Ninotchka was made in 1939 as a satirical attack on the problems with Russian communism. It starred Great Garbo as a stern representative of the people coming to Paris to check on the 3 stooges of communism; the great Sig Ruman, Alexander Grannac, and Felix Bressart as Iranoff, Razinin, and Buljanoff. Melvyn Douglas was the Parisian playboy who works so hard to teach Garbo about Western love. 

Ernst Lubitsch directed the screenplay by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch. The marketing pitch was "Garbo Laughs!"

 Dennis Schwartz discussed the humor of Ninotchka, writing, "The sly political jokes include Garbo saying: "The last mass trials were a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians" and there are a few well-placed jokes mocking the failed Soviet Five-Year-Plan. The most noteworthy Lubitsch touch scene revolves around a stag feast in a luxury hotel ordered by capitalist Douglas for the three grateful comrade emissaries, who can't believe their good fortune."

Ninotchka was listed on the American Film Institute's greatest comedies of all time and Time magazine's all-time greatest movies.