The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

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James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan star in this fluffy romantic comedy from director Ernst Lubitsch. Stewart and Sullavan play clerks at a Hungarian general store during Christmastime. Both are courting anonymous, romantic pen pals, with no idea that the love of their life is actually the person they argue with at work all the time. (If the plot sounds familiar, this movie has been remade several times, most recently as You’ve Got Mail, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.)

When Stewart’s character finally discovers his pen pal is Sullavan, he keeps it a secret from her — which I found a bit cruel. He maintains the charade for half the movie. Sullavan’s character is short-changed some character development, bending to the plot’s every demand of her. So I never really bought the romance of the story. But I liked the setting and the camaraderie among the shop workers. William Tracy is endearing as a snarky young errand boy and Frank Morgan (Oz‘s wizard himself) is delightful as the store’s hot-tempered but lovable owner. With Joseph Schildkraut.