The Charming Shop Around the Corner

Last month, I wrote about Jimmy Stewart playing a monster in Vertigo. It seems only fair that I cover one of his gentlest roles next, that of lovelorn salesman Alfred Kralik in holiday favorite The Shop Around the Corner (1940). For those unfamiliar with the film, it was later remade as the horrible... Read full article

It’s Right Around the Corner: The 2023 TCM Film Festival

It’s hard to believe that in less than two weeks, I’ll be on my way to Los Angeles for the 2023 TCM Film Festival, with my fest-going partner, my older daughter Veronica, by my side. I remember when the dates for the fest were first announced last October – April seemed to be such a long time ... Read full article

The Shop Around The Corner (1940): A Christmas Love Story

The Shop Around The Corner samples a Hollywood-style Hungary that nevertheless establishes it as a much humbler, quieter picture than seasoned Lubitsch aficionados might be accustomed to. It’s subsequently one of his best efforts for this very reason. There’s an intimacy to it, recalling... Read full article

Holiday Delight on Blu-ray: It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), Holiday Affair (1949), and The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

For over ten years on this site I have been banging the drum every holiday season about It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), Holiday Affair (1949), and The Shop Around the Corner (1940). I never felt like they got enough love, though awareness of these charming films appears to have grown at a steady p... Read full article

Celebrating "The Shop Around the Corner" on its 80th Birthday

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the premiere of what has been called Ernst Lubitsch’s “most discreet tour de force of art concealing art,” The Shop Around the Corner (1940). That’s a nicely spun phrase; some might simply call it perfection… ~ When she was asked,... Read full article