Margaret Sullavanas Klara NovakThe story
About The Shop Around the Corner
Budapest, just before the war. Two clerks at a leather goods shop can barely stand each other, and neither knows that the other is the anonymous pen friend they have been writing to for months and are half in love with. Meanwhile the owner suspects his wife of an affair, everyone is anxious about their job, and the whole shop is bracing for the Christmas Eve rush. Ernst Lubitsch directs James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, with Frank Morgan as the owner.
The CineClaus verdict
Two shop clerks bicker all day and, without knowing it, write each other love letters by night.
Ernst Lubitsch plays it with the lightest touch, but there is real worry underneath: jobs on the line, a marriage gone wrong, a lonely owner. James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are perfect, and the staff around them give it a warmth few romances manage.
Christmas arrives late, with the Christmas Eve rush and snow outside the darkened shop, and it is worth the wait. You've Got Mail came from the same play. This is the better film.
The family desk
Can the kids watch?
Our take: rated PG by the BBFC for infrequent suicide references: the shop owner's attempt happens off screen and he recovers unharmed. It was a U until 2021 and there is nothing else to worry about, but it is a talky grown-up romance, so it suits teenagers better than little ones.
Content advice & accessibility
- Our age guidance
- Editorial, separate from the official PG certificate, and never looser than it.
- Subtitles
- Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.
