Great Film overall

Captivating movie !

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The Shop Around the Corner is the movie You've Got Mail was based on - however, it has a much darker tone. The Christmas element only came in during the last half-hour or so, but still, it was a fun holiday movie. I still don't know why they decided to set it in Budapest, though.

Speak of The Shop Around the Corner in contemporary times, and you're more than likely to be greeted by blank looks until you revise its moniker to 'You've Got (Snail) Mail' ("Ohhhh! THAT one!"). But, while director Ernst Lubitsch's classical rom-com may have to contend with its '90s remake for pop culture recognition, it's easily charming and delightful enough to warrant, at the very least, comparable adulation. Distinctly more demure and gentle than the masses of sparkier screwball comedies in vogue at its time, Lubitsch's film strips itself of any such pretences, striving instead for a softer, infinitely more vulnerable play for unfettered emotion, seasoned with knowing wit. His sentiment pays off, as the film remains an abiding holiday classic, almost too lovable to resist. Adapted from Hungarian playwright Miklós László's work Parfumerie, Lubitsch's retaining the Budapest setting with transplanted American actors may take some acclimatizing to (perhaps Lubitsch was content to have a more heartwarming link to Europe than all of the wartime atrocities cluttering the newsreels - notice the conspicuous absence of any politics or world events), but it only adds to the film's nostalgic, somewhat anachronistic charm. With a dreamy, unassuming pace, Lubitsch allows his characters to breathe, carefully delineating the lives, fears, hopes and dreams of each staff member of the titular department store's staff with tender compassion before allowing the centrepiece love story to build amidst them with slow, teasing playfulness. Certainly, the film has its blips of alarming darkness that suggest Lubitsch was too attuned to the sociopolitical climate to create an entirely vacuous fairy tale, but they are painted with the same observant humanity and care as the rest of the film's naturalistic character beats. And if the corresponding friction inherent in the film's Much Ado About Nothing twist may come with occasional whiffs of contrivance or excessive convenience, the mischievous, disarming sweetness with which they weave tantalizingly closer to one another more than makes up for it. The film's 'first date' scene alone is so unforgettably clever and savagely funny that even You've Got Mail couldn't resist borrowing it almost shot-for-shot, and winning the raucous laughs of a whole new generation of viewers. Still, it's the indelible chemistry of James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, one of the most reliable pairings of the classical era, that elevate the film to the level of classic. The two play off each other with consummate ease, segueing from caustic, prank- filled, screwball-lite barbs and fireworks to embers of affection seamlessly, and Sullavan's fast-talking, peppery vigour proves the perfectly adorable foil for Stewart's twinkling, huffy bluster. Supporting them, Felix Bressart practically embodies the film's gentle, winking spirit as their kindly coworker, Joseph Schildkraut is so oily he practically glistens as the store's resident fink, William Tracy is so loudly comedic he practically seems to have cockily strolled in from another film entirely (but remains irresistibly funny nonetheless), while Frank Morgan hits the perfect cocktail of imposingly obtuse with a secret heart of gold as the shop's perennially harried owner. It's hugely refreshing, even for the early 1940s, to find a film so straightforwardly pleasant and enjoyable, but Lubitsch's deft hand has the film bursting with simple but robust charm. Resonantly heartwarming comedy and romance, an undercurrent of melancholy stripped of any histrionics and with only the gentlest indulgence of saccharine Hollywood convention, The Shop Around the Corner's abiding sweetness continues to make it a welcome discovery or revisitation, whether as a holiday watch, or a means of unwinding with a smile year-round. And if its success had anything to do to stem the flow of tacky, ornamental music boxes? All the better. -8/10

This most agreeable Lubitsch-Raphaelson comedy has a great deal of charm. In fact it has more charm than humor, but don't let that worry you. Some of the running jokes and gags are really quite amusing. I particularly warmed to Felix Bressart's idea of giving his uncle an Old Tchoina music box. "It costs $2.95!" Bressart's character informs us. "But it's worth twice as much to ruin my uncle's Christmas!" I also delighted in Frank Morgan's "I don't know how Matuschek and Company can afford it!" and the wonderfully tart reply: "Well, if YOU don't know, Mr. Matuschek, your book-keeper must be keeping a lousy set of account books!"Yes, the super-lovely Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart make a great starring team, but it's the support cast, led by Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Felix Bressart, Sara Haden, William Tracy, Inez Courtney and Charles Halton, that really make "The Shop Around the Corner" the outstanding entertainment that it is. True, Morgan does seem a little unsure how to say his lines, occasionally, but don't let that worry you. It's always appropriate for the character.Also on top of their respective forms: William Daniels for the delightfully crisp but moody photography, and Werner Heymann for his brilliant music score.

THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1940), produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch, is a delightful tale of two store employees who don't get along very well, unaware they're carrying on a pen-pal correspondence through the mail that starts with "Dear Friend." Starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart for the third time together, following NEXT TIME WE LOVE (Universal, 1936), and THE SHOPWORN ANGEL (MGM, 1938), there's no doubt that this comedy-drama, based on the Hungarian play by Nikolas Laszlo, happens to be their finest collaboration thus far. Although a circumstantial love story from the viewpoint of its central characters, the film rightfully belongs to the owner of the shop around the corner, as wonderfully played by Frank "The Wizard of Oz" Morgan.What's the story about? Opening title reveals: "This is a story of Matuschek and Company - of Mr. Matuschek and the people who work for him. It is just around the corner from Andrassy Street - on Balta Street, in Budapest, Hungary." The shop, Matuschek and Company, consists of various workers starting with its founder, Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan), a middle-aged man devoted to both his store and wife, Emma, of 22 years; and staff: Alfred Kralik (James Stewart), a nine year employee/salesman and Matuschek's most trusted and closest friend; Mr. Petrovitch (Felix Bressart), a happily married family man whose the very first to arrive ten minutes before the store opens; Pepi Katena (William Tracy), an errand boy with a squeaky voice; salesgirls, Flora (Sara Haden) and Ilona (Inez Courtney); and Ferencz Vadan (Joseph Schildkraut), a "yes" man who mysteriously arrives each day by taxi loaded with large money bills in his pocket and expensive wardrobe. One morning, Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) arrives seeking employment. She successfully sells herself by selling an "O Tchonia" playing music box to a plump lady customer who mistakes it for a candy box. During the course of her six month stay at Matuschek and Company, Klara and Alfred find themselves constantly arguing, unaware that they carrying on a romance through the mail left in a post office box. Further complications arise as Alfred notices Mr. Matuschek to suddenly act indifferently towards him, even to a point of dismissing him before Christmas for no apparent reason.Being an Ernst Lubitsch production where his traditional locales to his motion pictures having European backdrops, mostly Paris, interestingly THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER is a sort of story that could very well have taken place anywhere at anytime. Following the pattern of remakes, the musical version retitled IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (MGM, 1949) starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, takes place at turn-of-the-century Chicago; while the most updated edition, YOU'VE GOT MAIL (Warner Brothers, 1998) with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, not only is set in New York City, but uses the internet as its means of communication between pen-pal writers. With the exception of European born actors, Joseph Schildkraut and Felix Bressart, along with label signs written in Hungarian, many of the other players are essentially Americans talking naturally without any attempts using accents. Had director Lubitsch attempted on using European-born performers in leading roles as the two-time Academy Award winning Viennese born Luise Rainer as Klara, with Czech Francis Lederer as Alfred, for example, the outcome would have turned out entirely different and possibly not as successful as with the selected players as Sullavan and Stewart. Frank Morgan, best known for playing befuddled characters, is shown to best advantage here breaking away from his typical "Morgan style" for a more straightforward performance. Aside from serious performances from THE MORTAL STORM (1940), that reunited him with Sullavan and Stewart, and the much better known THE HUMAN COMEDY (1943) starring Mickey Rooney, it makes one wish Frank Morgan did more dramatic roles like these as opposed to the tailor-made double-talking bumbling characters he's done so often, even in his signature role as THE WIZARD OF OZ (MGM, 1939).Being a versatile actor, Morgan, believably having that European presence through his thick mustache and old-style haircut, gives a performance worthy for an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. His key elements include moments of humor for not trying to influence his employees when asking for their honest opinions; his surprise reaction when discovering the error of his ways towards his trusted employee, Alfred; and a heartfelt moment when inviting his newest and youngest employee, Rudy (Charles Smith), age 17, living alone in Budapest, to have dinner with him on Christmas Eve. When Morgan isn't around, the concentration resumes on the feuding store employees, Klara and Alfred. One unforgettable moment includes a scene outside the café where Alfred looks through the window, after being told by his friend, Petrovitch, that his pen-pal, with only means of identification being a Leo Tolstoy book, "Anna Karenina," happens to be Klara. While he doesn't give away his identity, he does surprise her when stopping by her table, only to soon be insulted and hurt when angrily called an "insignificant clerk." Other scenes involving Klara and Alfred are both amusing and touching in the best Lubitsch style and tradition. A pleasing musical score by Werner Hermann during its opening and closing credits is also worthy of an honorable mention here. No wonder THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER has lived up to its expectations in recent years as an exceptional motion picture.Formerly on video cassette since the late 1980s, and later available in the DVD format, for anyone looking for a bargain when it comes to shopping for a good movie with a Christmas theme, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER should make any customer satisfied without asking for refunds or exchanges the next time it's broadcast on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (***1/2)