Alfred Kralik: There might be a lot we don't know about each other. You know, people seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things to find the inner truth.
Klara Novak (Miss Novak): Well I really wouldn't care to scratch your surface, Mr. Kralik, because I know exactly what I'd find. Instead of a heart, a hand-bag. Instead of a soul, a suitcase. And instead of an intellect, a cigarette lighter... which doesn't work.
The first Ernst Lubitsch film I ever saw was "The Shop Around the Corner", I saw it before I even knew who Lubitsch was. If I can't decide what my favorite Lubitsch film is, the closest I could say is "The Shop Around the Corner" is the film I can relate to the most. Lubitsch himself called it one of his top three favorites, the others being "Trouble in Paradise" and "Ninotcka". This film, Lubitsch called was his best example of human comedy, which is probably why so many people regard it as one of his best.
The film is an unassuming look into the lives of working class people who are employed in a little Budapest shop known as Matuschek and Co. Jimmy Stewart is Alfred Kralik the head salesman at the store. Alfred has just begun a correspondence between a mysterious girl. The correspondence is innocent enough as the two discuss by mail "cultural subjects" such as art or literature.
One day a girl comes into the shop, her name is Klara (Margaret Sullivan), she's looking for a job, and after impressing the boss Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan) by selling an annoying cigar box that plays Ochi Tchornya each time you open it to a customer, she's hired.
Months go by and it is apparent that Alfred and Klara don't like eachother, to make matters worse, Alfred is accused by Mr. Matuschek that he is having an affair with the bosses wife, which is false. Alfred is dismissed by Mr. Matuschek on the same night he's supposed to meet his mystery girl, and when he is coerced to keep the date by his friend, the girl turns out to be none other than Klara!
On the outside, "The Shop Around the Corner" might not look like much, it's perhaps Lubitsch's least ambitious film, most of the scenes take place in interiors, and the comedy is more observational than slapstick. It's a film that just sort of sneaks up and before you know it, it's over and then you realize just how perfect and simple it all was.
When I first watched the film many years ago, I fell in love with it, yet I couldn't understand why. "The Shop Around the Corner" seemed like such a small movie compared to other classics, but I suppose it hit me that I was short changing it. The film isn't as grand as other films, but it lives by its charm and its humanity, which makes it just as important. As I watch it now, the dialogue and the characters make the film seem more modern and fresh compared to the other films of its era. I can be so entranced in a scene such as when Alfred is outside the shop with Klara and he's bickering about a green blouse she wore to work one day that he disliked, and at the end of that scene we find out she's going to be wearing that very same blouse to her date with the man who will turn out to be Alfred.
I would describe the humour as gentle, Lubitsch doesn't strive for any high comedy or satire like he did in "To Be or Not to Be". Instead he seems to be more concerned with what the characters would do in a particular situation, which is probably why this film balances between comedy and drama.
The script, written by Samson Ralphaelson is in my opinion one of the greatest scripts written and should have won an Oscar. Ralphaelson once said that if he and Lubitsch were stuck on writing a scene, they would usually write the dialogue very naturally and dull as if it were a real conversation you'd hear on the street. Although I'm not positive they used this technique on this movie, the dialogue does have a sense of realism to it, as most of the conversations deal with everyday things such as having enough money to get married, or having to call the doctor to cancel an appointment.
Lubitsch seemed to want to make a film about people that are easy to relate to. Most of his films before dealt with royalty or higher society, these were working people who struggled in their life, knowing it might be a death sentence if they ever lost their job. By doing that this film seems to carry more weight. The concept of this film has been remade countless times, most recently as "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. That film did have some charm, but there was a cynicism to it that I didn't appreciate. Lubitsch handled his characters and situations delicately, and his characters always grow. When Alfred does realize that Klara is the girl he's been writing to, he must find out if she is in fact the person he's in love with in his letters, and soon a real affection begins towards her.
I think why the romance works so well is because Alfred and Klara are both likable people, and Lubitsch goes out of his way to make them interesting. He doesn't let the fact that these people are working class stop him from making them literate and at times poetic when they speak. Klara carries a copy of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" in order for her mystery man to recognize her when he sees her. It's little touches like these that raise this film out of the ordinary.
"The Shop Around the Corner" is my favorite romantic comedy, it still charms and surprises me whenever I watch it. Romantic comedy today has become a dying art form, they've become too generic and formulaic for us to care about the people involved. Their one purpose is to fill theatre seats come Valentine's Day. Lubitsch's film doesn't cheapen the idea of falling in love, he makes it something real and tangible.
Perhaps my favorite Lubitsch touch in this film might not be defined as any touch at all. Lubitsch decided to place this film at Christmas, which fits in so perfectly. Christmas is a romantic time of the year, and a time when most people worry about money and shopping. The characters in the film share the same worries and hopes during the holiday season, but Lubitsch doesn't sentimentalize the fact, it's just there. The film works as sort of a relief in the holidays where we could hope to stop and maybe find love like Alfred and Klara. I would recommend "The Shop Around the Corner" to anyone who may feel stressed out in the holidays, and with today's economy, this film becomes even more timely.
From everyone here at "Jeremy and the Movies" (That being me Jeremy) Merry Christmas!
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