Ninotchka & Maskerade

In Wheeler Auditorium.

Admission: $2.50

Born in Vienna in 1903, Walter Reisch wrote and/or directed a number of films in Austria and Germany before emigrating to this country in 1938. Foremost among his German films is the classic Maskerade, which was remade in Hollywood as Escapade. As a screenwriter in Hollywood, Walter Reisch's best known works are surely Ninotchka and That Uncertain Feeling for his fellow expatriate Ernst Lubitsch; Gaslight, The Mating Season, The Model And The Marriage Broker, and Titanic (for which he won an Academy Award).

This program, the first in a series of sixteen programs surveying “German Film-Makers in Hollywood,” will begin with a screening of a 35mm print of Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka, which was written by Reisch, Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.

Ninotchka
Of course the film is world-famous as a cynical comedy starring Greta Garbo as the straight-laced Russian trade commissar who becomes romantically involved with a good-looking capitalist (Melvyn Douglas) during her period of service in Paris. Aside from the witty screenplay, and Garbo's presence, the film is distinguished by some delightful supporting performances by Sig Rumann, Felix Bressart, and Alexander Granach as Russian emigres.

This page may by only partially complete. For additional information about this film, view the original entry on our archived site.