Cinema Club Brunch: NINOTCHKA

Rated NR; 110min; Director:Ernst Lubitsch (1939)  

Location: Alamo Downtown

Ernst Lubitsch brings his feather-light comic touch to this classic satirical comedy romance. The setting is Paris. A trio of Soviet bureaucrats are ensconced in a grand hotel to sell diamonds confiscated from the Russian aristocracy. But instead of hastily making the sale, the three comic emissaries find themselves ensnared in the decadent web of the city of light, and in no hurry to go home. Moscow responds by sending a hard-line, unswayable apparatchik to move things along. At first Comrade Ninotchka, brilliantly played by Greta Garbo, is appalled by the waste and inefficiency of the Parisian ways but soon the city, and debonair jewel thief Melvyn Douglas, win her over. Complications ensue with an exiled Russian Grand Duchess played by Ina Claire, also smitten with Douglas, who wishes to recover her jewels from the hotel safe where the Soviets have deposited it.

NINOTCHKA was released with the tagline "Garbo Laughs" and it was in fact her first comic performance on film. She is brilliant. Watching the assured way she handles the first class comic material - the script is by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett - it's hard to believe Garbo had not already been a comedienne for years. An intensely rewarding film classic full of romance and laughs - don't miss it.

Try a delicious Ninotchka Cocktail at the screening.

Also to be shown as part of our Cinema Club series with Dr. Charles Ramirez Berg on January 31.

Kid Policy: 18 and up; Children 6 and up will be allowed only with a parent or guardian. No children under the age of 6 will be allowed.

Screenings (click on a show time to buy tickets): No Shows Found