It seems silly to say something like "The Shop Around the Corner is my new favorite movie of 1940!" on account of ---well, movies from 1940 are not "new" ...but it's true all the same. Even if it's old it's new to me (somehow I hadn't seen it). And besides, Ernst Lubitsch is such a superb director that his movies don't get old even as they age. They're so light on their feet, so keyed into their own sense of humor that they stay young and fresh. new. old. old. new...'psychologically, I'm very confused. but personally I don't feel bad at all.'
The Shop Around the Corner has got a charming array of supporting players and running gags. The plot spins on shockingly undated notions about the way people both project and believe idealized versions of themselves and strangers when anonymity is a factor. Letters play the major communication role here and it's easy to see why Nora Ephron thought it a natural transfer to the internet age for You've Got Mail (1998). I can't rave enough about Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart who are both sly and dazzling as the arrogant coworkers who haven't realized they're in love. The eternal romantic comedy notion that instant hate = secret love has never been my favorite cliché but Sullavan and Stewart make it work by serving up fully realized people, both charming and prickly.
There's so much to recommend it I just have to shout "see it!" or "see it again!" as the case may be.
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It's one of my favorite movies and also one of my favorite musicals ("She Loves Me"). We watch one or the other every Christmas (though they're good to watch any time of year).
sigh
Lubitsch. So awesome. I've seen Trouble in Paradise twice this year and it's funnier than anything playing.
"She says he's her secretary....
and he says he's her secretary...
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he his her secretary..."
*Sigh* I love this movie sooo much!! It was my intro into the joys of 'classic'cinema... After hearing that You've Got Mail was *shock horror* a remake, my 14 year old self found the original on VHS and realised that black and white flicks could be interesting - who'da thunk it?
It's a lovely movie indeed, though I'm a bit wary of any movie other than Philadelphia Story or His Girl Friday being pronounced the best of 1940 (that was a great year, that was).
And Ernst Lubitsch is one of the great directors of Hollywood's 'Golden Age'. My personal favourite of his (and one of my favourite movies, period) is To Be or Not to Be, which also got its very own blasphemous abortion of a remake.
My favorite Lubitsch (hard to choose, but this is the one I'm taking with me to a desert island), my favorite Stewart performance (I have no trouble with his 1940 Oscar win, even if it's for a different role, as I thought he deserved the prize for his sensitive, skillful playing in Corner), and probably my favorite romantic comedy (in a tie with The Lady Eve) and, yes, my favorite 1940 flick (don't think I'll ever get tired of watching it, as I HAVE to see it at least once a year- like mlight, it's a Christmastime favorite).
It's also the greatest movie about retail sales ever made. I worked in retail for years, and Lubitsch deftly paints a perfect picture of some of the "types" found therein.
Glad you finally caught it. I've shown it to several people, and have yet to find someone dislike anything about it- one of those few, magical instances in the cinema wherein everything seems to effortlessly gel.
vertigo --glad you mentioned Stewart's performance. I was really in awe of it. Obviously he can carry a film (duh) but as much as I've enjoyed him in other things I was surprised how deep he dug into this character. I felt like I was seeing a whole person and not a romantic comedy type.
The bedside scene (which i snapped here) where he watches her read his letter is a total marvel of reactive acting and light comedy. And later when he's playing her, he hits so many disparate notes (not all of them sunny... there's some guilt and some cruelty mixed in --I love how old comedies aren't afraid of unlikeable moods or shadow sides to basically likeable people) I was just in awe.
and on the 'retail sales' note. I thought as much. I was telling the boyfriend that I felt it was really truthful about workplace dynamics too (not just retail)
arkaan --when I saw trouble in paradise for the first time a few years back I watched it twice in two days (something I've only done a few times in my entire life) --i'm not sure which is my favorite Lubitsch...
goran --i did like it more than His Girl Friday. I'm one of the exceedingly rare dissenters on the latter movie. It's not that I dislike it per se... it's just that I think it errs on the side of one note with its constant high volume rat-a-tat-tat banter. I kept waiting for grace notes ... philadelphia story on the other hand is a distant distant distant memory. Must see again.
What a coincidence! I just saw this again recently!!! I'd been waiting for years for it to show up in Region 2 format!
Is indeed a wonderful "classic"! :o)
But my favourite 1940 movie? I'm afraid my vote also goes to Philadephia Story! (after all... it has both Jimmy Stewart and the fabulous Kate!!!)
I am not as crazy about Shop Around the Corner as other people, although I am very fond of it. I found the mix of comedic and the very dark story of the store owner difficult; it didn't blend perfectly for me. I love this and You've Got Mail equally well. You've Got Mail definitely has flaws, but I find I can curl up with it just about infinitely.
Arkaan; In The Good Old Summertime is also a musical remake of this story, but despite Judy Garland's presence, it doesn't work.
Just watched The Marriage Circle yesterday, and was lucky enough to see The Student Prince in Old Heidelburg a few months ago on the big screen. Lubitsch is magic.
Story goes that Billy Wilder kept a sign hanging in his office that asked, "How would Lubitsch do it?"
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