The Shop Around the Corner

Mr. Matuschek's Shop Around the Corner courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shop_Around_the_Corner.

Many movie fans are familiar with the love story You've Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  However, many are unfamiliar with its precursor, The Shop Around the Corner.  Based on a Hungarian play called Parfumerie, this classic film stars Jimmy Stewart as a shop clerk who starts up a pen pal romance with a dream girl.  Little does he know that his dream girl is his annoying co-worker at the shop, Klara.

The two plan to meet for a dinner date in which Alfred is ready to propose marriage if it goes well.  However, their boss, Mr. Matuschek, insists that they work late that night.  The shopkeeper seems in a miserable mood which the co-workers chalk up to his personality.  Later, he fires Alfred for no apparent reason.  Later, the delivery boy Pepi arrives at the shop to find Mr. Matuschek ready to commit suicide, despondent that his wife is having an affair.  He had suspected Alfred of being the other man, but a private investigator he hired tells him the culprit is another employee.

A second attempt at a dinner date ends with Alfred, realizing that Klara is his mystery woman, claiming that he is at Cafe Nizza to meet someone else.  Klara declares that the man whom she waits for is "far superior" to a "little insignificant clerk" like Alfred.

The shopkeeper re-hires Alfred and two weeks later, on Christmas Eve, the shop enjoys record sales.  Alfred wants to go out and celebrate but he has no one to join him.  Klara reads Alfred a letter from her admirer.  Alfred finally admits that he indeed is the admirer.

Christmas Eve at the Shop Around the Corner courtesy http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-17-513-863-820-835-view-comedy-romance-2-profile-1940-bthe-shop-around-the-corner-b.html.

It's a Wonderful Life

Premiering in December of 1946 in theatres and starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, "It's a Wonderful Life" received five Academy Award nominations and later became a staple on American television each Christmas season.  Sleepy Bedford Falls resident, George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is a struggling businessman whose savings and loans company is about to go bankrupt, leading George to contemplate jumping off a bridge.  However, an angel sent from heaven named Clarence intervenes, showing George what life would really be like if he had never been born.

Director Frank Capra flashes back to George's childhood:  how he was in a sledding accident and almost drown, how he was mistreated by his employer at the local drugstore, and how he dreamed about travelling the globe.  In the meantime, though, he met his future wife, Mary, played by Donna Reed, at a dance where they lindyhopped until their feet were sore.  As they meandered home that evening, they stopped at an abandonned house, threw a rock at the window, and made a wish.

Sadly, George's father ,who ran a savings and loans business, succumbed to a stroke in the next scene.  Though grief-stricken, George finds joy when he marries his sweetheart Mary, fulfilling the wish she had made in front of the abandonned house.  On a rainy night, the newlyweds are about to depart for their honeymoon in Europe, when the savings and loans employees beg him to take over his late father's business.  Begrudgingly, he agrees and foregoes his honeymoon.

Although he starts off slowly, and despite his immoral nemesis Mr. Potter, George is able to build his business back up using honest methods.  In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey purchase the decrepit house that they once strolled past on that fateful evening, discovering its hidden charms.    They start a family which eventually totals four children.  As the business heads south, the once charming house becomes a liability:  every time George walks up the staircase, he shakes his head in disgust at the knob which comes lose from the bannister post.  The once adorable children become an annoyance:  his daughter's piano playing grates on his last nerve.

What's the source of his distress?  Uncle Billy has lost $8000 of the company's money.  George runs to Martini's bar where he hits rock bottom and then cries out to God for help.  When the struggling businessman meets the angel, he then realizes that he is not poor, but rich.  He runs home to his family on Christmas Eve, his wife waiting for him with open arms.  They sing together under the Christmas tree.  The community bands together to raise funds to replace the missing money.  It's a wonderful life!



Photo courtesy http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com.

The Shop Around the Corner Based on Hungarian Play Parfumerie

Jimmy Stewart plays a character named Alfred who works in a leather goods shop in Budapest, Hungary.  Margaret Sullavan plays Alfred's co-worker Klara who takes an immediate dislike to him.  Each day, between customers, the pair argues over petty things.  At home, Alfred writes letters to a secret admirer; so too, does Klara.

One day Alfred plans to meet his admirer at a cafe.  Klara also plays to meet her beau at a cafe. Alfred says he'll wear a flower pinned to his lapel.  Klara is disappointed that her admirer is not at the cafe.  She spots Alfred and strikes up a conversation.  After several minutes, Alfred uncovers a flower, pinned to his lapel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shop_Around_the_Corner).

The Shop Around the Corner is based on the play Parfumerie, written by Hungarian born playwright Mislo Laszlow.  Born to German Jewish parents as Nicholaus Leitner, he was forced to change his name to Mislo Laszlow to appear Hungarian rather than German, in the country's attempt at "cultural unification".

Mislo grew up in the hustle and bustle of wartime Budapest.  His family was in the entertainment business.  He "rubbed elbows with the Hungarian literati, including Ferenc Molnar, the playwright for Liliom, better known as Carousel.

After many years of high living and poor management, Mislow's father became destitute.  Mislow, who had never wanted for anything, became a surrogate father overnight to his seven siblings.  He tried his hand at candy making, collar sales, a necktie agent and a petrol factory worker.  But his heart remained in the world of entertainment.

In 1934, Mislow wrote his first script for a play called A Legboldogabb Ember, which won a Hungarian Academy Award, the equilavent of the Pulitzer Prize in the United States.  In 1936, he penned the script for Parfumerie, which was performed at the Pest Theatre a year later.

But things were getting rough for Jews in Europe.  The Anschluss was only a year away, uniting Germany and Austria.  Kristallnacht, or The Night of Broken Glass, during which Jewish shop windows were shattered and businesses robbed, was fast approaching.  Hitler was bent on occupying neighbouring countries.  Would Hungary be far behind?  Mislow chose to immigrate to the United States in 1938.

Once in America, Mislow struck a deal with Hollywood.  The Shop Around the Corner, starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan premiered on the silver screen on January 12, 1940.  The romantic comedy was remade in 1999 as You've Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=1067748

George Kaufman & Moss Hart's "You Can't Take it with You"

The play "You Can't Take it with You" premiered at the Booth Theatre in 1936, running for 838 performances.  Mr. Kirby, played by William J.Kelly, is a Wall Street banker who intends to buy up a 12 block radius around a competitor's factory to put him out of business.  However, there is one hold out; Mr. Kirby suggests offering the family a large amount of money and if that fails, causing trouble for them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can%27t_Take_It_with_You_(play).

Mr. Kirby's son,Tony, played by Jess Barker, is the Vice President of the company.  He has fallen in love with the company stenographer, Alice Sycamore, played by Margot Stevenson, and proposed marriage.  No one knows that Margot lives in the hold out house.

Mr. and Mrs. Kirby disapprove of their son's choice of a mate, given that she is of the lower class.  Alice invites the Kirby's to dinner one evening, hoping to smooth things over.  However, the Kirby's come on the wrong evening and find the house in disarray.  The police arrive and arrest everyone in the house for setting off firecrackers illegally.

In prison, the Kirby's and Vanderhof's get to know each other a bit better.  Mr. Vanderhof points out to Mr. Kirby that even though he has wealth, he "can't take it with him."  Sprung from prison, the two families have their day in court where the judge asks why a wealthy family was associating with a lower class one.  Someone explains that they were discussing the possible sale of the house, but Alice points out that they are about to be in-laws.  However, disappointed at the poor treatment displayed by the Kirby's Alice spurns Tony and flees town.  Grandpa Vanderhof decides to sell their home and the neighbourhood prepares to vacate for the proposed factory.

Kirby's competitor, Ramsey, dies after confronting Kirby about his ruthlessness.  Kirby realized that Mr. Vanderhof is right:  he has no friends.  He visits the Vanderhof's again and realizes that they are good people.  Alice takes Tony back and the final scene shows the two families dining in harmony.

You Can't Take it with You was adapted for the big screen in 1938, directed by Frank Capra.  The production starred Jimmy Stewart as Tony Kirby, Jean Arthur as Alice Sycamore, Lionel Barrymore as Grandpa Vanderhof and Edward Arnold as Mr. Kirby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can%27t_Take_It_With_You_(film).

You Can't Take it with You circa 1938 courtesy http://basementrejects.com/review/you-cant-take-it-with-you-1938/.

Philip Barry's "The Philadelphia Story"

"They mentioned her doing the Charleston with Josephine Baker in Paris, dancing a foxtrot with the Duke of Windsor at El Morocco...and lunching with Churchill on Aristotle Onassis' yacht." (http://www.reelclassics.com/Movies/Philstory/tracylord-article.htm)

The Philadelphia Story debuted on March 29, 1939 at the Schubert Theatre in New York City.  Starring Katharine Hepburn, it was based on a Philadelphia socialite's wedding plans, which were complicated upon the arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist.  Hepburn had been labelled "box office poison" after the disappointment of Bringing Up Baby.  The actress passed on a salary in exchange for 10% of the play's profits.  The Philadelphia Story, which ran for 415 performances, grossed $1.5 million.

Playwright Philip Barry based his character, Tracy Lord, on a real life Philadelphia socialite named Helen Hope MOntgomery Scott.  Her patrician family, which lived in the Main Line district of Philadelphia, the city's "most fashionable address", represented old money.  The very term WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) was coined to describe Philadelphia's elite.  

Young Philadelphia debutantes had coming out parties at the Philadelphia Assemblies Ball, an event that dated back to 1748.  It was on the staircase that a young Helen Hope Montgomery descended in 1922.  By the end of the ball, the debutante had four marriage proposals.  However, she had a mind of her own and chose to marry Pennsylvania Railroad heir Edgar Scott.  Her parents' wedding gift was a 1720 fieldstone house on her family's 750 acre Androssan estate.  As Mrs. Scott, Helen hosted endless grand dinner parties.  Philadelphia society buzzed about Helen and her beauty.  Painters offered to paint her likeness; photographers lined up to snap her picture.  

In 1939, Philip Barry cast Katharine Hepburn as Helen Montgomery, Joseph Cotten as C. K. Dexter Haven, Van Heflin as Macauley connor and Shirley Booth as Lix Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.  The following year, Hepburn reprised her role for the screen, but this time opposite Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.  The latter won Best Actor and the film wont Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

http://cometoverhollywood.com/tag/cary-grant/

It's a Wonderful Life Facts

1.  Sesame Street characters Bert & Ernie were not named after the police officers Bert and Ernie in "It's a Wonderful Life".

2.  The Charleston scene where Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed's characters dance was filmed in a Beverly Hills high school.  The gym floor really did open up to reveal a swimming pool.

3.  Usually painted snowflakes were used as snow for movies.  However they were too noisy.  For "It's a Wonderful Life" the crew used a combination of ice, gypsum plaster and formite-soap-water mixture.

4.  Jimmy Stewart's daughter, named Zuzu, brought home a flower from school, its petals falling off.  Zuzu's Petals became the name of a rock band, a character in the movie The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and a Far Side comic.

5.  In 1943, writer Philip Van Doren penned the story "The Greatest Gift" as a Christmas card to family and friends.  Frank Capra renamed the tale "It's a Wonderful Life".

6.  RKO bought the movie rights to "It's a Wonderful Life" for $10,000 in 1946.

7.  Little Rascal "Alfafa", Carl Dean Switzer, played the ill-fated dance partner of Donna Reed's character.

8.  The bridge scenes were actually filmed during a California heat wave.  As Jimmy Stewart contemplates jumping off the snow covered bridge, he is actually sweating.

9.  "It's a Wonderful Life" was actually a box office bomb, costing 3.7 million to make, but generating only 3.3 million in sales.  It wasn't until the movie was replayed on television in the 1970's that it developped a true following.

10.  Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland and Jean Arthur all turned down the starring role of Mary Bailey because it was too "bland".

For more information visit http://www.families.com/blog/10-fun-facts-about-its-a-wonderful-life.

www.musicboxtheatre.com

It's a Wonderful Life

Premiering in December of 1946 in theatres and starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, "It's a Wonderful Life" received five Academy Award nominations and later became a staple on American television each Christmas season.  Sleepy Bedford Falls resident, George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is a struggling businessman whose savings and loans company is about to go bankrupt, leading George to contemplate jumping off a bridge.  However, an angel sent from heaven named Clarence intervenes, showing George what life would really be like if he had never been born. 

Director Frank Capra flashes back to George's childhood:  how he was in a sledding accident and almost drown, how he was mistreated by his employer at the local drugstore, and how he dreamed about travelling the globe.  In the meantime, though, he met his future wife, Mary, played by Donna Reed, at a dance where they lindyhopped until their feet were sore.  As they meandered home that evening, they stopped at an abandonned house, threw a rock at the window, and made a wish. 

Sadly, George's father ,who ran a savings and loans business, succumbed to a stroke in the next scene.  Though grief-stricken, George finds joy when he marries his sweetheart Mary, fulfilling the wish she had made in front of the abandonned house.  On a rainy night, the newlyweds are about to depart for their honeymoon in Europe, when the savings and loans employees beg him to take over his late father's business.  Begrudgingly, he agrees and foregoes his honeymoon.

Although he starts off slowly, and despite his immoral nemesis Mr. Potter, George is able to build his business back up using honest methods.  In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey purchase the decrepit house that they once strolled past on that fateful evening, discovering its hidden charms.    They start a family which eventually totals four children.  As the business heads south, the once charming house becomes a liability:  every time George walks up the staircase, he shakes his head in disgust at the knob which comes lose from the bannister post.  The once adorable children become an annoyance:  his daughter's piano playing grates on his last nerve.

What's the source of his distress?  Uncle Billy has lost $8000 of the company's money.  George runs to Martini's bar where he hits rock bottom and then cries out to God for help.  When the struggling businessman meets the angel, he then realizes that he is not poor, but rich.  He runs home to his family on Christmas Eve, his wife waiting for him with open arms.  They sing together under the Christmas tree.  The community bands together to raise funds to replace the missing money.  It's a wonderful life!



Photo courtesy http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com.