Sunday, January 12, 2014

Family Movie Night: The Shop Around the Corner

Title: The Shop Around the Corner
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Original Release: 1940
Choice: My Wife's
My Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5
via Wikipedia
You've Got Mail, a highly successful 1998 romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, was an Electronic Age update of Lubitsch's 1940 classic.  In The Shop Around the Corner, Klara Novak (Margaret Sullivan) and Alfred Kralik (Jimmy Stewart) are coworkers in a Budapest gift shop owned by Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan).  They hate each other, except of course for the fact that they're falling in love through an anonymous correspondence.



The Shop Around the Corner is a quiet movie.  In most films of that era, actors bellow their dialogue, projecting their voices in accordance with years of stage performance.  The Shop Around the Corner is the rare film performed in an easy, conversational tone.  As a result, the story atmosphere is quite intimate. 

Most of the narrative focuses on the love story but there is a subplot at the store around Mr. Matuschek's marital troubles.  My favorite scene comes late as Matuschek, suddenly alone on Christmas Eve, fishes for an invitation from each of his employees.  Finally, the newly hired errand boy, on his own in the big city, is tickled pink to be treated to dinner by his boss - a wonderfully sweet exchange.

The Shop Around the Corner is a charming film - good acting, clever though unspectacular dialogue, rich visual texture.  The love story is believable, though more from Kralik's side than Klara's.  The movie is categorized as romantic comedy.  However, the story gets pretty heavy at times.  Comic relief usually comes via Pepi, the ambitious gofer played by William Tracy.

21 comments:

  1. What I remember liking about this film was it was about regular people, not royalty, not world-changing conquerors, not even gunslingers or supervillains. It was about some people who worked in a gift shop. There were no explosions. Two modest people fell in love quietly and that was more important than all the noise in all the noisy modern movies I can think of.

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    1. I needed to read this comment.

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    2. In storytelling, the simple answer is nearly always the best one.

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  2. I haven't even seen You've Got Mail Yet (or Sleepless in Seattle) yet!

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    1. I'd say Sleepless in Seattle is the better of the two. You've Got Mail is fun, too, and watching the source of inspiration certainly helps me to appreciat eit more.

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  3. You've Got Mail is one of my wifes faves.
    I need to let her see this one also.

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    1. The one definitely adds to the appreciation of the other.

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  4. A very wonderful movie. I end up watching it every time it comes on the tv.

    mood
    Moody Writing

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  5. Hmm. I never thought much about "You've Got Mail" (not the target audience) but it's a clever way of doing a remake.

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    1. Ha! I suppose I'm not really the target audience either. I can't even blame my wife for the fact that I have. I'm pretty sure she refused to watch You've Got Mail with me.

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  6. I like older films. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I haven't seen this movie, so I must check it out. But first does Jimmy Stewart do that bumbling hesitating thing delivering his lines ?
    I liked "You Got Mail" it was cute.

    This is why I enjoy so many of the Japanese films I watch. I just finished "Still Walking" A film about a family who lost a son many years ago. A quiet film.

    Hope you have been OK with this crazy weather. No massive show drifts and icy filled branches falling on power lines.
    cheers, parsnip

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    1. There's not a whole lot of the bumbling, hesitating thing. After Jimmy Stewart died, one critic described his style as the gift of making it seem as if his lines had just occurred to him. Ever since hearing that, I've watched Jimmy Stewart differently and gained a better appreciation for that distinctive delivery.

      We didn't get as much snow as other parts of the state but the ice has been awful.

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    2. Interesting take on it. Sometimes his delivery really bothers me.
      So happy to know your weather wasn't as bad as my friend in Chicago, colder than Siberia one day.
      Goodness !

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    3. I don't know. It got pretty cold here, too!

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  8. I love that movie! I love Jimmy Stewart in most movies (except that Vertigo movie). Have you seen The Rope?

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    1. Gasp! You don't like Vertigo? I love that one.

      I'm pretty sure I've seen The Rope - not one of the more memorable Hitch films for me. My wife likes it.

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  9. I've always wanted to see this movie! Thanks for the review :)

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