Ninotchka

Amazon.com essential video

Ah, those fun-loving Communists! In Ninotchka three Soviets make their way to Paris to sell off imperial jewels to raise money to buy tractors for the USSR. When Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire), former owner of the jewels, discovers what's happening, she deploys her lover Leon (Melvyn Douglas) to recover her gems. He starts a court proceeding while seducing the three bumbling Soviets with the luxuries of capitalistic life. The delay of the sale is noticed in Moscow, and Comrade Ninotchka (Greta Garbo) is dispatched to Paris to settle the matter. Soon after arrival, she meets Leon, who is charmed by her severe, uptight manner and her stunning beauty ("I love Russians! Comrade, I've been fascinated by your five-year plan for the last 15 years"), and he sets about wooing her, despite her disbelief in love (it's merely a "chemical reaction," she dourly informs him). Romance, jealousy, and capitalistic frivolity ensue.

When this film was released in 1939, it was advertised as "Garbo laughs," as it was her first and only comedy. The film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, is amusing not only for its story line, but also for its dated look at early Communism (Ninotchka keeps a photo of a stern-looking Lenin by her bedside, although she feels uncomfortable doing so in a room that costs 2,000 francs a night, the price of a cow back home). The satirical image of the young Communist fighting against corrupt Western ways seems somewhat idealistic today but nonetheless provided levity during the shaky political times of the film's release. Viewers may be jarred by the casual "Heil Hitler" greeting of a couple at the train station, but overall this film holds up as one of Lubitsch's masterpieces and a lighter glimpse of the mysterious Garbo. --Jenny Brown

Description

Garbo Talks! proclaimed ads when silent star Greta Garbo debuted in talkies. Nine years and 12 classic screen dramas later, the gifted movie legend was ready for another change. Garbo Laughs! cheered the publicity for her first comedy, a frothy tale of a dour Russian envoy sublimating her womanhood for Soviet brotherhood until she falls for a suave Parisian man-about-town (Melvyn Douglas). Working from a cleverly barbed script written in part by Billy Wilder, director Ernst Lubitsch knew better than anyone how to marry refinement with sublime wit. "At least twice a day the most dignified human being is ridiculous," he explained about his acclaimed Lubitsch Touch. That's how we see Garbo's lovestruck Ninotchka: serenly dignified yet endearing ridiculous. Garbo laughs. So will you.

Customer Reviews:

Garbo & Wilder.......2007-08-31

What a combo! A true classic comedy. You'll watch it over and over. If you've yet to delve fully into the classics, you will never go wrong with a Billy Wilder directed film!

Ninotchka.......2007-06-20

"Garbo Laughs!" screamed the publicity, and so will you (laugh, not scream). Director Ernst Lubitsch brings all his trademark sophistication and style to this gossamer "East meets West" romance. Garbo's transformation from icy harridan to warm, alluring female is still a wonder to behold, and Douglas is nicely understated and suitably wry as the Count, never stepping in Garbo's light too much. Peerless script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, this is the movie equivalent to champagne, and, of course, caviar.

Perfect tangible Garbo.......2007-06-20

Many of the films of the legendary Greta Garbo do not withstand the test of time. Often, she is the luminous centre in contrived and artificial surroundings. "Ninotchka" is a notable exception. The reason is that in this case, Garbo had a great director (she thought her best) and a contemporary story which made her much less exotic and unattainable. This film, accordingly, was her greatest hit and she is superb.

Directed perfectly by Ernst Lubitsch, Garbo sets the tone for a warm and glowing comedy about a Russian communist who melts under the influence of romance and Paris. Melvyn Douglas plays opposite her in a beautifully judged light hearted performance, a brilliant counterpoint to her solemnity. The supporting cast is outstanding.

The DVD looks like it has not been restored and there are no extras except an original trailer. To learn more about the film, it should be purchased as part of the one of the Garbo Sets which contain documentaries about the star.

Everything old is new again.......2007-05-30

THe acting is wonderful. The script is super. I was compelled to add it to my collection now to show to my grandchildren. We are again in a cycle of repressive political correctness and have to learn to laugh again.

Ninotchka.......2007-05-23

At first I thought it was a little corny, but later on some of the small elements started to get to me (for example the scene where they are preparing the omlets is great). Its good, not great, you may want to give it a rental before buying, hope this helps!

Garbo - The Signature Collection (Anna Christie / Mata Hari / Grand Hotel / Queen Christina / Anna Karenina / Camille / Ninotchka / Garbo Silents)

Average customer rating:

Good collection but spotty extras and some poor prints
big collection but a lot of unnecessary shelf space
Garbo movie collection
at last.... here she is - in full splendour:-)
Garbo is the face!!! The face is the place!!!

Garbo - The Signature Collection (Anna Christie / Mata Hari / Grand Hotel / Queen Christina / Anna Karenina / Camille / Ninotchka / Garbo Silents)
Starring: Greta Garbo
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

Signature Collections | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

ASIN: B0009S4IJM
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Amazon.com

Who was Greta Garbo? For a while the greatest of all movie stars, then a celebrated recluse, always "the mysterious lady," Garbo purred, "I want to be alone," and people took her at her word. Of course, the real Garbo is actually the "reel" Garbo, the silvery, suffering creature on the movie screen--the way the light caught her eyes, and the way she slithered around in silk. There are other Garbo films to be seen, but Garbo: The Signature Collection is the essential Garbo, the alpha and omega for fans and beginners. This 10-disc package collects seven of her MGM sound pictures, three silents, and the Turner Classic Movies documentary Garbo, which gives a good career overview and warm testimony from friends and relatives (although more critical perspective on her talent would have been welcome). Some extras and commentaries are mixed in.

The Garbo Silents disc features Flesh and the Devil, one of her sizzling box-office duets with John Gilbert; The Temptress, a wild number with Garbo as a man-killer who follows Antonio Moreno to the plains of Argentina; and The Mysterious Lady, a tight spy picture with Garbo as a Russian agent seducing the susceptible Conrad Nagel. When Garbo finally talked it was headline news, and if Anna Christie has aged a bit, the star's sultry enunciation of "Gimme a visky" retains its historic punch. (The disc includes a German-language version of the film shot at the same time.)

Mata Hari continues the exotic storytelling of Garbo's silent years, as she does an eye-popping turn as the famous German spy. Grand Hotel casts her as a tired, tired ballet dancer, in a star-studded MGM project that played on her public image as aloof and mysterious. The movie was a box-office smash and took the Best Picture Oscar for 1932, and still stands as a glittery gem of the studio system. Under the sympathetic direction of Rouben Mamoulian in Queen Christina, Garbo flourishes in a tale of a Swedish royal who escapes the grind by disguising herself as a boy. She insisted that John Gilbert--his career in tatters and his life near its end--be her leading man. Garbo rarely seemed more spot-on, and the film's final grand adoration of her is justifiably famous.

Anna Karenina is Garbo's second crack at the Tolstoy heroine, after the silent Love. It's a throbbing performance, even if the movie itself is one of those MGM productions that seems to doze under all its finery and respectability. Camille is scrumptious costume tragedy, with Robert Taylor as co-star and George Cukor as director. Finally, Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (you know--"Garbo Laughs") is a bubbly comedy of frosty Sovietism meeting the champagne pleasures of Paris. Garbo retired two years, ending her reign but keeping the enigma intact. --Robert Horton

Description

Includes the best known films from a timeless and alluring actress of the 1920s and 1930s whose enigmatic beauty in a series of MGM silent films catapulted her to international movie stardom.

DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:THE DIVINE WOMAN: Surviving 9-Minute Excerpt of This Lost 1928 Silent
Alternate endings:Alternate Ending on The Temptress
Audio Commentary:Commentary on Flesh and the Devil by Garbo Author Barry Paris; The Temptress by Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy Author Mark A. Vieira; Mysterious Lady by Film Historians Tony Maietta and Jeffrey Vance
Documentaries:TCM ARCHIVES: GARBO - New Feature-Length Documentary Exclusive to This Set!
Featurette:SETTLING THE SCORE - Goes Behind the Scenes of the TCM Young Film Composers Competition and the Scoring of Notable Silent Movies
Photo gallery:Garbo's Silent Years at MGM
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Good collection but spotty extras and some poor prints.......2007-09-08

This collection of Garbo films is a more economical of obtaining these films if you want them but it is a little disappointing as a package. The positives are obvious - a good selection of Garbo's best films, a good documentary about her career and some excellent commentaries on the Silents. The disappointing aspect is that so many of the prints, especially the talkies, are poor. "Queen Christina", "Camille" and "Ninotchka", maybe her best films, warrant restoration. "Anna Karenina" does not even contain a complete print. There are no commentaries for the talkies either, just some theatrical trailers.

big collection but a lot of unnecessary shelf space.......2007-07-23

This is an impressive set, by far the most economical way to get all of these movies in one place. Since Garbo made so few films in her career, this is an excellent way to get a survey of her filmography, from her first silent MGM films to her later talkies.

My only real complaint is that he contents are not as filling as the overwhelming size of this giant cube of a package would imply. Aside from the movies, we only get commentaries on the silent films; on Camille, we get the original silent version starring Nazimova and Valentino; Anna Christie includes the German language version, and Grand Hotel has the most extras on a disc. Queen Christina, Anna Karenina, Mata Hari, and Ninotchka have nothing more than a trailer for extra features, and the Garbo documentary takes up a whole disc by itself. Not that I expect Warner to load each DVD with unrelated content (although i have no objections to their "night at the movies" features), but what's really surprising is what's missing from each DVD that could have been included. After all, it's not like Garbo hadn't already made a silent version of Anna Karenina with John Gilbert called Love that could have been included on that disc.

In summary, the movies and features just seem to be spread thin across 9 discs, the result is a set that takes up more space than is really necessary. To put into perspective, the TCM Lon Chaney Collection also included 3 films with commentaries, as well as a documentary; this set could have easily consolidated those discs just the same.

With no other historical context, it would not be recommended to buy these DVDs separate from this set, especially if one was unfamiliar with Greta Garbo.

Garbo movie collection.......2007-07-19

It was a present for my wife who just loved the gift. What more can I say. The shipping was fast and it arrived in perfect condition.

at last.... here she is - in full splendour:-).......2007-02-18

I`ve grown up with Garbo... Ever since I was a child, Swedish television has indeed appreciated her legacy and I`ve witnessed all the sound films mentioned here:

To my mind, what makes Garbo great is her wonderful sphinx face... and her melancholy, sad remarks... When called upon hysterics and outburts, she is painfully amateurish...

That goes for ANNA CHRISTIE, GRAND HOTEL, CONQUEST, AS YOU DESIRE ME.... In CAMILLE, NINOTCHKA and TWO-FACED WOMAN she shows us the actress, a girl who DID posseess nuances... method acting....

And never more so that in the silent FLESH AND THE DEVIL 1926.
In it she is a man-eater, a sultress, a she-devil and she she in only limited when call upon a confrontation scene with Lars Hanson`s sister...

The film has wonderful closeups of its three stars and the subject remains as fresh as it did in 1926. The scenes in the snow and how she seduces John Gilbert is quite good and I must say - FLESH AND THE DEVIL is still quite watchable even today.

To me the friendship between Gilbert and Hanson is a homosexual one and when Garbo falls through the ice - the men are seen embracing each other - and free of that devil Felicitas.

Their intense friendship fools no one in 2007, but 80 years ago it must have...

Garbo is only 21 in the film, but shows a mature display of acting and womanhood - no wonder the world fell for her and the same goes for the sound MATA HARI...

Garbo is the face!!! The face is the place!!!.......2007-01-27

Magnificent set with a lot of extras. The silent films have commentaries and this whole set is a great tribute to (THE FACE). Garbo is so magnetic on the screen. I was just so astounded by her beauty and her acting ability. I bought it because I saw The Temptress on TCM. After seeing it I had to see more. There is just something about Garbo that words cannot say. The TCM disc about her life was so good. It's hard to believe,however understandable, that she just walked away. What a loss to the screen. Barry Paris and Mark Veira have wonderful biographies available which explain her life story. I was just blown away like never before by the silents Temptress,Flesh and the Devil and Mysterious Lady. Camille is the story of Verdi's La Traviata. Anna Karenina is a period piece film of a Russian. Anna Christie is Garbo's first talkie. It takes 16 minutes before you hear the first ever line from her(Give me a Visky). Grand Hotel is loaded with stars such as the Barrymores and Joan Crawford in what may be her first movie. Mata Hari the spy and Ninotchka the Russian diplomat. You just can't get enough of Garbo and you will never get tired of watching her. Buy it before it goes out of print.

Garbo Collection (Five (5) Dvds) ~ / Anna Karenina / Ninotchka / Grand Hotel / Anna Christie / Flesh and the Devil [Import, All-regions]

Average customer rating:

Garbo Collection (Five (5) Dvds) ~ / Anna Karenina / Ninotchka / Grand Hotel / Anna Christie / Flesh and the Devil [Import, All-regions]

Manufacturer: Sky Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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