The Shop Around the Corner | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Ernst Lubitsch |
Produced by | Ernst Lubitsch |
Screenplay by |
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Based on |
Parfumerie/Illatszertár 1937 play by Miklós László |
Starring | |
Music by | Werner R. Heymann |
Cinematography | William H. Daniels |
Edited by | Gene Ruggiero |
Production
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Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $500,000 |
Box office | $380,000 (EU) |
The Shop Around the Corner is a 1940 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan. The screenplay was written by Samson Raphaelson based on the 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László. Eschewing regional politics in the years leading up to World War II, the film is about two employees at a leathergoods shop in Budapest who can barely stand each other, not realizing they're falling in love as anonymous correspondents through their letters.
The Shop Around the Corner is ranked #28 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions, and is listed in Time's All-Time 100 Movies. In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The supporting cast included Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, and William Tracy.
Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) is the top salesman at a leathergoods shop in Budapest owned by the high-strung Mr. Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan). Kralik's coworkers at Matuschek and Company include his friend, Pirovitch (Felix Bressart), a kindly family man; Ferencz Vadas (Joseph Schildkraut), a two-faced womanizer; and Pepi Katona (William Tracy), an ambitious, precocious delivery boy. One morning, Kralik reveals to Pirovitch that he's been corresponding anonymously with an intelligent and cultured woman whose ad he came across in the newspaper.