? The last time I jumped, I forgot to time it. Grand Duchess Swana: The morning after always looks grim if you happen to be wearing last night`s dress. Prologue: This picture takes place in Paris in those wonderful days when a siren was a brunette and not an alarm - and if a Frenchman turned out the light it was not on account of an air raid! Leon: A radio`s a little box that you buy on the installment plan, and before you tune it in, they tell you there`s a new model out. Ninotchka: The day will come when you will be free. Go to bed, Little Father, we want to be alone. Ninotchka: When I kissed you, I betrayed a Russian ideal. I should be stood up against the wall.
Leon: Would that make you feel better?
Ninotchka: Much better.
Ninotchka: I have paid the penalty. Ninotchka: Must you flirt?
Count Leon d`Algout: Well, I don`t have to, but I find it natural.
Ninotchka: Suppress it. 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. Iranoff: We can say whatever we want. We can shout! We can complain! Look: THE SERVICE IN THIS HOTEL IS TERRIBLE! See? Nobody comes, nobody pays any attention! That`s freedom.
Buljanoff: That`s bad management. Comissar Razinin: This anonymous report was sent to me. They`re dragging the good name of our country through every cafe and nightclub. Here: How can the Bolshevik cause gain respect among the Muslims if your three representatives Bujlianoff, Iranoff and Kopalski get so drunk that they throw a carpet out of their hotel window and complain to the management that it didn`t fly? Ninotchka: I should hate to see our country endangered by my underwear. Anna: Oh, that Burganoff. You never know if he`s on his way to the washroom or the secret police. Leon: I`ll picket your whole country! I`ll boycott you! No more vodka! No more caviar! No more Tchaikovsky! No more borscht! Ninotchka: I`m so happy, I`m so happy! Nobody can be so happy without being punished. Ninotchka: Let`s form our own party.
Leon: Right. Lovers of the world, unite! Leon: Ninotchka, it`s midnight. One half of Paris is making love to the other half. Ninotchka: What have you done for mankind?
Leon: Not so much for mankind... for womankind, my record isn`t quite so bleak.
Leon: A Russian! I love Russians! Comrade, I`ve been fascinated by your five-year plan for the last fifteen years. Iranoff: Do you want to be alone, comrade?
Ninotchka: No. Ninotchka: The last mass trials were a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians. Ninotchka: Why do you want to carry my bags?
Porter: That is my business.
Ninotchka: That`s no business. That`s social injustice.
Porter: That depends on the tip. Ninotchka: Don`t make an issue of my womanhood. Count Leon D`Algout: Do you like me just a little bit?
Ninotchka: Your general appearance is not distasteful. Leon: It`s midnight. Look at the clock, one hand has met the other hand, they kiss. Isn`t that wonderful? Ninotchka: We don`t have men like you in my country.
Leon: Thank you.
Ninotchka: That is why I believe in the future of my country.Trivia This was one of Ernst Lubitsch`s personal favorite films. His other favorites were The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and Trouble in Paradise (1932). Although Greta Garbo`s famous hat in the film was made by her regular costumier Adrian, it was actually based on a sketch by Garbo herself. 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. Ernst Lubitsch only signed on as director after George Cukor decamped for Gone with the Wind (1939). As part of his deal for directing, MGM agreed to make The Shop Around the Corner (1940) for Lubitsch afterwards. Curiously enough, this was the very movie Arnold Schwarzenegger studied when he was trying to find his character for Red Heat (1988). The exercise - emulate Greta Garbo - was recommended to him by his director Walter Hill. The movie was banned in the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Greta Garbo had her misgivings about appearing in a comedy and was particularly nervous about the drunk scene, which she considered to be highly vulgar.
According to published newspaper reports in the spring of 1939, Spencer Tracy was a leading contender for the role of Leon. William Powell, Robert Montgomery and Cary Grant were also considered for the part. Greta Garbo did not wear any makeup for her scenes where she is the stern envoy. The tagline "Garbo laughs!" came before the screenplay was written; the film was built around that single, now legendary, slogan. This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1990. | ||
Top Contributors |
||
|
Top editors for this profile:
|
||
Related Links |
||
|
||
Featured Titles |
||
Comments
Submit a Comment