A massive movie star through the 1930s, Greta Garbo concluded her career via 1941’s Two-Faced Woman. For her penultimate film, we go back two years earlier for 1939’s Ninotchka.

Soviet representatives Buljanoff (Felix Bressart), Iranoff (Sig Ruman) and Kopalski (Alexander Granach) come to Paris to sell jewels that belonged to the Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire). When she learns of this, she attempts to reclaim her property.

The Grand Duchess’s friend Count Léon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas) manages to stall the sale and this brings stern Soviet envoy Nina Ivanovna "Ninotchka" Yakushova (Garbo) to settle the situation. Matters complicate when the no-nonsense Ninotchka finds herself romantically interested in the Count.

Back in 1939, they still nominated 10 movies for Best Picture, a practice that ended after the 1943 batch of films. Ninotchka became one of the 10 picks from 1939 and it lost to the legendary Gone With the Wind.

I can’t say the Academy denied Ninotchka a deserved Best Picture win. Even if one doesn’t think Gone With the Wind deserved the big prize – then called “Outstanding Production” – 1939 boasted so many classics like The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington that Ninotchka faced intense competition.

Still, Ninotchka does provide an unusually good romantic comedy, and I might feel Garbo merited the Best Actress trophy. She lost to Vivian Leigh’s work in Wind but I could make a strong case that Garbo deserved the prize instead.

Known for her somber and serious style, Garbo tried to alter that trend and come across as more frivolous and “American” with Two-Faced Woman. This didn’t go over well and the movie’s reception apparently stung Garbo.

Despite her reputation as dark and dramatic, Ninotchka shows Garbo’s comedic talents – within her established cinematic persona, that is. Indeed, Garbo shows a delightful willingness to self-parody as our title character.

Much of the film’s humor stems from its understanding that viewers would come to Ninotchka with a certain idea of what to expect from Garbo. It toys with these in a number of ways such us a couple scenes in which it reminds us of her most famous piece of dialogue: “I want to be alone”.

In other hands, these bits of self-reference could create eye-rolling, but Garbo’s deadpan approach to the part makes the jokes work. She refuses to break character and that means her performance becomes all the more effective.

Ninotchka does change and loosen up as the movie progresses. Garbo allows these developments to feel natural and logical.

Garbo enjoys good chemistry with Douglas as well. The film posits them as the usual opposites who attract and they pull off this potentially trite theme.

A taut script from Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Walter Reisch helps matters. The screenplay manages plenty of funny lines and a good narrative progression as well.

If forced to select an issue with Ninotchka, I’d say 111 minutes probably makes it a little long for its fairly simple plot. Nonetheless, the end result comes with more than enough cleverness and charm to allow me to ignore that “flaw” and enjoy this vivid rom-com.

Ninotchka appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was largely a strong presentation.

In general, sharpness satisfied, as the movie usually appeared well-defined. Some softness popped up for the occasional shot but the majority of the flick boasted nice delineation.

Shimmering and jaggies remained absent, and edge haloes also failed to appear. The movie’s grain structure felt natural, and print flaws didn’t mar the proceedings.

Blacks appeared deep and dark, and contrast came across well. Shadows generally held up nicely. Given its age, the image satisfied.

I also felt pleased with the sturdy DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack of Ninotchka, as it remained more than fine for its era. Speech could seem a bit brittle at times, but lines were intelligible and concise enough.

Music and effects displayed the expected restricted dynamic range, but they showed acceptable clarity and didn’t suffer from significant distortion. This was a more than competent track for a movie from 1939.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get two short films from 1939. The disc includes Prophet Without Honor (10:49) and The Blue Danube (7:18).

With Prophet, we get a historical tale that discusses Matthew Fontaine Maury (Tom Neal), a former Navy officer who pioneered oceanography. I don’t know how accurate the reel proves but it gives us an interesting look at a largely forgotten but significant figure.

An animated short, Danube offers an impressionistic view of nature accompanied by Johann Strauss’s famous music. It veers cutesy but still seems like a good piece of work.

Thanks to a sly script and an excellent lead performance from Greta Garbo, Ninotchka becomes an unexpected pleasure. It undercuts much of the sappiness typical of the rom-com genre to become a lively and amusing tale. The Blu-ray brings largely positive picture and audio but it skimps on supplements. Another fine film from 1939, Ninotchka delivers a winner.

Note that this version of Ninotchka can be found either on its own or as part of a four-film “Greta Garbo Collection”. In addition to Ninotchka, it includes 1930’s Anna Christie, 1933’s Queen Christina and 1936’s Camille with a list price of $39.99.