Xmas in Film: The Shop Around the Corner

It's hard to believe, but I've actually gone through the first four days of December without talking about anything film related (non-animated, that is).  Well, that ends here as does my moratorium on talking about romantic comedies (I did say that holiday themed ones didn't count) as we look at the first Christmas movie of the season.  It stars a man who is ubiquitous with the Christmas season, starring in one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time- Mr. James Stewart.  But, we're not talking about It's a Wonderful Life today- that would be way too obvious.  Instead, I wanted to highlight Jimmy's role in another great Christmas movie, 1940's The Shop Around The Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

The plot of The Shop Around The Corner is a very familiar (it was remade twice, as 1949's In The Good Old Summertime and 1998's You've Got Mail).  Two shop clerks who can't stand each other turn out to be each other's secret pen pals, with whom they are in each love with.  Stewart plays Alfred Kralik, a clerk at Matuschek & Company, a Budapest leather goods store and Margaret Sullivan plays Klara Novak, his fellow clerk/nemesis who turns out to be the woman of his dreams.  To be honest, their relationship doesn't really do much for me.  I find Margaret Sullivan's character to be incredibly histrionic and there are times when Stewart's character can be downright mean.  That been said, there are a couple scenes between the two that really shine - the scene where Stewart's character discovers that Sullavan's is his pen pal and toys with her while she nervously waits for her "pen pal" and the scene at the very end when Sullavan finally realizes that Stewart is her pen pal and they finally get together.  These scenes help make up for the rest of the film's lacklustre interactions between the two.

Now that I've taken care of the main plot of the film, I can focus on the reason that I really love this film- the subplots and the characters who inhabit them.  Like any retail establishment, this film is populated with an assortment of characters that give the film its life.  From the wise-ass delivery boy Peppy, to the kindhearted yet timid family-man Pirovitch, to the sleazy dandy Vadas - they all have their little backstories.  The biggest one involves the big man himself Mr. Matuschek (played by The Wizard of Oz himself Frank Morgan) who incorrectly suspects that Kralik is having an affair with his wife.  Prior to his suspicions he and Kralik had a relationship similar to that of a father and son, and this has a major effect on Stewart's employment and causes Matuschek to make an attempt suicide.  Not to worry though, this is a comedy and all turns out well in the end with everyone getting what's coming to him.

Everything culminates on Christmas Eve with one of my favourite Christmas scenes in any film.  Mr. Matuschek, who has just been released from the hospital has just given everyone their Christmas bonuses after a very successful Christmas Eve, looks to his staff (his one true family) for someone to spend Christmas with now that his marriage is over.  One by one they all tell them of their plans with friends and loved ones.  It looks like he's destined to be alone when he learns of the new delivery boy's situation (his family don't live in town) and he generously offers to take him for a wonderful Christmas dinner.  It's an unusually touching moment that makes the film for me.  Here it is...

Classic Romantic Comedies Vol 4: Ninotchka

Today we look at a film directed by a man synonymous with the great romantic comedies of yesteryear, Ernst Lubitsch.  Lubitsch brought a worldly sophistication to Hollywood comedies in an era when pratfall laden screwball comedies were the name of the game.  Wit and cynicism replaced a pie in the face  in the universe that exists in Lubitsch's films (although, there's still room for the odd pratfall if the set-up was intelligent enough).  Lubitsch was also known to comment on the state of the world and derive comedy from the politics of the time - in Ninotchka, released in 1939, communism is in his cross hairs.

As the film opens we are greeted by Paris and all the palatial aspects that make it the source of all too many romantic films and songs.  Three envoys from Russia arrive with the hope of selling the royal jewels of Grand Duchess Swanna, who fled Russia during the communist revolution.  Conveniently, the Grand Duchess now lives in Paris and soon learns of her chance to recapture her lost jewels.  She sends Leon (played by Melvyn Douglas), man-about-town (as well as her favourite boy-toy) to help recapture her jewels.  Leon goes to the hotel where the three envoys (who are completely inept and well on their way to being seduced into the life of luxury that the west has to offer) and stalls their efforts to sell the jewels by further luring them away from their communist values.

Time passes and the Russian begin to wonder what the delay is in the sale of the jewels.  They send a fourth envoy, Ninotchka (played by the legendary Greta Garbo) to help move things along in Paris and to retrieve the three failed envoys.  When Leon meets Ninotchka he is immediately fascinated by this cold, humourless Russian woman and starts insinuating himself into her life in Paris.  Though she is a tougher sell than her failed comrades, Ninotchka soon warms to Leon and western life, and her icy veneer starts melting away.  Surprise, surprise she and Leon fall in love, which complicates matters when the Grand Duchess gets wise to what's happening with her pet man, and wants to retrieve her jewels. 

As you would expect the outcome is happy (this is a Hollywood film, after all), however there are real stakes in this romantic comedy in which characters must make choices and sacrifices that aren't always pleasant.  The dialogue is wonderful and the screenwriters (including, the great Billy Wilder) sprinkle in some jabs at Stalin and the realities of life in the Russia for good measure, while never straying too far into the darkness of the nation during that era.  The film also culminates in a very touching spin on the fairy-tale motif of the prince rescuing the beautiful princess.  The outcome is a warm feelgood film that would put a smile on the face of the coldest Russian in the joint.

Here's the trailer if you're still not convinced...