12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS | DAY 9: "The Shop Around the Corner" (1940)

Theatrical release poster Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, The Shop Around the Corner (1940) takes place at Matuschek and Company, a leathergoods shop located "just around the corner from Andrassy Street — on Balta Street in Budapest, Hungary," where paternal Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan) presides firmly but fairly over his staff. There is Alfred Kralik (James Stewart), the bashful yet lovestruck head clerk; Pirovitch (Felix Bressart), a kindly family man; Ferencz Vadas (Joseph Schilkraut), a duplicitious womanizer; and Pepi Katona (William Tracy), an impetuous delivery boy. One morning, while waiting for Mr. Matuschek to arrive, Alfred reveals to Pirovitch that he has been conducting an anonymous courtship through letters with an intelligent woman whose ad he found in the newspaper. That same morning, Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) enters the shop looking for a job . Alfred tells her that there are no openings , but Mr. Matuschek hires her when she talks a customer int...