Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan in the Ernst Lubitsch movie ‘The Shop Around the Corner’

Offering uplifting fare with a backdrop of Christmas, we turn the clock back more than 80 years to the Ernst Lubitsch romantic comedy The Shop Around the Corner (1940). The film is based on the Hungarian play Parfumerie (1936) by Miklós László, with the screenplay by Samson Raphaelson and Ben Hecht.

(From left, James Stewart as Alfred Kralik and Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

Klara Novak and Alfred Kralik are introduced to us as a new and a tenured employee of a store owned by Hugo Matuschek named Matuschek and Company. Klara and Alfred have clearly different sensibilities for how best to help Hugo choose merchandise and operate his store, which spills over to their relationship over time at the store. Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan star as Klara Novak, Alfred Kralik and Hugo Matuschek, respectively.

(Frank Morgan as Hugo Matuschek in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

A series of supporting salespeople, delivery staff and others support the operation. The staff includes Pirovitch, a family man portrayed by Felix Bressart, womanizer Ferencz Vadas, as portrayed by Joseph Schildkraut, saleswoman Ilona Novotny as portrayed by Inez Courtney, clerk Flora Kaczek as portrayed by Sara Haden and the precocious yet ambitious delivery boy Pepi Katona, as portrayed by William Tracy.

(From left, Felix Bressart as Pirovitch and William Tracy as Pepi Katona in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

The groundwork for the film begins with the established protocols of the store along with a difference of opinion over the selling of cigarette boxes, which is the occasion of Klara Novak and Alfred Kralik unwittingly coming into conflict. That Alfred and Klara secretly are falling for one another as anonymous love interests through the mail leads to a significant segment of the romantic comedy of the film. That the cigarette boxes cause turmoil between Kralik and Hugo Matuschek calls a secure working arrangement for Kralik into doubt.

(From left, Joseph Schildkraut as Ferencz Vadas and James Stewart as Alfred Kralik in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

A serious complication within the operation of the store takes the disagreement between Kralik and Matuschek down a path that rearranges the dramatic turns of the movie into a more uplifting turn for Alfred Kralik. Kralik satisfyingly gets to decide the fate of a distasteful member of the staff while also getting to exert additional influence over the fate of the store as well as his budding romance. Pepi Katona earns the right to shine for a moment in the growing optimism of shifting fortune.

(From left, Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak and James Stewart as Alfred Kralik in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

An uplifting romantic comedy set against the backdrop of Christmas simply must come to resolution on the night before Christmas. The store sees a positive under the guidance of Alfred Kralik. Klara Novak and Alfred Kralik take the moment to see through some firmly difficult interpersonal views to speak the truth to one another. Happiness comes through the other side of a story that sees fit to invite doubts and obstacles to keep what feels right from fruition.

(From left, actress Margaret Sullavan, director Ernst Lubitsch and actor James Stewart on the set of the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

The movie You’ve Got Mail (1998) borrows from The Shop Around the Corner by using the notion of anonymous correspondence between two people leading to their falling in love being an important plot point. The notion worked in 1940 and largely worked in 1998. The highly satisfying story coupled with highly satisfying performances within The Shop Around the Corner as directed by Ernst Lubitsch leads me to grant the movie 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, December 11, 2021

Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten and Macdonald Carey in the Alfred Hitchcock movie ‘Shadow of a Doubt’

We return to the domain of psychological thriller with a look into Alfred Hitchcock‘s Shadow of a Doubt (1943). In what Alfred Hitchcock‘s daughter, Patricia Hitchcock, confirms here that Shadow of a Doubt was the director’s favorite of his own films owing to “the thought of bringing menace into a small town.” The screenplay was written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson and Alma Reville based on an original story by Gordon McDonell.

(From left, Teresa Wright as Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton and Joseph Cotten as Charles ‘Uncle Charlie’ Oakley in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Shadow of a Doubt).

Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton, portrayed by Teresa Wright, is a bored teenager living with her family in Santa Rosa, California. Charles Oakley, having lived alone in a rooming house in New York when becoming aware of a pair of men waiting for him, flees to the community of Santa Rosa. Charles, or Uncle Charlie to Charlotte, gives his niece an emerald ring with engraved initials not belonging to his niece included within. Joseph Cotten portrayed Charles Oakley.

(From left, Patricia Collinge as Emma Newton, Teresa Wright as Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton, Joseph Cotton as Charles ‘Uncle Charlie’ Oakley, Henry Travers as Joseph Newton, Charles Bates as Roger Newton and Edna May Wonacott as Ann Newton in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Shadow of a Doubt).

Patricia Collinge portrayed Emma Newton, the mother to Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton and sister to Charles ‘Uncle Charlie’ Oakley. Henry Travers portrays Joseph Newton, Emma’s husband and a banker whose bank would benefit from a deposit of $40,000 that Charles Oakley also looks to make; in contemporary valuation, that amounts to nearly $635,000. Edna May Wonacott and Charles Bates portrayed Charlotte’s siblings and other children to Emma and Joseph, respectively Ann Newton and Roger Newton.

(Macdonald Carey as Detective Jack Graham, Teresa Wright as Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton and Wallace Ford as Detective Fred Saunders in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Shadow of a Doubt).

Two men appear on the heels of Uncle Charlie, ostensibly to interview members of the Newton household about the typical day in the family’s household. While a clear if implausible ruse given that detectives Jack Graham and Fred Sanders are with law enforcement, the family is slower to recognize the implications than Uncle Charlie. Charlotte isn’t far behind, having been asked out by the younger detective. Graham eventually acknowledges the suspicion central to a mystery that we’ll not mention for wishing to invite you to see where circumstances lead. Macdonald Carey portrayed Detective Jack Graham, whereas Wallace Ford portrayed Detective Fred Saunders.

(From left, Henry Travers as Joseph Newton and Hume Cronyn as Herbie Hawkins in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Shadow of a Doubt).

Part of that unspoken mystery in humorously yet quite tantalizingly discussed between Newton family father, Joseph, and friend Herbie Hawkins discuss means for committing the perfect crime. Hume Cronyn portrays Hawkins. Herbie and Joseph trigger emotional responses from Uncle Charlie and Charlotte, who seek to protect different interests for quite distinct personal reasons. The intrigue grows to a fever pitch, with resolution coming in perhaps the least expected of ways.

(From left, actress Teresa Wright and director Alfred Hitchcock on set of the Alfred Hitchcock movie Shadow of a Doubt).

The means of resolving the larger mystery between the antagonists and the protagonist has every bit of modern feeling to them as any movie that could be delivered today. The cinema of the solution shows weakness that being more than 78-years-old doesn’t explain away, though the suspense is no less true or compelling. I grant Shadow of a Doubt as directed by Alfred Hitchcock 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, November 6, 2021

James Stewart and ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’

It isn’t often that a movie from the first half of the twentieth century will make it to our review table, though It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) is a worthy selection. The movie reflects a clever retelling of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol in a more current time, though the era is still in the past. It’s A Wonderful Life ages well. We recommend that you see the film.

(Donna Reed as Mary Hatch, left, & James Stewart as George Bailey)

James Stewart stars as George Bailey opposite the character Mary Hatch (later Mary Bailey) as portrayed by Donna Reed. The story of George Bailey along with a myriad of disappointments and successes, in part, makes George a reluctant hero for the fictional town of Bedford Falls. George takes over the work of his deceased father, Peter Bailey as portrayed by Samuel S. Hinds, at the family business called Bailey Brothers Building and Loan.

(James Stewart as George Bailey, left, and Samuel S. Hinds as Peter Bailey).

George sacrificed his own dreams to run the business at the time of his father’s death, sending his brother to college with the money that would have been his to attend school. Both father and son struggled against the miserly banker Henry F. Potter, played by Lionel Barrymore. Potter aimed to gain financial control of the town against the interests of the lesser educated and well-to-do, whereas the building and loan was a champion for that very class of people and cause.

(Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Henry F. Potter).

Three months after the death of his father, the board atop the Bailey Building and Loan voted to install George as the head of the institution. Without George at the top, George’s drunk paternal uncle likely would be left out of work as the board would then turn to the miser Potter to take control.

(Thomas Mitchell as Uncle Billy).

It was at this point where we see George working through his acceptance that there was no place like home to make the ambitious plans for the future a reality. Mrs. Irene Bailey, George’s mother as portrayed by Beulah Bondi, knew this as well as any when she prodded George to walk to the home of Mary Hatch. It was Mary that was crushing on George as George pined for the love interest named Violet. George would propose to Mary that night.

(Beulah Bondi as Mrs. Irene Bailey, left, and James Stewart).

All this has been introduced to the audience with the notion that George would need the service of one guardian angel named Clarence Odbody. Clarence Odbody, as portrayed by Henry Travers, sees all of this past with the audience. We know that George would want to commit suicide before the film was out. The stark moment emerges when drunk Uncle Billy was returning the day’s deposits to the Building and Loan one morning when encountering the miserly Mr. Potter. Getting confused by way of drunkenness, the $8,000 in funds under Billy’s control lands in the hands of the Potter.

(Henry Travers as Clarence Odbody).

The uplifting outcome one would expect of a Dickens novel, or The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern that directly inspired It’s A Wonderful Life, turns on the intervention of angel seeking wings Clarence Odbody. The turn occurs when, in the midst of George’s grief over the misplaced $8,000 and a bank auditor in town, Clarence grants George a glimpse into the Bedford Falls, ney Pottersville, without the life of one George Bailey.

The true satisfaction of the turn comes from the awareness of the declined decay of the change from the Bedford Falls of George Bailey to the Pottersville of the unborn George Bailey. George as well as the audience see a stark, Dickensian contrast that spurs George to take stock of the wonderful life he has had while saving many through the sacrifice turned to the generous outcomes of his generous spirit. The message of his despondency is transmuted to the joy of a soul saved, a building and loan saved, a brother, family, and town saved. Clarence Odbody gains his wings. The town acts with honor. George finds hope once again and the spirit of Christmas is renewed.

It’s A Wonderful Life presents as an uplifting tale of the human spirit and community. Sure there is symbolism of a political nature within the storytelling. The feel good outcome, the redemption, and the fact that the theft of the $8,000 by Mr. Henry F. Potter are not reconciled are the larger points that I choose to see in my consideration of the film ranking. I give It’s A Wonderful Life a rating of 4.5-out-of-5 stars.

Matt – Wednesday, December 12, 2018