"The Shop Around the Corner" with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan (1940)

This is another reposting of a review from a couple of years ago; I never let the holiday pass by without watching this one;

This 1940 film by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Jimmy Stewart and Magaret Sullavan is one of the most beautifully crafted films ever made, and is based on the play by Miklós László. The story is simple, in the weeks leading up to Christmas in Budapest, the department store of Matuschek and Company, is gearing up for the holiday season. 

The owner, Hugo Matuschek is played brilliantly by Frank Morgan, known to millions worldwide as the Wizard of Oz. His right hand man, Alfred Kralik, is played by Jimmy Stewart. The two are very close, Mr. Matuschek values the opinions of his manager. Things are going very smoothly, with Kralik expecting a promotion by Christmas. Enter Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak, an unemployed and high strung young woman. Through a bit of trickery she lands a job at Matuschek and Company, which in turn drives a wedge between Mr. Matuschek and Kralik.

While Kralik has been exchanging letters with an unknown "friend" through the classified ads, Ms. Novak has been doing the same. Without knowing, they have been exchanging letters with one another, stretching the truth a bit where necessary. So, neither one has any idea that their co-worker is the object of their affections. In fact, the opposite is true, as they grate on one another’s nerves, and the Christmas holiday approaches. And to top it all off, they are both thinking about marriage to their prospective "pen pals", although they have never met.

At the same time, a subplot is taking place as the shops "dandy", Ferencz Vadas, played exceptionally by Joseph Schildkraut, does all he can to make life unbearable for his fellow employees. He is also one of my favorite character actors, and even appears in a few of the old “Twilight Zones.”

With a cast of character actors such as Felix Bressart, who plays Kraliks friend and fellow employee Pirovitch, and William Tracy as Pepi, the stores delivery boy, this movie will easily call you back year after year for a look at Christmas in Hungary in the days before all the madness began.

The movie has at least 3 endings. By that I mean there are 3 separate times when the movie could end, leaving the audience happy, but Ernst Lubitsch, being Ernst Lubitsch, has so many tricks up his sleeve, that you will find yourself enjoying 3 endings, each one wrapping up a portion of the film that you may have forgotten about. This is the art of Ernst Lubitsch. Just when you think it's over - it's not.

One of the all-time great Christmas movies, this film was remade in the 1990's with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as "You've Got Mail." I have never been able to sit through that entire film. That’s simply because this 1940 version by Ernst Lubitsch captured my heart so many years ago.

Here is a scene from the beginning of the movie;

                            

"Jake's Corner" with Richard Tyson, Dianne Ladd and Danny Trejo

When ex-football star Johnny Dunn (played by Richard Tyson) retires to the small town he owns in the desert, the last thing he expects is to become a father. But that's exactly what happens to our hero when his brother and sister in law are killed in a car wreck. He becomes a father to his nephew Spence.

Initially he tries to pass the child on to his sister in law, who clearly has no room in her life for him. With 4 children of her own, she is living on the edge. But Johnny is a bar owner in a small desert town, unmarried and surrounded by a cast of characters that will astound you. (Watch for a great appearance by BJ Thomas) He is surely not the right person to raise a child.

But through this unexpected turn of events, Johnny and Spence, along with the people of Jake's Corner, are able to learn from one another something about life and what it means to be connected to one another. People needn't be related by blood to share universal truths. They just need to be who they are.

This is a superbly directed and performed movie, with a carefully nuanced screenplay which has been masterfully filmed.