Comrade X (1940)Just before we got into World War II, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a non- aggression pact. Mac Thompson (Clark Gable) is a foreign correspondent who has been sneaking out uncensored news out of Soviet Russia. The secret police are suspicious of him, but it's the hotel's valet, Igor Yahupitz (Felix Bressart) who knows that it's Mac. He tells Mac that if he can smuggle his daughter, Theodore (Hedy Lamarr) out of the Soviet Union, into America, he won't tell anybody.The fly in the ointment is that Theodore is a loyal Communist and, just like in Ninotchka (1939), Mac has got to convince her to leave her beloved country and go with him, all while trying to stay away from the Commissars. Of course all of the upper ranking Soviet officers are worried about being killed off in Stalin's Purge.King Vidor directed this fast-paced anti-communist comedy with a screenplay written by Ben Hecht. Jane Wilson (smart-mouthed Eve Arden) is one of my favorite characters, also the Nazi correspondent Emil Von Hofer (Sig Ruman) is an easy target of ridicule.

CLARK GABLE and HEDY LAMARR share the screen in a romantic comedy along the lines of "Ninotchka", which made such a success for Greta Garbo. Obviously, Louis B. Mayer hoped COMRADE X would do for Hedy what the other film did for Garbo's image--and to some extent, it did.It's not as sophisticated and witty as the Garbo film, but Hedy plays a dedicated Soviet woman who thinks that an American that she is attracted to (CLARK GABLE) shares the same philosophy. FELIX BRESSART is her scatterbrained father, EVE ARDEN is an American newspaper woman and SIG RUMAN is a loyal Nazi foreign correspondent in Russia who is just as confused as everyone else as to the identity of "Comrade X".It's a good role for Hedy, playing her role very much the way Cyd Charisse played the Russian gal in "Silk Stockings", and with a comic flair that she seldom exhibited in any of her MGM films, even the so-called comedies. Gable is more or less himself as the cynical newspaper man who ends up taking his bride (Lamarr) to America after they've had a few escapades that have the Soviet authorities chasing them all over the hillsides in tanks--the film's most amusing moments.One of the funniest performances comes from NATASHA LYTESS, as Olga, a secretary who tells Gable she's a spy. Her drunken antics are a highlight (she can't see a thing without her glasses). Lytess was Marilyn Monroe's acting coach for several years, the superstar being dependent on her for her every move during her early films at Fox.

Okay, it's time to turn off your brain so you can enjoy a movie! This really isn't meant as an insult, as I really liked this Clark Gable film once I stopped worrying about how ridiculous the plot was and just watched it for the pure sake of enjoyment. Trust me--if you think too much while watching this film, you'll probably get a headache! Clark is an American newspaper correspondent in the USSR in 1940. At this point in history just before the US entered WWII, the attitude in the US was was starting to turn against Nazi Germany and we still tended to laugh at the stupidity and backwardness of the Soviets. This was a BRIEF transition period, as all films made from 1942-1945 suddenly portrayed the USSR as our wonderful and loyal friend and the Russian people as decent and brave since they were now our allies! Well, none of that is evident here. The Soviet government was made up of stupid, ruthless evil men in this film (instead of the smart and ruthless evil men like real life). And, Clark's job was to easily outwit the government and smuggle out articles under the pen name of "Comrad X"--decrying the evils of Communism.All is going well until a lowly hotel worker, Felix Bressart, announces to Clark that he knows he is Comrad X and will report him to the government unless he agrees to smuggle out his daughter (played by Hedy Lamarr). The problem is that Hedy is a dyed-in-the-wool Communist and supporter of Soviet expansion! So, Clark lies to her and tells her he wants to take her to America so she can convince everyone that the Soviet system is best! She soon realizes he's lying, but after her mentor, Bastakoff, tells her to marry him, she does (after only knowing him a few hours).The party Commissar Vasiliev (Oskar Homolka) in charge of the foreign press calls Clark in to his office just before Clark can escape to America. he has found Clark's hidden camera and thinks he might be Comrad X, so he has Clark, Hedy and Felix imprisoned. Soon, a hundred of so of Bastakoff's supporters are jailed with them and are soon executed. With only the three of them left, Clark decides to sell the Commissar information--that Bastakoff was behind an assassination attempt on Valiliev. But, when Clark is taken to see the commissar, he finds it is now Bastakoff! Vasiliev has met with an "accident" and Clark knows the same will happen to him and his new family unless they escape. So, he makes a deal with Bastakoff to give him an incriminating photo, but quickly dodges all of the Russian secret police, police and army with his wife and father-in-law! In the end, they sneak into a tank that's aboard a train headed for maneuvers. It turns out the tank is the general's tank and all the other tanks follow them--across the border into Romania! The Romanians run in terror thinking they've been invaded, but all is right in the end.If you think all this stuff is pretty familiar, think back one year to another MGM film, NINOTCHKA. In this film, Garbo plays almost the same role Hedy plays and the movies are extremely similar in tone. I would have to say that COMRAD X is more silly fun, but NINOTCHKA is definitely a much better film. See them both if you'd like--I did.

I thought the chemistry between Hedy and Clark were great. She really came off as a very good commedienne. I thought the lines were real clever and that ending...wow...all those tanks. I enjoyed this movie more than the Ninotchka.