Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 11-December-11
Spoiler Rating: Medium

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

We've reached the point where many people, assuming they paused to watch an old black-and-white movie, would not recognize the type of shop in The Shop Around the Corner. This is something to consider as we run around buying gifts for the Christmas season, which, incidentally, is the setting for the movie's final act. In an age when just about everything we eat, drink, wear, and otherwise consume comes from a handful of megacorporations, and when the stores in Florida are the stores in Iowa are the stores in Oregon, the idea of a shop where the owner's face is known and employees are invested in the trade seems not only quaint but more civilized. (Nowadays such places are romantically called "boutiques," which is similar to calling plain untampered vegetables "organic.") All of which is to say that The Shop Around the Corner has a particular nostalgic appeal.

Set on a busy street in Budapest, the shop offers leather goods, perfumes, and other luxury items, as well as staff eager to help dithering patrons make up their minds. The lead salesman is Mr. Kralik (James Stewart), an unassuming young man who has already given nine years to the business. He is much liked by his associates, especially the avuncular Mr. Pirovitch (Felix Bressart), so it's surprising when he develops an antagonistic relationship with the new girl, Miss Novak (Margaret Sullavan). It's all the more surprising when one considers that Mr. Kralik and Miss Novak are carrying on a passionate romance as anonymous pen pals. Although he gets her goat at work with criticisms about her clothes, he makes her swoon at home with letters about literature. And when he discovers who his postal paramour really is, he hides the truth while deciding what to do.

It's standard for lovers in movies to lie about their identities, but I like that The Shop Around the Corner contrasts the nervous deception of wooers with the darker deception of adulterers. In a parallel story that prevents the film from becoming too sweet, the store's owner (Frank Morgan) struggles with the revelation that his wife is cheating with a younger dandy. He laments that after 22 years together she doesn't want to grow old with him. A cynic might argue that this proves the emptiness of the commitment that both Miss Novak and Mr. Kralik seek. A more hopeful observer, however, might conclude that this shows the danger of carrying unrealistic amorous expectations beyond their time. If at first Mr. Kralik and Miss Novak express their interest through belligerence and anonymity, they can be forgiven because they're standing on uncertain ground. But the consummation of their courtship is the abandonment of these pretenses. By understanding exactly what they're getting into, they can avoid more hurtful deceptions as they build a life around each other and the quaintly civilized shop where they met.

Copyright © 2011 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.