The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan. Set in Budapest sometime in the 1930s, this movie tells the story of two shop clerks (Sullavan and Stewart) who secretly exchange letters full of high culture and insight, but who don't know that the person they are exchanging letters with is working beside them every day. Naturally, in person they argue and squabble, and they claim not to like each other. Meanwhile, there are several interesting subplots which impel the film along in a most entertaining way. Viewers who see this film may recognize the seeds of "You've Got Mail," the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie that had the same theme, except that the two exchanged emails instead of letters. This film helped establish Stewart as a leading man. (The English subtitles are highly legible, being bright yellow against a black-and-white movie.) Grade: A-