​Legendary satiric rom-com restoration on Blu-ray

Another in the canon of popular 1939 film classics released on Blu-ray this June, and a frequent staple of the Turner Classic Movies channel, was a contender in four of the major Academy Award categories for that year.

The MGM production “Ninotchka” is an endearing (and enduring) blend of bright romantic comedy and somewhat darker political satire that is now available in Warner Home Video’s “The Golden Year: 1939” box set as well as individually.

The plot device of a stuffy, uptight person gradually being opened up to enjoying life through interactions with a much more free-spirited person of the opposite sex is a frequent staple of romantic comedies. One of the prime examples is Ernst Lubitsch’s “Ninotchka.”

The screenwriters (including Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett) also utilize their story to lampoon the perils and restrictive policies of Communism and Nazism, as well as the decadent excesses of Russian aristocracy and western capitalism, along with the joys of living in Paris, just as World War II was about to break out in Europe.

The film’s U.S. release was in the fall of 1939 with a Los Angeles premiere in October and a New York premiere in November, shortly after the war started. Its clever comedy, romantic chemistry, political timeliness and Lubitsch’s deft touch helped it earn Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Story, Screenplay and Actress.

The story involves expatriate Russian royalty living in Paris. Some, like the Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire) live luxuriously off of what they were able to smuggle out after the revolution (barely two decades before). Others, like Count Leon (Melvyn Douglas), live luxuriously off the favors (financial and otherwise) of the grand duchess. Still others must find work as employees in fancy hotels, now using their trained manners to serve their fellow aristocrats as well as those who were once beneath them.

Three former peasants, now Soviet officials (Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart and Alexander Granach), show up to raise money for the faltering government by selling off some royal jewels seized after the revolution (coincidentally the jewels of the Duchess Swana). However, the trio quickly become seduced by the pleasantries of Parisian life, thanks to Count Leon’s schemes to recover the jewels for the countess, which include delaying the sale with a legal injunction.

Greta Garbo stars in the title role as a stern Soviet commissar sent to find out what is holding up the sale. Before confronting her adversary in the case, she accidentally meets Leon without either of them realizing who the other is, and her no-nonsense business-focused attitude gradually yields to his charms.

Horror film icon Bela Lugosi has a rare straight dramatic role as a dour Soviet official. The rest of the film builds and elaborates entertainingly on these events and characters until the inevitable happy resolution, with a cleverly ironic and again highly satiric final shot.

The romantic comedy that forms the basis of the plot may be what gives “Ninotchka” its timeless appeal. Another aspect for movie fans is its gentle satire of Garbo’s own heavily dramatic screen image, as this was her first comedy (and second-to-last film). Even the promotional materials made a big deal out of the fact that “Garbo Laughs!”

But it is the political satire, which no doubt seemed much stronger in 1939 and 1940 than it does now, that gives the film an edginess raising it to a higher level of art while simultaneously dating it for modern viewers who are unfamiliar with 20th century history.

The updated musical remake from 1957, “Silk Stockings” (available on DVD but unfortunately not yet on Blu-ray), is also strongly dated, in that case to the 1950s Cold War atmosphere, but it holds up better overall with some of its satire directed at Hollywood movies themselves (including the proliferation and promotion of new film technology trends like color, widescreen and stereo sound). Nevertheless, the humanity of the characters and plenty of comic one-liners keep the 1939 version of “Ninotchka” a favorite among film buffs.

Despite the unfortunate fact that the original camera negative to “Ninotchka” no longer survives, Warner’s Blu-ray has excellent film-like picture quality and fine sound, scanned from 35mm preservation elements in beautiful condition. Bonus features are an original trailer, an interesting Oscar-nominated MGM 1939 historical short “Prophet Without Honor,” and a wonderful 1939 MGM cartoon by Hugh Harman, “The Blue Danube,” strongly reminiscent of Disney’s “Fantasia,” which was still in production at that time. Unfortunately all of the bonus features are in standard-definition.

“NINOTCHKA” on Blu-ray – Movie: A- / Video: A / Audio: A / Extras: C+