[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninotchka_9.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:"A Russian! I love Russians! Comrade, I've been fascinated by your five-year plan for the last fifteen years."]]

->''"The last mass trials have been a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians."''
-->-- '''Ninotchka'''

''Ninotchka'' is a 1939 Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer RomanticComedy, directed by legendary director Creator/ErnstLubitsch, co-written by Creator/BillyWilder and starring Creator/GretaGarbo and Creator/MelvynDouglas, set in interbellum Paris and Moscow.

Three bungling Soviet diplomats aim to sell some Romanov diamonds to a Parisian jeweller to raise funds for the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. Nina Ivanovna Yakushova, nicknamed "Ninotchka" (Garbo), an IceQueen diplomat, is sent over to help them after they make a mess of it. In Paris, she meets and falls in love with Parisian ''boulevardier'' and aristocrat Leon d'Algout (Douglas). In this she finds herself rivaled by the diamonds' original owner, the Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire), who wishes to retrieve both the jewels and Leon's affections. Swana manipulates Ninotchka into abandoning Leon in order to keep the jewels for Russia. Leon, however, does not accept the situation...

Creator/BelaLugosi has a small part as Soviet commissar Razinin. It's one of the few non-horror films he ever appeared in, but he's still pretty creepy.

The story was later remade as the musical ''Film/SilkStockings,'' with music by Cole Porter, which was [[RecursiveAdaptation itself adapted]] into a 1957 {{Creator/MGM}} film with Creator/FredAstaire and Creator/CydCharisse in the Douglas and Garbo parts, respectively.
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!!This film provides examples of:

* ActorAllusion:
** Ninotchka is asked if she wants to be alone, and she later says "we want to be alone" - as a nod to the famous line from ''Film/GrandHotel''.
** The film's tagline was 'Garbo Laughs', as a nod to her first talkie (''Anna Christie'') being advertised with 'Garbo Talks!'
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Razinin tells Ninotchka about the report from Constantinople about Bujlianoff, Iranoff and Kopalski ("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 then complain to the management that it didn't fly?"), Ninotchka clearly suppresses a chuckle.
* BadBoss: Komissar Razinin is feared by pretty much all of his underlings, as he has the power to order deportations to [[PlaceWorseThanDeath Siberia]].
* BlackComedy: Everything about the conditions in Russia. The page quote is a perfect example.
* BluntYes: When Iranoff asks the jeweler inspecting the crown jewels if they give off the impression of being pressed for money, he replies with a blunt "Yes".
* TheButlerDidIt: Double subverted. The butler seemed suspicious from the beginning. Then the jewelry is gone and Leon becomes the prime suspect, but it turns out it was indeed the butler.
* CharacterDevelopment: Ninotchka and Leon change each other. She loosens up, and he starts urging his butler to revolt.
* ChekhovsGun: Ninotchka notices the hat in the shopping window when she arrives. Later she wears it when visiting Leon.
* CompartmentShot: Twice do we get a shot from inside the hotel room safe onto the characters staring at it.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Who does Leon unknowingly [[MeetCute meet in the streets]] and [[LoveAtFirstSight immediately fall in love with]]? The adversary in his lawsuit.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** When Ninotchka asks Leon some odd questions, he gives some silly answers with a straight face.
** Also Ninotchka in her IceQueen state.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Ninotchka.
* DoggedNiceGuy: Leon, but soon he wins Ninotchka over with his charm.
* DontExplainTheJoke: Leon falls into this trap with the cream versus milk joke. It goes over well with everyone else, but his insistence on making Ninotchka see the humor sinks him.
* FailedFutureForecast: Before the film's release, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII broke out and ruined the premise. Hence, there's a title card that rather artfully tells us that the movie takes place before the war.
* FrenchMaid: [[RuleOfThree Three]] of them, cigarette girls at the hotel that the three bumbling Russian envoys have a good time with.
* GaussianGirl: The close-up on Ninotchka is slightly out of focus when she explains to Leon why the Soviets are forced to sell their valuables.
%%* GayParee
* GenderConcealingWriting: The message to the three bungling Soviet diplomats about a special envoy arriving from Moscow is intentionally not mentioning any gender. It leads to a surprise reveal at the train station.
* GloriousMotherRussia: Most stereotypes are present in this movie.
* HandsOnApproach: Leon uses Ninotchka's hand to point at the Eiffel Tower on her map. He explains his flirting tactic away by noting that it's impolite to point with one's own finger.
* IdleRich: When Ninotchka asks Leon what he is doing for a living, his response suggests "nothing".
* IKissYourHand: Leon kisses Ninotchka's hand in excitement when she comes around to his apartment in a new dress and that fashionable hat. He does it again during their BigDamnReunion in Constantinople.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: One of the waiters at Ninotchka's hotel is a White Russian count.
* INeedAFreakingDrink:
** After Swana icily reminds Ninotchka that the lawsuit will be over in just a few days, Ninotchka asks for another glass of champagne and downs it quickly.
** Leon goes to the bar after walking a drunk Ninotchka to the powder room and orders a double brandy. When a waiter informs him that she's spreading communist propaganda there, Leon orders a triple brandy.
* InLoveWithTheMark: After a while, Leon stops caring about retrieving the Grand Duchess's jewels.
* InternalReveal: When both Leon and Ninotchka learn who their love interest really is.
* KissOfDeath: Discussed and implied when Ninotchka tells Leon how she kisses the Polish lancer, who almost killed her, before he died.
* LadykillerInLove: Leon turns over a whole new leaf after meeting Ninotchka.
* LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone: During the BigDamnReunion in Constantinople, the three Russian diplomats silently leave the room to give Ninotchka and Leon the privacy they deserve.
* LivingPhoto: Ninotchka has a photograph of Lenin on her nightstand. At one point, after she had a great night out with Leon, Lenin changes his stern look into a smile, reflecting Ninotchka's character development into a DefrostingIceQueen.
* LoudSleeperGag: Back in Moscow, Ninotchka now lives with two other girls in the same room. One of them is a loud sleeper which annoys the heroine at one point.
* MeasuringTheMarigolds: Leon notes that Ninotchka's TheSpock approach of analyzing all human feelings from a scientific perspective makes her incapable of actually experiencing those emotions.
* MeetCute: As seen in the page image--Leon meets Ninotchka at a street crossing as she's puzzling over a map.
* MustMakeHerLaugh: Leon attempts to win Ninotchka over in a restaurant by making her laugh, but fails. Then he has an accidental pratfall and she cracks up for the first time in her life.
* NewhartPhonecall: When Swana calls the chief of police after receiving news about her jewels being in Paris, we only hear her part of the conversation.
* NoSenseOfHumor: Leon attempts to make Ninotchka laugh by telling her jokes, to absolutely no effect. Then she sees him fall on his ass, and...
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: After Ninotchka agrees to leave the country immediately, she receives a [[FlowersOfRomance bouquet of flowers]] from Leon who adds a note about how excited he is about their upcoming dinner appointment. This twists the figurative knife in her stomach even further.
* OffscreenTeleportation: Ninotchka insists on taking the stairs at the Eiffel Tower. Leon takes the elevator. When he gets to the observation platform she's there to meet him. Doubles as an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome for Ninotchka as anyone with first-hand experience can tell you it would take a couple of hours to climb all the stairs up in real life.
* OldRetainer: Ninotchka remarks on the old age of Leon's butler and that Leon should not make him work anymore. The butler himself is perfectly happy with his job.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: When Swana and Ninotchka meet at a party, Swana makes a passive-aggressive remark about the dress. Ninotchka says that it must be a strange sight, but the proletariat women aren't embarrassed to wear low-cut gowns because they no longer have cuts from the Cossacks' whips. Swana lightly replies that the whips were a mistake--they should have used guns instead.
** The two have a similar passive-aggressive conversation after the jewels are stolen and Swana suggests her deal to Ninotchka.
* ProtagonistTitle: The movie is named after the female lead's first name.
* RuleOfThree: The RunningGag about Western fashion. Ninotchka notices a ludicrous hat in a display window and complains about it, claiming Russian superiority because they don't waste time making foolish things like ''that''. She sees that hat a second time, and wordlessly displays her contempt for it. [[spoiler:The third time the audience sees that hat, she's wearing it!]]
* ScarSurvey:
-->'''Ninotchka''': Would you like to see my wound?\\
'''Leon''': I'd love to.\\
'''Ninotschka''': A Polish lancer. I was 16.
* SecondActBreakup: After the InternalReveal about their roles in the jewelry case, Ninotchka leaves Leon and he has to fight his way back into her heart.
* SensualSlavs: The other end of the ideological spectrum, the Blonde Communist Sex Kitten.
* ShotAtDawn: Ninotchka and Leon playfully reenact such a scene with a popping champagne cork after she mentions what Great Russia would have in store for a traitor like her.
* ShoutOut:
** In the form of a direct [[{{Subversion}} repudiation]] of Garbo's SignatureLine from her earlier hit, ''Film/GrandHotel'':
--->'''Iranoff:''' Do you want to be alone, comrade?\\
'''Ninotchka:''' No.
** DoubleSubverted, though, when she later tells Leon's butler: "Go to bed, Little Father -- we want to be alone."
* ShutUpKiss: Played with--Leon gives a long speech about love, and Ninotchka replies, "You're very talkative." Except he's the one who plants one on her right after that. However, it's played straight when he's about to give another long speech about love a few seconds later, and she stops him by kissing him.
%%* TheHedonist: Leon, in the beginning.
%%* TheSpock: Ninotchka, in the beginning.
* ThirdActMisunderstanding: Subverted. When Ninotchka wakes from her late night out, the jewels are gone and the first person to suspect is of course Leon. However, the trope is abandoned immediately with the Duchess revealing that TheButlerDidIt.
%%* TotalitarianUtilitarian: Ninotchka's worldview in the beginning.
* TranslationConvention: Everyone speaks English, even though all the characters are either French or Russian.
%%* UptightLovesWild: With a {{genderflip}} from the usual pattern.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: "The last mass trials have been a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians."
* VodkaDrunkenski: Wherever they go, the [[RuleOfThree three]] scoundrels can't hide their origins for long.
* WhenHarryMetSvetlana: Leon, who is dating a White Russian countess and trying to retrieve her diamonds, meets and falls in love with the lady commissar who is attempting to sell the diamonds on behalf of the Soviet Union.
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