The Shop Around the Corner Overview:

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) was a Comedy - Romance Film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and produced by Ernst Lubitsch.

SYNOPSIS

One of Lubitsch's most beloved romantic comedies is about two feuding employees (Stewart and Sullavan) in Morgan's Budapest store who, unbeknownst to each other, are actually carrying on an amorous pen pal correspondence. On the night the correspondents finally agree to meet, each expecting a proposal, Mogan fires Stewart and makes Sullavan stay late. But through circumstance and one more letter, the scales finally drop from the eyes of the epistolary lovers. Truly a sweet tale with winning performances by Stewart and Sullavan. Remade in 1949 as a musical, In the Good Old Summertime (with Judy Garland and Van Johnson), a Broadway play, She Loves Me, and most recently via email as You've Got Mail (1998), with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

.

The Shop Around the Corner was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.

BlogHub Articles:

The Shop Around The Corner (1940): A Christmas Love Story

By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 25, 2021 From 4 Star Films

The Shop Around The Corner samples a Hollywood-style Hungary that nevertheless establishes it as a much humbler, quieter picture than seasoned Lubitsch aficionados might be accustomed to. It’s subsequently one of his best efforts for this very reason. There’s an intimacy to it, recalling... Read full article


Holiday Delight on Blu-ray: It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), Holiday Affair (1949), and The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

By KC on Dec 9, 2020 From Classic Movies

For over ten years on this site I have been banging the drum every holiday season about It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), Holiday Affair (1949), and The Shop Around the Corner (1940). I never felt like they got enough love, though awareness of these charming films appears to have grown at a steady p... Read full article


Celebrating "The Shop Around the Corner" on its 80th Birthday

By The Lady Eve on Jan 10, 2020 From Lady Eve's Reel Life

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the premiere of what has been called Ernst Lubitsch’s “most discreet tour de force of art concealing art,” The Shop Around the Corner (1940). That’s a nicely spun phrase; some might simply call it perfection… ~ When she was asked,... Read full article


25 Days of Christmas: The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

on Dec 7, 2017 From Journeys in Classic Film

Originally published December 1st, 2014 As one comment on the Facebook page read when I alluded to my less-than-positive review of this film, it may be time to get out your pitchforks, readers. ?It’s not that I didn’t like The Shop Around the Corner; it’s just not my favorite Ernst... Read full article


25 Days of Christmas: The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

on Dec 4, 2016 From Journeys in Classic Film

Originally published December 1st, 2014 As one comment on the Facebook page read when I alluded to my less-than-positive review of this film, it may be time to get out your pitchforks, readers. ?It’s not that I didn’t like The Shop Around the Corner; it’s just not my favorite Ernst... Read full article


See all The Shop Around the Corner articles

Quotes from

Klara Novak (Miss Novak): [In her letter to Alfred] : Oh, my Dear Friend, my heart was trembling as I walked into the post office, and there you were, lying in Box 237. I took you out of your envelope and read you, read you right there.


Alfred Kralik: [asking Pirovitch about cost of living for married couple] Suppose a fellow gets an apartment with three rooms. Dining room, bedroom, living room.
Pirovitch: What do you need three rooms for? You live in the bedroom.
Alfred Kralik: Where do you eat?
Pirovitch: In the kitchen. You get a nice big kitchen.
Alfred Kralik: Where do you entertain?
Pirovitch: Entertain? What are you, an embassador? Who do you want to entertain? Listen listen, if someone is really your friend, he comes after dinner.


Doctor: Pardon me Mr.Katona? Precisely what position do you hold with Matuschek and Company?
Pepi Katona: Well, I would describe myself as a contact man. I keep contact between Matuschek and the customers... on a bicycle.
Doctor: Do you mean, an errand boy?
Pepi Katona: Doctor, do I call you a pill-peddler?


read more quotes from The Shop Around the Corner...

Facts about

Ernst Lubitsch delayed the start of the movie until both James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan were available. In the mean time, he filmed Ninotchka.
According to Bright Lights Film Journal website, When Kralik mentions "You read Zola's Madame Bovary," Klara immediately corrects him: "Madame Bovary is not by Zola," she snipes. The joke here is that though Klara knows who wrote Madame Bovary, she doesn't understand that she herself is living exclusively in Emma Bovary's world of impossible ideals.
The play, "Perfumerie" (also known as "Illatszertár"), was copyrighted 10 November 1936.
read more facts about The Shop Around the Corner...
Share this page:
Visit the Classic Movie Hub Blog CMH
National Film Registry

The Shop Around the Corner

Released 1940
Inducted 1999
(Sound)




See All Films in National Registry >>
Also directed by Ernst Lubitsch




More about Ernst Lubitsch >>
Also produced by Ernst Lubitsch




More about Ernst Lubitsch >>
Related Lists
Create a list



See All Related Lists >>
Also released in 1940




See All 1940 films >>
More "Romance (Comic)" films



See All "Romance (Comic)" films >>
More "Mistaken Identity" films



See All "Mistaken Identity" films >>
More "Based on Play" films



See All "Based on Play" films >>
More "Sales Clerk" films



See All "Sales Clerk" films >>