 "Let's make this the
biggest Christmas Eve in the history of Matuschek & Company."
One
of the reasons why The
Shop Around the Corner qualifies as a great movie about
Christmas is because it is about normal people doing normal things -
working in a shop, having affairs, falling in love - at Christmas time.
Christmas happens for ordinary people & doesn't require angels,
ghosts, Santa Claus or reindeer to make its magic. What
makes the film entirely captivating is the cast. This is the third
of four films which Margaret Sullavan & Jimmy Stewart
starred in together (Lubitsch wanted them so much that he delayed
filming until they were available) and they make a charming, sparky
& charismatic central pairing. The supporting cast are also
marvellous, portraying characters which we can all recognise and
respond to. Sullavan & Stewart
play warring colleagues at the Matuscheck & Company shop who do
not realise that they are also having an anonymous penpal romance. The
ups & downs of their relationship is played out against an
atmosphere of cosy Christmassy cafes and frantic Christmas shopping.
One of the themes of the film is that although Christmas can bring
loneliness and pain, this loneliness can be overcome with hard work and
the kindness of friends. Other fabulous Christmas films | 
