Man99204
This movie should have been brilliant - it features Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr. Directed by the usually amazing King Vidor from a screenplay by Ben Hecht. It had everything going for it....I was stunned by how disappointing BAD this movie turned out to be.The central problem is the script, which is sub par - especially for an MGM production with their A List Actors. The script is preposterous from beginning to end. It makes little to no sense. And by the time the end comes, you are grateful it was such a short film.The high point of the movie is a "Military Ballet' in the last few minutes of the film.Clark Gable is normally one of my all time favorite actors. He is very disappointing in this movie. There is a reason Gable did not do comedies. While he can toss off a witty line with the best of them, he lacks the timing to successfully pull off the comedic demands of this role.Hedy Lamarr is horribly miscast as Russian Trolley Car driver. She does little more in this movie than "glow" in her close ups, and spout lines about how superficial beauty is. She totally lacks the sparkle which is present in her other films. La Marr appears to be heavily medicated in most of her scenes.Is this a bad movie" Yes indeed. It is probably one of the worst movies Gable ever made. But, you should still watch it.
SimonJack
If I were a Russian in 1940, with all the changes of commissars this film has, I would think that we Russians were awfully bad drivers. We keep losing so many commissars to traffic accidents. Well, whether it's traffic accidents, or a tank chase, or a secretary spy who succumbs to too much vodka, or a long walk from the trolley line back to Moscow – "Comrade X" is one very funny movie. It is another very lively, hilarious spoof of Soviet Russia. And, it joins another excellent spoof of the same genre by MGM just a year before – "Ninotchka."The settings for the two films are quite different, but the intended political ridicule is the same. And, they go about it in different ways. "Ninotchka" is a masterpiece of dialog, with running puns, metaphors and other witticisms. It has great acting as well in the expressions of its characters. "Comrade X" does not slay us with dialog, but instead mixes dialog with numerous situations. And those lend themselves very well to slapstick, screwball and goofy antics. One reviewer panned the big tank scene as silly. Of course it is. But, silly and goofy help make some comedies great. And the tank chase in this movie builds to a fitting climax for this film. It must surely be able to lay claim to being the greatest tank chase every filmed. The stars in "Comrade X" are all great. Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr play perfectly off each other as McKinley Thompson and Theodore. Did you catch her explanation for why she had a male name? Eve Arden does a hilarious job as American correspondent Jane Wilson, and Felix Bressart is very good as Vanya, Theodore's father. Other supporting actors are equally good. Sig Ruman is even better than his usual character of the insulted German, Emil Von Hofer. And, Vladimir Sokoloff is very funny as the demure communist, Michael Bastakoff, who was caught in the act of "committing a traffic accident." But Oskar Homolka stands out for his role as Vasiliev. His every line seemed to be delivered with a twinkle of humor in his eye. I think the entire cast must have had a ball making this film. The movie was released in the U.S. on Dec. 13, 1940, and in England on April 28, 1941. The Brits may well have appreciated as much the jabs at Nazi Germany in here. One of my favorite scenes is in the Kremlin Press Room. Jane Wilson (Eve Arden) says, "Probably the government has decided that from now on all foreign correspondents must be blindfolded and led around by seeing-eye-dogs. 'Anything to keep the truth out of print' is their motto." A nervous Von Hofer (Sig Ruman) says: "Please, Miss Wilson, do not speak for me. I am not complaining against the Russian government." Wilson responds, "My dear, Von Hofer, a German journalist is not in a position to complain against the absence of truth anywhere."Some other funny exchanges include this pick up from the above. A British journalist says, "Right you are Miss Wilson." Von Hofer says to him, "Excuse me!?" The Brit responds, "With pleasure, old boy." And Wilson concludes: "A fine world press we are. We can't even send out a weather report without having it censored."Vasiliev (Homolka) announces to the press room: "The former head of the press department was the victim last night of a traffic accident. I'm speaking at his grave at the Kapulski Cemetery at 3 o'clock." Thompson (Gable) says to Vanya (Bressart): "So the deal is, I get an obstinate lady motorman out of a country she doesn't want to leave?" Later, he is talking with Theodore (Lamarr), and she says: "I read in Pravda, 10 million people starved to death last winter in the United States, and there was nobody to bury them." Thompson says, "They don't bury people in the United States. They burn them." Theodore: "A nation of thieves." Thompson: "Yes! Ever hear of the Brooklyn Dodgers?" Theodore: "No!" Thompson: "They get murdered every day." Theodore: "Well then, what for?" Thompson: "For making some little errors." Theodore: "There must be a revolution soon in America."A newsman says to Vasiliev: "As God is my judge." Vasiliev says, "There is no God." The newsman: "Well, then whoever is in his place." Another person says to Vasiliev: "I can bring you witnesses that I never saw her before." Vasiliev to Thompson, "You have me at a disadvantage. I'll lay my cards under the table." Thompson, "As they say in my country, you can count me out." When they are thrown into prison, Thompson asks, "What are they singing?" Vanya says, "Same thing they always sing in prison – we are free." He yawns and says, "Oh, I'd like to get some sleep before I die." Bastakoff to Thompson: "My predecessor was the victim last night of a traffic accident." Thompson: "Is he expected to recover?" Bastakoff: "No, he caught pneumonia."Thompson, to Theodore: "What is love – an accident?" Theodore: "Gorsky says love is the failure of the mind to understand nature." Still later, the two are talking, and Gable describes the difficulty taking people away from hot dogs, boogie woogie, etc. Theodore says, "The problem of taking the masses away from boogie woogie is a difficult one." Later, when they have crossed a border river into Rumania in a tank, the Rumanian home guard flees in front of the tank. Thompson says, "You know, it's going to be tough to surrender to these people. You've got to catch them first.""Comrade X" is another great laugh fest that's guaranteed to entertain. It's a must for any serious film library.
ilprofessore-1
Who would have guessed that the usually wooden but dazzlingly beautiful Hedy Lamarr could be so delightfully funny, adorable and charming as she is in this Ninotchka role. It's a pity that she was rarely --if ever again-- given another opportunity to play this sort of anything-goes screwball comedy. Hedy here is as real and believable as Carole Lombard at her best. The script written by Ben Hecht ("Nothing Sacred"), Charlie Lederer ("The Front Page" screenplay) and the uncredited Herman Mankiewicz ("Citizen Kane") is a bizarre hard-boiled political satire ending with a lengthy and totally absurd slapstick Russian tank chase through the woods and across the river into Rumania. It looks as if it came straight out of a Max Sennett movie. Gable is his usual tough and handsome self, wonderfully adept with the throw-away gags he is given. The rest of the cast is rounded out with some of the best European character actors then living in Hollywood --the Germans Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart and the Viennese Oskar Homoloka—- all playing Russians and Germans. As an added bonus there is the first on-screen appearance by the rarely seen Berlin-born actress, Natasha Lytess ("Olga"), best remembered now as Marilyn Monroe's first acting coach way before her Lee Strasberg days.
lastliberal
It is Hedy Lamarr Month at TCM and they get a jump on it early with this screwball comedy that really show Ms. Lamarr's beauty.She was not a great actress, but she had a face that rivaled Helen of Troy. Paired here with Clark Gable in a satire of the Communist government in Russia, it was an enjoyable movie.Walter Reisch, who got an Oscar for the original Titanic, got a nomination for this story. His story was ably turned into a fine script by Ben Hecht (Notorious, Underworld, The Scoundrel, with assistance by Herman J. Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane) and Charles Lederer (the original Ocean's Eleven).Directed by five-time Oscar nominee King Vidor (War and Peace, The Crowd), it was a fine introduction to Lamarr.
