| The Shop Around the Corner | |
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1940 theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Ernst Lubitsch |
| Produced by | Ernst Lubitsch |
| Written by | Play: Miklós László Screenplay: Samson Raphaelson Uncredited: Ben Hecht |
| Starring | Margaret Sullavan James Stewart Frank Morgan |
| Music by | Werner R. Heymann |
| Cinematography | William H. Daniels |
| Editing by | Gene Ruggiero |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | January 12, 1940 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Shop Around the Corner is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.[1] The screenplay was written by Samson Raphaelson based on a 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie,[2] written by Miklós László.[3] This film was ranked #28 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions. In 1999, The Shop Around the Corner was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The supporting cast included Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, and William Tracy.
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Set in and around a Budapest store, co-workers Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) and Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) hold an intense dislike for each other, while maintaining a secret letter-writing relationship, neither realizing who their pen-pal is. They fall in love via their correspondence, while being antipathetic and peevish towards one another in real life. A major subplot concerns the apparent infidelity of the store owner's wife, and its spillover effect upon the various working relationships in the shop.[1] Comic relief is provided throughout by William Tracy's characterization of Pepi the delivery boy.[4]
In an odd Hollywood turn, Rudy, the last major speaking part of the film (the newest delivery boy, offered a huge Christmas meal by Mr. Matuschek), is played by Charles Smith. In the musical remake In the Good Old Summertime, an uncredited Charles Smith is one of the quartet singing with Judy at the engagement party.
The Shop Around the Corner was dramatized in two separate half-hour broadcasts of The Screen Guild Theater, first on September 29, 1940 with Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, second on February 26, 1945 with Van Johnson and Phyllis Thaxter. It was also dramatized as a one-hour program on Lux Radio Theater's June 23, 1941 broadcast with Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche.
The film spawned a 1949 musical remake, In the Good Old Summertime, which starred Judy Garland and Van Johnson in the title roles.
The plot element of two people who detest each other, while developing an anonymous romance by email, is used in the film You've Got Mail (1998) with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, in which one of the protagonists owns a bookstore named "The Shop Around The Corner."
The Broadway musical, She Loves Me, was also inspired by the film.[1]
According to L.A. Jarvik, the British television show, Are You Being Served?, was based on the comedy.[5]
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