* ActorInspiredElement: Although Creator/GretaGarbo's famous hat in the film was made by her regular costumier Adrian, it was actually based on a sketch by Garbo herself.
* BannedInChina: Banned in the Soviet Union, for obvious reasons. Also, a U.S. re-release in the early 1940s was cancelled on the grounds that the U.S.S.R. was now considered a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ally.
* BillingDisplacement: Creator/BelaLugosi received fourth billing even though he appears only near the end of the movie and only in one scene with Creator/GretaGarbo.
* FakeRussian: The only Russian character played by a Russian actor is Count Alexis (Gregory Gaye). Ninotchka is played by the Swedish Creator/GretaGarbo. The actors playing the three diplomats were German. Creator/BelaLugosi (who played the commissar) was Hungarian.
* FollowTheLeader: The film's plot of a humorless female lead learning to have fun was inspired by ''Joy of Living''. Greta Garbo even resembled Irene Dunne - who was the lead in the latter.
* OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt: As part of Creator/ErnstLubitsch's deal for directing, Creator/{{MGM}} agreed to make ''Film/TheShopAroundTheCorner'' for him afterwards.
* PlayingAgainstType:
** Greta Garbo was of course known for tragic lovers or the FemmeFatale. Here she first plays TheComicallySerious and turns into a DefrostingIceQueen.
** It's also one of the very few non-horror films Lugosi appeared in (though he's still pretty scary).
* RealitySubtext: Both Greta Garbo and Ina Clare had been involved with the same man, leading to another layer in their scenes as competitive women.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/CaryGrant, Creator/RobertMontgomery, Creator/WilliamPowell and Creator/SpencerTracy were considered for Leon.
** Creator/GeorgeCukor was originally set to direct, but he dropped out in order to make ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''...which he was later fired from.
** Greta Garbo was initially unsure about appearing in a comedy, and was especially nervous about the scene where Ninotchka gets drunk.
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