There was a terrorist threat in Paris yesterday with a bomb scare at the Eiffel Tower. Any thought of the Eiffel Tower for me always triggers memories of scenes from one of my favorite movies, Ninotchka. It is a film from that legendary year in moviemaking, 1939, starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas and a wonderful cast of supporting character actors.
Ninotchka (Garbo) is a Soviet civil servant sent to Paris to expedite the sale of Russian royal jewels confiscated in the Communist Revolution, which has been held up by the three Soviet agents sent there previously who will do anything to slow the process so that they can further enjoy the luxuries and pleasures of Paris. Ninotchka is a no-nonsense, stern woman who is meticulous in detail. In Paris, she encounters and falls in love with Douglas before realizing he is the agent for the Russian countess whose jewels they are attempting to sell.
That’s all I will say except that it is a charming movie with wonderful lines and performances. If you’ve never seen Garbo, this is a great place to start. She was a mega-star at the time and to see this, one understands why. She is radiant on the screen. Melvyn Douglas gives a great comic performance as do the three actors portraying the bumbling agents (Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart and Alexander Granach.)
Just great moviemaking from director Ernst Lubitsch and writer Billy Wilder. Technically, several of the scenes are one-shots, meaning that there are no editing cuts in the scenes and that the whole scene is shot with one camera. It’s a small detail but it adds a lot to the appearance of the film and the feeling of continuity and unity throughout. It’s one of those films, like Casablanca, that I can watch at anytime from any point in the film. Good stuff.
Anyway, that is my trigger memory whenever I hear mention of the Eiffel Tower. Here’s a taste of Ninotchka:
Redtree Times 