The Shop Around the Corner
(A- or 3.5/4 stars)
Longggg before Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan e-mailed each other in 1998's You’ve Got Mail and, before Van Johnson & Judy Garland corresponded in 1949's In the Good Old Summertime, James Stewart & Margaret Sullavan portrayed bickering co-workers who had unknowingly fallen in love through letters written to each other anonymously in 1940's 'The Shop around the Corner' (directed by Ernst Lubitsch). Set during Christmastime in Budapest, Jimmy Stewart plays bookish gift shop employee Alfred Kralik, who is hoping for a raise from his authoritative boss, Mr. Matuschek (wonderful Frank Morgan). Lovely Margaret Sullavan plays Klara Novak, who is able to convince Mr. Matuschek to hire her after she sells a musical cigarette box that Alfred said was not a good product.
Thus begins our love/hate relationship btwn. Alfred & Klara. Through their letters, they decide to meet for dinner. Both individually ask Mr. Matuschek for the night off. Klara gets to leave early, while Alfred winds up getting fired due to a big misunderstanding. Alfred dejectedly wanders to the restaurant knowing he can't meet his 'woman' without having a job. There, he spies Klara through the window & realizes that the woman he loves from the letters and the woman he loathes from the shop ... are the same woman. He heads on in, they chat a bit, but he doesn't reveal that he is her beloved secret pen pal. But love is NOT in the air for Klara. Annoyed that he may scare off the 'man' who is supposed to meet her, they end up arguing and, even insulting each other. Back at the shop the next day, Klara thinks her pen pal stood her up and, after all the horrible things said to each other, Alfred stops sending his love letters. But Alfred realizes that he loves her anyway. And it takes until the final act for Klara to realize that Alfred is her romantic unseen pen pal writer. What happens next is quiet, subtle, but altogether magical.
'The Shop around the Corner' is just wonderful. Though it appears to be a low-budget affair, the production set is highly evocative, filled with tiny details that lend it authenticity often missing from grander films. You really feel like you're watching Budapest during Christmastime, and yet, the story is so good that the setting could really be anywhere; and as is such, this film has been remade several times in different spots of the world. As for the story itself, I think it shows - not only a lovely, light romance - but a peek at small business life and how hard times can affect everyone from a pressured boss down to his/her neurotic employees.
But really, the heart of the film is the romance; an amusing, heartfelt story of romantically-entangled pen pal correspondents who are simply looking to find someone in this sometimes-cold world. Sure, on paper, the whole plot sounds a bit contrived. But the astute direction/writing & warm performances smooth out any contrivance. Whether bickering (his drawl delivery mixed with her gentle, smokiness) or speaking ever so tenderly towards each other, James Stewart & Margaret Sullavan have palpable chemistry; lending both credibility & heart to their sympathetic roles. How they weren't nominated for Academy Awards for these portrayals is beyond me. I also must mention Frank Morgan, who gives one of his finest performances as prickly, but good-intentioned Mr. Martuschek.
Morgan provides genial humor, as well as a healthy dose of pathos. And his final scene in front of the shop at closing time on Christmas Eve broke my heart with subtle joy; just full of spine-tingling goodness. The rest of the cast shine, too, in their smaller roles (including Joseph Schildkraut as a loud-mouth womanizing store clerk). Every character seems 'real'. The screenplay is witty, yet also sweet & meaningful {that two people fall in love through each other's thoughts/ideas, & not from anything carnal}. Ernst Lubitsch's direction is quietly superb. And so, 'The Shop around the Corner' is all about love in its simplest sense -- love of work, love of humans, love or love. It's a charming classic and, while I enjoy You've Got Mail & In the Good Old Summertime, I'm SO glad to have finally seen this original.
Thus begins our love/hate relationship btwn. Alfred & Klara. Through their letters, they decide to meet for dinner. Both individually ask Mr. Matuschek for the night off. Klara gets to leave early, while Alfred winds up getting fired due to a big misunderstanding. Alfred dejectedly wanders to the restaurant knowing he can't meet his 'woman' without having a job. There, he spies Klara through the window & realizes that the woman he loves from the letters and the woman he loathes from the shop ... are the same woman. He heads on in, they chat a bit, but he doesn't reveal that he is her beloved secret pen pal. But love is NOT in the air for Klara. Annoyed that he may scare off the 'man' who is supposed to meet her, they end up arguing and, even insulting each other. Back at the shop the next day, Klara thinks her pen pal stood her up and, after all the horrible things said to each other, Alfred stops sending his love letters. But Alfred realizes that he loves her anyway. And it takes until the final act for Klara to realize that Alfred is her romantic unseen pen pal writer. What happens next is quiet, subtle, but altogether magical.
'The Shop around the Corner' is just wonderful. Though it appears to be a low-budget affair, the production set is highly evocative, filled with tiny details that lend it authenticity often missing from grander films. You really feel like you're watching Budapest during Christmastime, and yet, the story is so good that the setting could really be anywhere; and as is such, this film has been remade several times in different spots of the world. As for the story itself, I think it shows - not only a lovely, light romance - but a peek at small business life and how hard times can affect everyone from a pressured boss down to his/her neurotic employees.
But really, the heart of the film is the romance; an amusing, heartfelt story of romantically-entangled pen pal correspondents who are simply looking to find someone in this sometimes-cold world. Sure, on paper, the whole plot sounds a bit contrived. But the astute direction/writing & warm performances smooth out any contrivance. Whether bickering (his drawl delivery mixed with her gentle, smokiness) or speaking ever so tenderly towards each other, James Stewart & Margaret Sullavan have palpable chemistry; lending both credibility & heart to their sympathetic roles. How they weren't nominated for Academy Awards for these portrayals is beyond me. I also must mention Frank Morgan, who gives one of his finest performances as prickly, but good-intentioned Mr. Martuschek.
Morgan provides genial humor, as well as a healthy dose of pathos. And his final scene in front of the shop at closing time on Christmas Eve broke my heart with subtle joy; just full of spine-tingling goodness. The rest of the cast shine, too, in their smaller roles (including Joseph Schildkraut as a loud-mouth womanizing store clerk). Every character seems 'real'. The screenplay is witty, yet also sweet & meaningful {that two people fall in love through each other's thoughts/ideas, & not from anything carnal}. Ernst Lubitsch's direction is quietly superb. And so, 'The Shop around the Corner' is all about love in its simplest sense -- love of work, love of humans, love or love. It's a charming classic and, while I enjoy You've Got Mail & In the Good Old Summertime, I'm SO glad to have finally seen this original.