Greta Garbo's performance makes this sparkling, perfectly timed comedy irresistible. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by the team of Walter Reisch, Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, Ninotchka develops from cynicism into about as warm a Cold War tale as ever there was. Ninotchka, the severe and dedicated Russian commissar, is sent to Paris to check up on the activities of three dubious emissaries. But romance threatens to melt the ice and foil the mission when the head of our bluenosed Red is turned by the good looks of dashing capitalist Melvyn Douglas. Sig Rumann, Felix Bressart and Alexander Granach are delightful as the Russian agents feeling their oats in Paris.