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The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner

Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1940

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Movie details

The Shop Around the Corner

“EVERY GIRL OR FELLOW WHO EVER KEPT A “BLIND DATE””

1940 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

8.1 / 10

Community rating

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Shop Around the Corner?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ernst Lubitsch

Written by

Samson Raphaelson

Margaret Sullavan

Margaret Sullavan

Klara Novak

James Stewart

James Stewart

Alfred Kralik

Frank Morgan

Frank Morgan

Hugo Matuschek

Joseph Schildkraut

Joseph Schildkraut

Ferencz Vadas

Sara Haden

Sara Haden

Flora

Felix Bressart

Felix Bressart

Pirovitch

William Tracy

William Tracy

Pepi Katona

Court is in session

Put The Shop Around the Corner on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.