It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940): Dir: Ernst Lubitsch / Cast: James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, William Tracy: Delightful romantic comedy that sometimes surrenders to jerking us around, but often times it is relentlessly charming. The action centres around a small shop where James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan star as employees who are unknowingly pen pals. Frank Morgan plays the shop owner who wants everything in tip top shape for Christmas. Director Ernst Lubitsch does a fine job at presenting relationships within an ordinary corner shop, but the film has tremendous depth as well. Stewart is terrific as someone who has mastered the shop and maintained its order but a misunderstanding results in his firing. Sullavan plays the female counter part who regrets the actions against Stewart despite their disagreements. Morgan steals his moments as he learns to take a closer look at life in the shop and demonstrate benefits to those of hard work. Joseph Schildkraut plays the film's villain whose tactics lead to the one act of violence where he is sacked in the jaw. William Tracy plays a young delivery boy who frequents the shop and eventually prevents a tragedy. While the ending is corny, the film's presentation of the characters through the walls of this little shop make for an interesting observation of those of us who must tolerate one another through eight hour periods. Score: 8 / 10

early Stewart film has him somewhat in support of Sullivan...he does well but appears to be a tad too young for the role, as fledgling Salesman in a small but successful shop in Budapest, who learns that an adversarial co-worker is actually the girl he has been writing to! the shop and environment ring of small town America...I did miss some of the early scenes...so I spent a lot of viewing time thinking I was watching a Frank Capra film! it's said that the '90s YOU'VE GOT (E-)MAIL is the "remake" of this 1940 film and strangely, Tom Hanks is every bit as dull as Jimmy Stewart is here.just like so many of today's films, this entry runs on too long and blows past many opportunities to inject some liveliness, some zaniness into the stilted proceedings.I walked away from the TV for about two minutes thinking the film was quickly winding down after the scene when the Shop's aging owner, visiting at Christmas eve, in his recuperation from a severe breakdown after learning his wife was messing around in the stockroom, takes the opportunity to invite the newest hiree, a 17 year old delivery boy, to a Christmas dinner.Thought the movie should end there, as the two walk up the snowy street, and see Jimmy and Margaret in an embrace, under a street light. But....no. More tentative romance with the two former pen pals.

I can't do better with this review than others have done, and I wholeheartedly agree with everything they have said. This is a perfect movie, truly--the directing, acting, editing, writing are all flawless. For an unexplained reason, I have just finished watching the movie five nights in a row and I have enjoyed it every time. The scenes between Margaret Sullivan and Jimmy Stewart are so delightful that I hold my breath to watch them. Especially Margaret Sullivan is so much fun to watch as she puts Jimmy Stewart down and is so charming in doing so that you can't help but love her. The whole cast is outstanding. The young man who plays Pepi almost steals the movie. What he does with the role is so rich and full and multi-layered and unique in its portrayal and interpretation. But they are all perfectly cast and work together so well. I don't understand why this movie didn't get multiple Oscar nominations in 1940, including Best Picture.

I find myself having to see this film every Christmas season. I am never disappointed - even though I know the drift. But that's the sign of a great film - you always delight in something new each time you see it. And these are characters you grow to love so much you want to be in their company, so to speak, every year - they're like old friends you missed and have to see again. This movie has humor and pathos, a wide range of emotions, and though it's ostensibly a comedy, it's also a romantic film and one that speaks of the human condition. In other words, it works on many levels. And all of the many brilliant actors in this film shine brightly. It's one of Jimmy Stewart's, Frank Morgan's, Felix Bressart's and Joseph Schildkraut's best - and perhaps Margaret Sullavan's very best (her comic timing is brilliant). And the other character players are lovable and brilliant, too - especially William Tracy as "Pepi." Sad that so many of them came to tragic ends or died fairly young in real life. What a great cast and sweet, touching story! And this is also one of those great old films where wit was in abundance.