Random Thoughts

[Rev. Rye]

Watching Ninotchka. I'm currently on the Eiffel Tower scene. Something about the scene where Greta Garbo walks all the way up the Eiffel Tower while Melvyn Douglas takes the elevator and still reaches the top before him made me want to look it up.

I don't know how true this was when it was shot 79 years ago, but today, it turns out that Ninotchka actually had the right idea: it's actually less-time consuming to just take the stairs to the top because of the lines to the elevator are really fucking long. The site I linked to even says that "you’ll be done with your entire visit before the others in the elevator line even make it to the elevator." This may have to do with the fact that the world population has more than tripled in the intervening time, and has a hell of a lot more disposable income. Also, the elevator is not (or at least no longer) included in the price of admission.

Also, for whatever reason, the film says that "Ascending to the first platform is a staircase consisting of... 829 steps. And an additional 254 steps to the very top." I have no idea where Billy Wilder got those numbers, since I've seen several estimates for the Eiffel Tower's number of steps and neither 829, 254, nor 1083 make any appearance. Maybe that's Charles Brackett's fault. Or Walter Reisch's.

Also, I can't help but wonder if Ninotchka (or maybe even Garbo herself) is supposed to have autism, due to her hyper-literal view of the world (or how much of it has to do with living in the USSR during Stalin's purges.)