The Shop Around the Corner

1940 "Just LOOK at WHO GET THAT SLY "LUBITSCH TOUCH" NOW!"
8| 1h39m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 12 January 1940 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

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Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
SnoopyStyle In Budapest, Hungary, Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) is the best salesman in Hugo Matuschek's luxury store. Hugo hires Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) as a new saleswoman and Alfred is not happy. They are fire and water. He has been clashing with Mr. Matuschek. After he asks for his first night off to meet his pen pal for the first time, Mr. Matuschek lets him go. Without a job in the tough environment, he is reluctant to meet his mystery pen pal. In reality, Mr. Matuschek had assumed that Alfred was having an affair with his wife.This takes a little while to get funny or romantic. It's about halfway thru when they get together in the coffee shop. It is the height of hilarity as each has differing point of views. It's done with a dash of darkness. Alfred can be a high-minded snob but Jimmy Stewart keeps his endearing personality in the role. That's the secret. He make this character work and maintains the romantic connection. Some modern audience will recognize the plot's similarities to You've Got Mail. Note Meg Ryan's store is called The Shop Around The Corner. This is definitely a rom-com classic.
elvircorhodzic Festive atmosphere flavored family drama, spontaneous love, heartfelt comedy and healthy humor. Director Lubitsch's film spice with warm and everyday human subjects. „THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER" is a pleasant place with a lot of respect and charm. The film is a bit slow. I think that this approach is intentional, because this looks more realistic. The story is more or less everyday. The love affair or the love of the main character are strange spices in the story. Both changes in the daily routine of the protagonists and their views on life. Lonely hearts connected a piece of paper. True. It is fascinating to watch how the director deftly mixes comedy, drama and romance. In this film does not lose the thread, the atmosphere remains the same and only the changing characters. Characterization of the characters is very interesting. Frank Morgan as Hugo Matuschek owns the shop and he is benevolent dictator. James Stewart as Alfred Kralik is a workaholic and a perfectionist and very lonely character who is difficult to adapt. Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak is safe but lonely. The woman in which the conflict her own and outer world. Felix Bressart as Pirovitch, the man who in life has two stations. Work and family. Two of the greatest love and the two biggest fear. A friend in need. The voice of reason and peace.The film that appeals to the Christmas atmosphere.
mmallon4 The Shop Around the Corner was the first Ernst Lubitsch film I saw and as soon as the characters started interacting with each other I instantly knew this was a guy who knew how to handle dialogue in what is referred to as the so called 'Lubitsch Touch'. With such levels of subtly this is the kind of movie that needs to be watched multiple times and gets better every time you do so. Often there will be a verbal joke in which I am unaware it even is a joke and it will take a few seconds to catch onto it. Most of Lubitsch's films where set in Europe as this was where he was from. The shop of Shop Around the Corner is in Budapest, Hungary. The world this movie is set was on the brink of destruction in 1940 but there is no mention of this in the film. Just like the how the film hearkens back to a more peaceful time it also acts like a nostalgia portal to a time before the internet or big corporate businesses. A shop which is a physical, hands on and above all a communal experience. The shop is a world onto its own populated by unforgettable characters.Like Lubitsch, most of Margaret Sullavan's movies also took place in Europe, I don't know of the reason for this however; a big coincidence or did she deliberately choose to star in movies with European settings? James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan aren't remotely Hungarian but classic Hollywood movies aren't exactly known for their realism in this regard. I also find it humorous how Klara is able to get a job by walking into a store and proving she is capable of selling items; if only it were that easy in real life! The Shop Around the Corner is one of the prime examples of the classic "they hate each other but are really in love"; in fact they really hate each other. Stewart's Alfred Kralik is actually a real asshole; he's brash and very opinionated. Likewise Margaret Sullavan isn't a sexy, glamorous Hollywood star; Klara Novak is a down to Earth, intellectual. As the movie progresses you so badly want these two characters to end up together to the point that it hurts. These aren't two performers with great chemistry, these are two performers with incredible lifelike chemistry which blends the dividing line between fiction and reality. If ever there was an on screen couple how where made for each other, this is it.
SimonJack It's too bad that more of Miklós László's plays haven't been translated into English. The few that are from the Hungarian-born playwright have made wonderful plays and films. One has been copied and revised a number of times for Broadway production, TV musicals and films. "The Shop Around the Corner" is the original film version, true to the setting. The most recent that modern audiences will recognize is "You've Got Mail" from 1998. Billed as a comedy first, this movie shows us a slice of life of working people in 1930s Budapest, Hungary. Europe was also a part of the worldwide depression that had begun in the U.S. Even as the economies began to improve, jobs were scarce and hard to come by. That sets the stage for this story that has a wonderful mix of light comedy with romance and drama. It's a very good study of people. The entire cast shine in this movie. James Stewart as Mr. Kralik and Margaret Sullavan as Miss Novak play off each other splendidly. Sullavan especially does a wonderful job as Novak subtly comes around after noticing the changes in Kralik. Felix Bressart is perfect as Pirovitch. This wonderful supporting actor had a fine career in film before he died at age 57 from leukemia. Frank Morgan's performance as Mr. Matuschek is also worth noting. He portrayed a worrisome man with something on his mind exceptionally well. As I watched this movie again recently, I remember being curious about the monetary units in the story. We see the cash register tills ring up pengos, and Matuschek talks about the how many pengos they take in. I was a stamp collector for years growing up, and got to know a lot of world geography and other things from those stamps. Among them were monetary systems, capitals, famous historical figures, etc. For instance, I knew that Magyar referred to an area and people of Hungary, and I had stamps in denominations of korona. But the pengo had me stumped, so I just looked it up. The pengo replaced the korona as the basic monetary unit of Hungary from 1927 to 1946, when it was replaced by the forint. It was the equivalent of 100 fillers, making it similar to the U.S. dollar as the form of currency. Encyclopedias explain that the pengo was part of the stabilization program for Europe following WW I. It lasted only 20 years and apparently had the worst hyperinflation of all time. I don't know what the value of the pengo was in U.S. dollars then. The Hungarian Florint for several years now has ranged between one-third and one-half a U.S. cent. At the time this film was made, the pengo was issued only in denominations of 10-, 5- and 2-pengo bills. Minted coins included 1, 2, 10, 20 and 50 filler, and three in pengo amounts of 1, 2 and 5. The front of the 10-pengo bill had a picture of Mary holding the baby Jesus on the left, and a female model bust on the right. The reverse had the picture of a statue of King Stephen astride a horse. The story takes place around the holiday season. "Shop Around the Corner" makes a nice film to add to one's Christmas collection for annual viewing.