Comedy,Romance,Drama
United States of America
The Shop Around the Corner is a 1940 romantic-comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The story follows two employees at a gift shop in Budapest, Hungary - Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) and Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan). Despite their constant bickering and seemingly mutual dislike for each other, they both have secret pen pals they correspond with through letters, whom they have never met in person.
As their anonymous correspondence continues, their feelings for each other begin to grow. Meanwhile, Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan), the owner of the shop, has personal problems of his own as his marriage is falling apart. This leads him to become increasingly paranoid about one of his employees, suspecting that they are having an affair with his wife.
As the Christmas season approaches, both Alfred and Klara hope to finally meet their pen pals in person. But when Alfred realizes that his own pen pal is actually Klara, he struggles with how to reveal his identity to her, fearing that it may ruin their newfound love.
In the end, all is revealed and the two finally come together romantically, helped along by Mr. Matuschek, who has had a change of heart and offers Alfred his old job back. The film concludes with Alfred and Klara sharing a kiss as they close up the shop on Christmas Eve.
