Christmas Movie a Day #6
The Shop Around the Corner
Starring Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, and Frank Morgan
Jimmy Stewart is Alfred Kralik, a young man working in Mr. Matuscheck's (The Wizard of Oz's Frank Morgan) gift shop. Unfortunately for Kralik, he doesn't get along with new hire Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) -- they're constantly bickering back and forth. Little do Alfred and Klara know that they are, in fact, each other's anonymous pen pals. As they fall in love with each other via letters, they're despising each other in person.
The thing that makes the simple, obvious story work much better than it has any right to is the great performances. Is there anyone more regular-guy charming than Jimmy Stewart? He's the gosh-darn nice everyman and is a pleasure to watch in nearly anything and this is no exception. His wordplay off of Margaret Sullavan is wonderful, and she's a huge part in making it work. Looking at her imdb page, Ms. Sullavan did not become a star and certainly didn't appear in too many films after this one. I wonder why. Surely she's not the most attractive woman to grace the silver screen, but she's not bad on the eyes, and she's quite funny. And add Frank Morgan's lovable mug into the mix and it's quite a trio.
Simple, sweet, and really charming, this flick (while not having much to do with Christmas at all) is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of Jimmy Stewart (which I know some who are reading this are).
The Shop Around the Corner
Starring Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, and Frank Morgan
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
I know I've seen this movie before (maybe in my Romantic Comedy Analysis film class in college) and I seem to remember disliking it. I don't know what I was thinking, because this movie is a gem, filled with great performances and a cute story.
Jimmy Stewart is Alfred Kralik, a young man working in Mr. Matuscheck's (The Wizard of Oz's Frank Morgan) gift shop. Unfortunately for Kralik, he doesn't get along with new hire Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) -- they're constantly bickering back and forth. Little do Alfred and Klara know that they are, in fact, each other's anonymous pen pals. As they fall in love with each other via letters, they're despising each other in person.
The thing that makes the simple, obvious story work much better than it has any right to is the great performances. Is there anyone more regular-guy charming than Jimmy Stewart? He's the gosh-darn nice everyman and is a pleasure to watch in nearly anything and this is no exception. His wordplay off of Margaret Sullavan is wonderful, and she's a huge part in making it work. Looking at her imdb page, Ms. Sullavan did not become a star and certainly didn't appear in too many films after this one. I wonder why. Surely she's not the most attractive woman to grace the silver screen, but she's not bad on the eyes, and she's quite funny. And add Frank Morgan's lovable mug into the mix and it's quite a trio.
Simple, sweet, and really charming, this flick (while not having much to do with Christmas at all) is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of Jimmy Stewart (which I know some who are reading this are).
The RyMickey Rating: A-
The Christmas Spirit Scale: 2/10
(The Christmas Spirit Scale is a totally pointless rating that is simply my feeling about how "Christmas-y" the movie felt to me)
The Christmas Spirit Scale: 2/10
(The Christmas Spirit Scale is a totally pointless rating that is simply my feeling about how "Christmas-y" the movie felt to me)
When I looked over your original list, I confused this one with the Judy Garland, Van Johnson film - "In the Good Old Summertime..."
ReplyDeleteI recommend that one for next year's xmas viewing.