This commedy has some moments of brilliance. A philosopher who becomes chief of the secret police and starts on his new job by having all his previous followers executed - that pretty much sums up how Stalin's Soviet Union worked in the 1930s. However, there are seriously weak points. Comrade X was shot (no pun) after Ninotchka, so you can't help comparing the two pictures. Unsurprisingly, Ninotchka comes out top. Its main advantage over Comrade X is that character development is much more convincing. Ninotchka arrives in Paris a committed communist and thaws gradually. Theodore (Hedy Lamarr) also starts out as a committed communist, but it takes only one event - the betrayal by her adored philosopher, now secret police chief - to turn her into a capitalist and a baseball fan.
There are also some needlessly long sequences, for example the tank chase, which after a while becomes tedious. I am not going to criticise Clark Gable for his usual macho shtik, which may have appealed to audiences in 1940 but does look a trifle overdone today. He is the loudest of the cast, but Lamarr is by far the most charming. She steals the picture. On balance, this is a nice enough commedy. There are worse ways to waste a good one and a half hours than watching this.
There are also some needlessly long sequences, for example the tank chase, which after a while becomes tedious. I am not going to criticise Clark Gable for his usual macho shtik, which may have appealed to audiences in 1940 but does look a trifle overdone today. He is the loudest of the cast, but Lamarr is by far the most charming. She steals the picture. On balance, this is a nice enough commedy. There are worse ways to waste a good one and a half hours than watching this.