When Russian representatives Iranoff (Sig Rumann), Buljanoff (Felix Bressart), and Kopalski (Alexander Granach) are sent to Paris to sell the jewels of the Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire), the negotiations do not go smoothly. The Grand Duchess, now living in Paris, initiates a lawsuit, and the three agents find themselves seduced by the entrancing Parisian lifestyle. Enter Nina Ivanovna Yakushova - or Ninotchka (Greta Garbo) - a stern Communist envoy, sent to find out the reason for the delay. Determined to not fall into the same pit as her predecessors, Ninotchka (1939) instead finds herself succumbing to the wooing of Count Leon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas), a ne'er-do-well playboy, and Swana's latest lover. In conjunction with the Food in Film Blogathon, we'll look at Ninotchka though the lens of food and beverage. Ernst Lubitsch's film sparkles like the champagne that intoxicates Ninotchka and Leon and satisfies like Ninotchka's workman's lunch. A nominee for the 1939 Best Picture Oscar, it marked a redemption for Greta Garbo who had been labeled as "Box Office Poison" in 1938. This was her first comedy, and resulted in the last of her 3 nominations for the Best Actress Oscar. (She'd already been nominated for Anna Christie (1930) and Camille (1938)). In 1955, she was awarded an Honorary Oscar. Not surprisingly, she did not attend the ceremony.
Food represents a corrupting influence in Ninotchka. Among the initial temptations that seduce Iranoff, Buljanoff, and Kopalski is the readily available room service in their luxurious hotel. Ninotchka tries to resist the temptation by eating lunch where working men eat, but even there she is expected to relish her food and care about what she is eating. Leon cautions her that she has insulted the restaurant owner and must apologize "by eating everything that he brings you with relish, by drinking everything with
gusto, by having a good time for the first time in your natural life!" Ninotchka's ultimate downfall is represented when she is drunk on champagne. She's been raised on goat's milk and vodka. Champagne is a new, heady experience for her. In comparison, the lack of food in Russia is constant theme. The jewels that the ambassadors are in Paris to sell will provide food for the citizens. Grand Duchess Swana convinces Ninotchka to leave Paris by pointing out the number of people who will starve while their court case if fought. When the quartet return to Russia, they pool their ration of a single egg apiece to make an omelet. Finally,when Iranoff, Buljanoff, and Kopalski again leave Russia - never to return - it is to open a restaurant in Turkey.
Greta Garbo is amazing in the film. Yet, her two most intriguing scenes were ones she did not want to play. According to this TCM article, Garbo was reluctant to play the drunk scene - finding it "unbecoming". Co-star Melvyn Douglas also stated that she "was unable to articulate so much as a titter during the shooting of the restaurant scene." Yet, somehow in the film, laugh she did, and legend was born. Bela Lugosi has almost a cameo appearance as Commissar Razinin. With his beard and scowl, he is properly menacing (he's been mentioned prior to his appearance as someone with whom you do not want to tangle). It's a good role, and makes for an interesting break from the horror films that would dominate his career.
Both Cary Grant and William Powell were considered for the role of Leon (AFI Catalog); Melvyn Douglas is excellent in the role. You believe him both as a wastrel and as a man who is sincerely in love for the first time. A stage actor with Broadway experience, Mr. Douglas came to film with the advent of sound. He continued to work in both mediums, adding radio and television to his resume, until his death in 1981 - 14 months after the death of his wife of nearly 50 years Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas. The pair met while appearing in the Broadway production of Tonight or Never (Mr. Douglas had been previously married and had a son). They had two children; their grand-daughter is actress Illeana Douglas.
The story was redone as a play on the Paris stage in 1950, as well as a radio play (part of the Screen Guild Theater) with Joan Fontaine and William Powell in the leads. A musical followed in 1954. Silk Stockings, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and starring Hildegarde Neff and Don Ameche (and with a very young Julie Newmar in a minor role) ran for 478 performances. The film version, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse was released in 1957. Then, in 1960, a television version of Ninotchka was aired on ABC, with Maria Schell and Gig Young in the leads.
There were, not surprisingly, censorship issues. The Russians didn't like the film (and threatened theater owners in Vienna with reprisals if they exhibited the film!). As this New Yorker article points out, it won no love from the Germans either - the German couple at the railroad station issuing their salute to the Fuhrer is a clear barb at the Nazis. Lubitsch was no fan of the German Reich - three years later, he would release his biting comedy, To Be or Not To Be (1942). Regardless, the New York Times was in heaven, calling Ninotchka "one of the sprightliest comedies of the year." Besides the awards mentioned above, it was also nominated for Best Writing (Original Story) and Best Writing (Screenplay). It ranks at #52 on AFI 100 Years, 100 Laughs. We'll leave you with this scene, of Garbo laughing (and eating - and she's not eating "raw beets and carrots"). Enjoy!
Claudia (1943) Brown Naughton (Dorothy McGuire) and her architect husband David (Robert Young), live on a farm outside of New York City. Recently married, Claudia is having a hard time adapting to her new life. She can't balance a checkbook, she's convinced her husband doesn't find her attractive (when he actually adores her), and she misses her mother (Ina Claire) terribly. Unbeknownst to Claudia, Mrs. Brown is ill; Mrs. Brown has told David that she will be seeing a doctor immediately. In the meantime, Claudia is trying to convince David to sell the farm and rent an apartment in the City - nearer to her mother. The reaction among our group to Claudia were mixed, primarily because of the title character. Let's face it, Claudia Naughton is very immature. But, that is the point - just barely 18, never really away from her mother, Claudia is a lost lamb. And David, in trying to encourage her to grow up, isn't helping all that much. He's taken a city girl, and plunked her down on a farm, pretty much alone all day (yes, there are servants, but they can't provide the emotional support she needs). David is in the city all day at work, and Claudia is trapped at home. She's having to cope with the farm, as well as run the household - and the girl has never balanced a checkbook in her life. So, if she is eager to get out of Connecticut and back to New York City, who can really blame her? What perhaps is more problematic is her inability to understand that David loves her and finds her attractive - resulting in her kissing lothario Jerry Seymour (Reginald Gardiner) in her husband's presence. That IS a bit much.
Though released in 1943, it's apparent that Claudia is set before the start of the war (the play on which the screenplay is based opened in February of 1941). The perfectly able-bodied David is not set to go into the army, and he asks Claudia if she has heard of The Depression. Claudia is a flashback to an earlier and perhaps less painful time. Dorothy
McGuire came to Hollywood and this film, her first, straight from the New York stage, where she starred in the run of this play (from February of 1941 to January of 1943; Olga Baclanova and Frank Tweddell also came over from the play). Ms. McGuire would return to the stage several times after she she arrived in Hollywood. She was not a shoo-in for the part - Jennifer Jones, Joan Fontaine, and Katharine Hepburn were all considered.
In the years that followed this film, Ms. McGuire made some remarkable film, including The Enchanted Cottage (1945), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), The Spiral Staircase (1946), Friendly Persuasion (1956), and Gentleman's Agreement (1947) (for which she was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress). She worked fairly steadily until 1990; she would become a staple at Disney in films such as Old Yeller (1957) and (one of my favorites) Summer Magic (1963). She also made the transition to television, appearing in television films like She Waits (1972) and episodic TV such as St. Elsewhere (1986). Yet, despite this, she's really not acknowledged as one of the "greats" perhaps because, with her quiet beauty and low key performances, she literally melts into her characters. In fact, after she died in 2001 (at the age of 85), she was NOT included in the Academy's "In Memoriam" at the 2002 Oscars! Married to photographer Tom Swope from 1943 until his death in 1979, Ms. McGuire had two children.
Robert Young is fine as David, though his lack of understanding of his very young bride does make you want to throttle him at times. Does he really need to tease her about her attractiveness when she is so obviously insecure? And bringing a teenager, with no knowledge of life outside a big city to a farm, then leaving her there all day to fend for herself seems inconsiderate. Young wasn't the only actor considered for the part: Cary Grant, Franchot Tone, and Don Ameche were all considered (AFI Catalog). By far, the most appealing character in the piece is Ina Claire as Mrs. Brown. Claudia's mother is very aware of her daughter's foibles, and desperately needs Claudia to grow up. Regardless, she is a loving mother AND mother-in-law. Her affection and regard for David are genuine, and his regard is mutual. The lack of backstory in the film proves to be a deficit; one wonders how Claudia and David met, and why Claudia, with such a capable mother, is such a flibbertigibbet-gibbet? But we can assume that Mrs. Brown believed Claudia would gain maturity in college and with time, and would learn to do some of the tasks in which she is now immersed a bit more gradually.
Claudia was based on a series of short stories and books about the character. There was a second movie (which we will discuss next time), a radio show, and a television series (with Joan McCracken as Claudia). While the film is not perfect, it is certainly worth a viewing, if for no other reason than to see Dorothy McGuire's screen debut.
