The Shop Around the Corner

Rating:
Summary: Classic Jimmy Stewart
Review: "The Shop Around the Corner" is the first of three films based on the same story line. (The others are "In the Good Old Summertime," starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, and "You've Got Mail," starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.) This original version is, by far, the best of the three.

While the acting abilities of James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan are legendary, it's the supporting cast that truly carries this film. Frank Morgan (perhaps best known for his role as the Wizard of OZ) is marvelous as Mr. Matuschek, the shop owner. Sara Hayden, Felix Bressart, and Joseph Schildkraut round out the principle supporting cast and all turn in wonderful performances.

If you're a fan of James Stewart or Margaret Sullivan you must see this film. If you love romantic comedies, this is one of the best. And if you just want to see a thoroughly enjoyable movie, watch this one and you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully charming romantic comedy...
Review: Recently, The Shop Around the Corner was remade as the more modern You've Got Mail. Although You've Got Mail was a pretty enjoyable movie, it certainly did not come close to the perfection of the original, made in the 1930s by Lubitsch, who was the master of romantic comedy. Overall, this movie is wonderful - charming, sweet, original and witty! It is one of my favorites.

Essentially, The Shop Around the Corner is about an ordinary worker at a small department store (Jimmy Stewart) who is looking for the perfect girl. He begins to correspond with a facinating woman by mail, without knowing that she is actually the new coworker at the store (Margaret Sullavan) he detests face-to-face.

With a cleverly original plot, lots of great dialogue, and wonderful performances by two classic stars, James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, The Shop Around the Corner is a must-see. It is a very enjoyable movie - perfect for the whole family - get it and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Jimmy Stewart around the corner..
Review: This is a great 1940's film that might be considered the same as a small movie sleeper hit today. Great comic timing, deviousness, inuendo, accusations, dislike for fellow employee-you name it, this film has it all. I like the fact that it is somewhat daring for its time and the chemistry with it's stars is undeniable. Great love story too by the way.

Rating:
Summary: Another masterful comedy from Ernst Lubitsch
Review: In many ways, this is a very unusual Ernst Lubitsch comedy. Typically, Lubitsch was the unparalleled master of the sophisticated and elegant sex comedy--THE MERRY WIDOW, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, ONE HOUR WITH YOU, BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE, even NINOTCHKA, HEAVEN CAN WAIT, and TO BE OR NOT TO BE. The sex was definitely muted after 1934 and the beginning of the reign of the Hays office, but one suspects that even if Hays weren't censoring films (for instance, insisting exclusively on twin beds in movies, a double bed, in his mind, being far too suggestive), THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER would look pretty much the way it was made. If in his other films Lubitsch covers the sexier realm of romance, in this one, he explores romance based on mutual respect. Also, in this film the main characters are far less elegant and far more working class. Instead of focusing on hoi polloi, the film deals with those who wait on them.

Perhaps because his subject matter is simpler than in his other films, Lubitsch engages in far fewer of the cinematic pyrotechnics he employs in his other films. The narrative here is far more straightforward. Like in most of his films, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER is impeccably well cast, from the leads to the least of the supporting characters. Jimmy Stewart (did he make more first rate films than anyone in the history of cinema?) and Margaret Sullivan are outstanding in the romantic leads. Stewart was perfect for the role of head clerk. It is hard to imagine Stewart playing a prince or a king, but no one played unpretentious, working guys better than Stewart. Sullivan never had the kind of career her talent seemed to mark out for her, but THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER puts that talent on display and makes me regret she made so few films. But for my money Frank Morgan, fresh off his reign as The Wizard of Oz, steals most of the scenes he is in.

This is just a great movie. Not perhaps one of Lubitsch's very greatest films, but one that shows that he was the greatest master of the romantic comedy of his or any other era.

Rating:
Summary: Great Anytime, Not Just for Christmas!
Review: This is a wonderful charming movie about two coworkers who can't stand each other but they each don't know they are penpals and each can't wait to get each others penpal letters. This was remade into a musical starring Judy Garland (Don't know the title) and than the movie You've Got mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Both James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan are wonderful in this movie and they had great chemistry together and whoever first thought of casting these two together is a genious! This romantic movie has some comedy in it but there is also drama so it's not one of those screwball comedies that is filled with slapstick. I just watched this movie for the first time this summer and even though some of the movie takes place around Christmas I don't think it's considered to strictly be a Christmas movie so I think it really can be watched anytime of the year and is very highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A Charming Christmas Treat
Review: "The Shop Around the Corner" is a film about people. Simple everyday people, and just how colorful they can realy be. That romance plays a large role in the lives of people is, as far as this film is concerned, of no coincidence. Set around Christmas, "The Shop Around the Corner" makes a wonderfully festive film, although it does not deal with Christmas directly. But as Christmas brings out both the best and worst of people, it could not be a better stage for this delightful and touching film. In the hands of a great director a depression ridden Budapest becomes a soft, charming heaven on earth. And two "psychologicaly very confused" people become the luckiest on earth.

As it is nearing the Holidays, please, do not pass up this film. Get as many people you love together, or perhaps best just that special one, and prepare to be introduced to a wonderful new Christmas tradition.

Rating:
Summary: She's no Meg Ryan
Review: This is the original, later remade into "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Jimmy Stewart gives a sensative performance worth seeing, but Margaret Sullivan is no Meg Ryan. Her performance is melodramatic by today's standards although not an unusual style for her time. In addition, her character lacks empathy with Stewart's, a depth that the remake has managed to achieve nicely. If you loved "You've Got Mail" it's worth at least seeing, if not owning, a copy of "The Shop Around the Corner."

Rating:
Summary: You must get this video for Christmas!
Review: The Christmas season is coming and if you still don't have this movie, I very strongly recommend you get this movie! It's one of those classics you can't miss!

James Stewart is Alfred Kralik, a poor salesman working in a small shop in Budapest, Hungary. Working under Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan), he is the head salesman and his opinions are held in high esteem. One day though, jobless Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) comes to the shop to ask for a job. On that very same day Kralik and Matuschek had been having an argument on a cigarrete-music box. Kralik doesn't like it while Matuschek does but Klara shows her expertise by selling that same box at a very good price. From then on Kralik and Klara can't stand each other. Whether arguing about clothes, sales tecniques, or opinions on each other, it doesn't matter. They try to stay away from each. While at the same time, Kralik is having a great time corresponding with an anonymous woman and begins to fall in love with her. But when Kralik loses his job for almost no apparent reason on the same day he is going to meet with his mystery lover, he doesn't think he can face her.

A totally wonderful story with such a great cast, each and every actor and actress perfect for the parts they portray. With James Stewart ("It's a Wonderful Life") as the quiet, responsible clerk Klarik, Margaret Sullavan ("The Shopworn Angel") as the fast talking, romantic Miss Novak, and Frank Morgan ("The Wizard of Oz") as the demanding yet endearing boss.

But I think the most reason I love this movie is because of the fast-talking, witty humor. One of my most favorite characters is William Tracy as Pepi Katona, the delivary boy. I like the part where at the hospital, Pepi says, "I would describe myself as a contact man. I keep contact between Mr. Matuschek and the customers. On a bicycle." The doctor says, surprised, "Do you mean you're an errand boy?" Pepi then says haughtily, "Doctor, did I call you a pill peddler?" I also like Felix Bressart as Pirovitch, the clerk who always hides whenever Matuschek asks for "an true and honest opinion."

For those who love this movie I highly recommend "You've Got Mail" with great actor Tom Hanks and actress Meg Ryan. And for those who have seen "You've Got Mail", vice versa, you should see this movie. They're so alike, even some of the lines are the same!

Rating:
Summary: A lot to notice
Review: This is a very great artistic masterpiece. At first I wanted to see it only because it had Margaret Sullavan. As I've come to know it better, I've realized what a genius James Stewart was to have been able to do what he does here. In one scene near the central climax, Frank Morgan says something to Stewart that is so completely unexpected ("I really believe that you'd be happier somewhere else") that Stewart is rendered speechless for a few long seconds. What he is able to express with his face during those seconds is miraculous: incredulous near-amusement, an attempt to speak, a wave of anger. Finally he finds his voice with the stunned "do you really think so, sir?" Then notice Morgan's sigh of anguish after he says "yes, I...I'm sure of it." He's banishing his own son and heir, after all.

Something else to notice is the absence of musical underscoring. The movie if full of music, but none of it is of the conventional film type: Pepe's whistled tune at the very beginning, the tinkling Ochi Tchornya boxes (that rise to a cacophony at one point late in the film), clocks tolling the hour, and (in the magnificent centerpiece scene) the little cafe orchestra. Even the ringing of cash registers on Christmas Eve is exploited for musical effect. An obvious reason to avoid underscoring is realism: shops in mid-1930's Budapest had no Muzak. Less obvious is the structural purpose: the relative starkness of the sound before and after it allows the centerpiece scene in the cafe to stand out like a musical oasis. In other words, music takes on a richness and prominence in this scene that it does not have anywhere else in the film, and that is part of what makes this scene the centerpiece.

Rating:
Summary: A great film!
Review: This is indeed a great film. They don't make them like this anymore. It's a very innocent sweet, romantic film. I'd give it ten stars if I could. I highly recommend it.