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Movies that feel like Ninotchka (1939)

If you loved Ninotchka, the closest films we have are The Rules of the Game (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and Trouble in Paradise (1932). All three share Ninotchka's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 7 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Criterion Channel and FlixFling and others, checked against today's data.

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

πŸ… 95% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.8 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Ernst Lubitschwittyplayfulromantictenderdarkly funny

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If Ninotchka hit the spot, these will too

The Rules of the Game poster
The Rules of the Game
1939 Β· dir. Jean Renoir
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.9drama Β· comedy Β· romance

Both rooted in Paris

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Ninotchka does

The Marquis de la Chesnaye and his wife host a weekend gala where a variety of complicated romantic and social entanglements between guests and servants lead to tragedy, all against the backdrop of a looming war.

Feels alike?
The Shop Around the Corner poster
The Shop Around the Corner
1940 Β· dir. Ernst Lubitsch
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Ernst Lubitsch working the same nerve twice

The difference: Missing the dark humor of Ninotchka

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

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Trouble in Paradise poster
Trouble in Paradise
1932 Β· dir. Ernst Lubitsch
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.9comedy Β· crime Β· romance

Ernst Lubitsch directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Not nearly as darkly funny as Ninotchka

Thief Gaston Monescu and pickpocket Lily are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet, the two crooks decide to combine their criminal talents to rob their employer. Under the alias of Monsieur Laval, Gaston uses his position as Mariette's personal secretary to become closer to her. However, he takes things too far when he actually falls in love with Mariette, and has to choose between her and Lily.

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To Be or Not to Be poster
To Be or Not to Be
1942 Β· dir. Ernst Lubitsch
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· war Β· romance

Witty and playful in the same breath

The difference: Leans harder into war than Ninotchka does

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes poster
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
1953 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· romance

Both keep coming back to the same thing: jewelry

Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much to the disapproval of Gus' rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw, Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone, a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.

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A New Leaf poster
A New Leaf
1971 Β· dir. Elaine May
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· romance

Both land romance and tenderness at once

The difference: Made in the 1970s, in a different era of the craft

After running out of funds, Henry Graham, a carefree playboy, plots to marry and murder wealthy botanist Henrietta Lowell.

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Last Night poster
Last Night
1998 Β· dir. Don McKellar
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· romance Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: satire

Various citizens of Toronto anxiously await the end of the world, which is occurring at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.

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The Awful Truth poster
The Awful Truth
1937 Β· dir. Leo McCarey
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.6comedy Β· romance

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings, whereupon they start undermining each other's attempts to find new romance.

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The Palm Beach Story poster
The Palm Beach Story
1942 Β· dir. Preston Sturges
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.5comedy Β· romance

Romance built on play, twice over

A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.

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Steamboat Bill, Jr. poster
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1928 Β· dir. Charles Reisner
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· romance

Romantic comedy in both cases

The just-out-of-college, effete son of a no-nonsense steamboat captain comes to visit his father whom he's not seen since he was a child.

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Holiday poster
Holiday
1938 Β· dir. George Cukor
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.7comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Tender romance, and it commits to that

Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams β€” Julia Seton, the spoiled daughter of a socially prominent millionaire β€” and she's agreed to marry him. But when Johnny plans a holiday for the two to enjoy life while they are still young, his fiancΓ©e has other plans & that is for Johnny to work in her father's bank!

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Adam's Rib poster
Adam's Rib
1949 Β· dir. George Cukor
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.4comedy Β· romance

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

A woman's attempted murder of her uncaring husband results in everyday quarrels in the lives of Adam and Amanda, a pair of happily married lawyers who end up on opposite sides of the case in court.

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The best-reviewed films that share Ninotchka’s defining feeling.