Ninotchka (1960 film)

Ninotchka is a 1960 American TV film. It is a remake of the 1939 Greta Garbo film Ninotchka. It was directed by Tom Donovan.

Plot summary
Ninotchka (Maria Schell) is a dedicated Soviet official on assignment in Paris to barter jewels for farm machinery. Her perspective on life changes when she falls in love.

Cast

 * Maria Schell as Ninotchka
 * Gig Young as Leon
 * Zsa Zsa Gabor
 * Leon Belasco as Iranoff
 * Mischa Auer as Buljanoff
 * Henry Lascoe as Kopalski
 * Friedrich von Ledebur
 * William Hansen
 * Gerald Hiken
 * Anne Meara as Anna
 * Boris Tumarin

Production
It was one of a series of movies that David Susskind and his Talent Associates adapted for television. The starring role was given to Maria Schell who had just appeared in a TV adaptation of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Schell said she had not seen the film. She added that Billy Wilder told her "This is a girl who feels she has to be in love with mankind -and she falls in love with a man."

Reception
The Los Angeles Times called it an "expert production". The Chicago Tribune said Schell "couldn't have been a bigger hit." The New York Times called it a "highly polished production" which had "dated".