Among Ernst Lubitsch’s most charming movies is the comedy-drama The Shop Around the Corner (1940).  Its story of a man and a woman who fall in love through corre-spondence but actively dislike each other in person (they are unaware of their pen pal connection) remains fresh and cute nearly seventy years — and multiple remakes — later.

The story takes place in Budapest, Hungary, where two store clerks (James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan) find it hard to coexist in the same store.  They disagree on just about everything.  Much of the film’s humor and drama depends on their verbal jousting, and viewers new to the film may be surprised at how blatantly mean and rude they are toward each other.  Sullavan in particular is quite blunt about her lack of respect for Stewart.

There are other dynamics present in the store, from the owner’s (Frank Morgan) disintegrating marriage to the errand boy’s (William Tracy) maneuvers to improve his position.  Tracy, in fact, threatens to steal every scene he’s in, but the primary pleasure lies in watching Stewart and Sullavan interact, both with each other and with the staff that becomes like family to each of them.  Anyone who has ever worked in retail can relate to this situation.

The “Lubitsch touch” is evident throughout, capturing the vagaries of life with delicacy, understanding and humor.  And while the setting is a little odd to modern eyes (some signs are English; others are Hungarian), the film never seems foreign.  It’s a charmer.  My rating:  ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2.  (9:3).