This is a fantastic movie. I can't understand why some people have problems with it. Makes me wonder if we don't have some people recoiling at some innocent cracks made at the Soviet Union's expense. As a romantic comedy it has very few peers and is a great introduction to black and white films for those used only to color. There are a plethora of interesting secondary characters. Garbo is wonderful, of course, and Dougless is as good as I've seen him any film. Lubitsch's direction is masterly, but not 'ground-breaking', a fault for which some are willing to run him under the harrow -- a case of holding someone to impossible standards. Nobody can break new ground in every film -- sometimes we have to settle for mere masterly competence. See this film! Unless you happen to romanticize the former Soviet Union, you will enjoy it.
