Triva and Other Fun Stuff on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER

According to his biographer, writer Ben Hecht made an un-credited contribution to the screenplay for The Shop Around the Corner.

For the snow scenes, Ernst Lubitsch insisted on having real snow, so MGM had to truck in thirty tons of ice and shave the blocks into flakes.

The Shop Around the Corner was the third of four pictures that James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan did together, the others being Next Time We Love (1936), The Shopworn Angel (1938), and The Mortal Storm (1940).

Of their four pictures together, The Shop Around the Corner provided James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan with their only upbeat romantic ending.

Ernst Lubitsch became the first director to become head of production for a major studio when he went to work for Paramount in 1935. Unfortunately, he was let go one year later for failing to produce an acceptable number of box office hits.

At Lubitsch's funeral in 1947, director Mervyn LeRoy spoke of the kind of comedy in which the director excelled:"...he advanced the techniques of screen comedy as no one else has ever done. Suddenly the pratfall and the double-take were left behind and the sources of deep inner laughter were tapped."

Despite costing only a half a million dollars to make. The Shop Around the Corner still lost money at the American box office.

Famous Quotes from THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER

Alfred Kralik: Yes, Mr. Matuschek
Hugo Matuschek: Eh, close the door. Kralik, why did you put me in that situation, in front of the whole shop?
Alfred Kralik: Well, I'm very sorry, sir... but it was not my fault.
Hugo Matuschek: Well whose fault was it? Mine?
Alfred Kralik: Well... yes.

Klara Novak: [In her letter to Alfred] : Oh, my Dear Friend, my heart was trembling as I walked into the post office, and there you were, lying in Box 237. I took you out of your envelope and read you, read you right there.

by Scott McGee and Jeff Stafford