Romancefest 9: The Shop Around the Corner

I'd heard of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER before, always referenced as the inspiration for the 90s romantic comedy YOU'VE GOT MAIL. But, I never saw it until today.

THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER is a great romantic comedy, full of good cheer and great humor. The sparring romantic leads, Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart, are great but the real strength in the movie is that it doesn't rely on just the two of them. They're surrounded by a great community of ensemble characters who each get a good amount of screen time and have unique gifts to add to the story. This movie understands that life isn't about plot in service of one character -- life is made up of, as Miranda July would say, you and me and everyone we know.

Jimmy Stewart stars as a clerk at a shop in Budapest, though it may as well be America. He's recently entered into a pen-pal romance with a woman he's never met, who happens to show up looking for a job. Margaret Sullavan, as the unemployed secret pen-pal, starts off on the wrong foot, constantly verbally sparring with Stewart, who is her superior.

Meanwhile, the owner of the shop, Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan) is mysteriously preoccupied with a troubled marriage, and takes it out on Stewart, who has become so close with Matuschek over his 9 years of employment that they almost have a father/son relationship.

This movie has so much heart, and most of it lies with Frank Morgan as Matuschek. I know Morgan best from THE WIZARD OF OZ, where he played the wizard (along with a few other characters). It's interesting to see him in another role -- I've seen THE WIZARD OF OZ so many times and it's so well-ingrained in my consciousness that I sometimes forget the cast of that movie exists outside of that world. At a certain point I stopped thinking of Morgan as a talented actor and comedian and just saw the Wizard himself. So, it's nice to see Morgan bring the same magic to another role -- actually, a more complex role, as Matuschek is a well-drawn three dimensional character, allowed moments of comedy and warmth, along with darker moments of frustration and sadness.

The rest of the shop workers make up the great ensemble cast -- my favorite was Felix Bressart as Pirovitch, though it was kind of an understated role -- he was the guy who Stewart trusted the most, who worked the closest with him in his attempts at romance, and who was clearly the second (or third) in command, though he shied away from taking definite stances against Matuschek.

My next favorite was William Tracy as Pepi -- he starts out as a delivery boy and ends up as a clerk, and his journey from one to the other is probably the most successful series of side jokes the movie has to offer.

Then, there's Joseph Schildrkraut as Vadas -- he's not likable but he does an adrmirable job with a slimy, no-good role, making sure the audience loves to hate him.

The nice thing about this movie is that is knows people have to work. It knows people have jobs, that they have to try to keep their jobs, that they have to learn how to work with their co-workers, whether they like them or not. Too many movies take jobs for granted, as if everyone is guaranteed a living and their life goes on no matter what. This movie understands the characters have to make a living, and have to plan their lives around their living -- there is no plot that can't be put on hold for work hours. And, that makes this movie real.

The movie doesn't dwell on it too much, but it brings up the idea of the person we are on the outside as compared to the person that we are on the inside. A bumbling idiot in person might be the most romantic person you've met, on paper. The trick is to get it off the paper.