The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Samson Raphaelson (screenplay)
Miklós László (based on a play by)
(more)

Release Date:

12 January 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Plot:

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realizing that they're falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Pen Pal | Salesman | Gift | Unemployment

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Margaret Sullavan	...	Klara Novak
James Stewart	...	Alfred Kralik
Frank Morgan	...	Hugo Matuschek
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Ferencz Vadas
Sara Haden	...	Flora
Felix Bressart	...	Pirovitch
William Tracy	...	Pepi Katona
Inez Courtney	...	Ilona
Sarah Edwards	...	Customer
Edwin Maxwell	...	Doctor
Charles Halton	...	Detective
Charles Smith	...	Rudy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Arnt	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Joan Blair	...	Customer Recognizing Matuschek (uncredited)
Mary Carr	...	Grandmother (uncredited)
Mabel Colcord	...	Aunt Anna (uncredited)
Claire Du Brey	...	Customer (uncredited)
William Edmunds	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Grace Hayle	...	Plump Woman (uncredited)
Ernst Lubitsch	...	Himself - Director - in Trailer (uncredited)
Mira McKinney	...	Customer (uncredited)
Renie Riano	...	Customer (uncredited)
Gertrude Simpson	...	Customer (uncredited)
Ruth Warren	...	Customer (uncredited)

Directed by
Ernst Lubitsch

Writing credits
Samson Raphaelson		(screenplay)
Miklós László		(based on a play by) (as Nikolaus Laszlo)
Ben Hecht		uncredited

Produced by
Ernst Lubitsch	....	producer

Original Music by
Werner R. Heymann		(musical score)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(director of photography) (as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Gene Ruggiero		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair styles: Miss Sullavan

Production Management
Arthur Rose	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Horace Hough	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Wade B. Rubottom	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Music Department
Wally Heglin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents) (The Ernst Lubitsch Production)
• Loew's (as Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Loew's (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (19??) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (Canada) (DVD) (4 film collection)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD) (4 film collection)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #5967) | Canada:G (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Netherlands:AL (original rating) (1949) | USA:Not Rated | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

All scenes were reportedly shot in sequence.

Goofs:

Continuity: Pirovitch looks through the right side of the Cafe window from outside and tells Alfred he can't see Klara's face at first because she is sitting behind a coat rack. When Alfred joins Klara inside, she's sitting at the far end of the window with the coat rack well behind her.

Quotes:

Klara Novak (Miss Novak):All my knowledge came from books, and I'd just finished a novel about a glamorous French actress from the Comedie Francaise. That's the theater in France. When she wanted to arouse a man's interest, she treated him like a dog.
Alfred Kralik:Yes, well, you treated me like a dog.
Klara Novak (Miss Novak):Yes, but instead of licking my hand, you barked.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

Ochi Tchornya (Dark Eyes)

Perhaps the saddest comedy ever made

A wonderful film, filled with great understated performance and sharp, intelligent dialogue. What really distinguishes the film, however, is that undercurrent of sadness throughout. The story is underscored by affairs, loneliness, suicide, disappointment, the fear of losing ones job in a world where that had disastrous consequences. Most of all it was set in a world that no longer existed, having been ripped apart by the beginning of World War II. In fact, the film is barely a comedy at all if you compare the percentage of serious scenes to the comic scenes. Yet funny it is--listen to Margaret Sullivan's harsh dismissal of Jimmy Stewart and watch his pained expression as he replies that her comments were a remarkable blend "of poetry and meanness". It's funny, pointed, and sad all at once. A remarkable achievement and one of the ten greatest screen comedies ever made.