The Shop Around the Corner
All team (16)
Short description
Set in Budapest, The Shop Around the Corner centres on a small gift and leather goods shop run by Hugo Matuschek. Alfred Kralik, the store's longest-serving and most trusted salesman, clashes constantly with Klara Novak, a young woman Matuschek hires as a clerk against Alfred's advice. Neither realises that they have been writing to each other anonymously through a newspaper personal advertisement, sharing a warm and increasingly intimate correspondence with a stranger they have never met. The conflict between their bickering working relationship and their growing feelings for their unseen pen pal drives the story, with the other employees looking on as the situation develops.
Ernst Lubitsch directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by Samson Raphaelson. It followed his 1939 release Ninotchka and came before To Be or Not to Be in 1942. Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart lead the cast as Klara and Alfred, with Frank Morgan as Matuschek and supporting turns from Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden and Felix Bressart among 24 credited performers. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film runs 99 minutes.
On IMDb it holds 8 out of 10 from around 44,000 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 8.1 from a much smaller base. Film critics rated it 9 out of 10 across 97 reviews, placing it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Director Ernst Lubitsch (1892-1947) wanted to make a film without the glamour usually associated with his work. Even a dress that Margaret Sullavan bought for filming for $1.98, he ordered to be left in the sun for a time to fade the fabric, and then ordered it to be altered to fit the actress as poorly as possible.
- Margaret Sullavan (1909-1960) could irritate anyone. Even James Stewart (1908-1997), whom film critics consider one of the greatest actors in history, once required 48 takes to shoot just one scene with Sullavan.
- James Stewart (1908-1997) and Margaret Sullavan (1909-1960) had known each other long before filming began on this picture. They both performed in a summer stock theater (a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer – often outdoors, under tents, or in barns) called 'University Players.' It was there that Stewart realized his calling and, following Sullavan and another amateur actor, Henry Fonda (1905-1982), went to conquer the New York stage.
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