The Shop Around The Corner review

Forget the dull 1998 remake, You’ve Got Mail. This is the original: Ernst Lubitsch’s gentle 1940 comedy set in an old-fashioned Budapest leather-goods store, where James Stewart is head salesman and mainstay of his boss Frank Morgan (aka The Wizard of Oz).

Into the store comes Margaret Sullavan; it’s dislike at first sight between her and Stewart, but what neither knows is that they’ve been amorously corresponding as anonymous pen-pals.

Sure, the plot-turns are foreseeable, but the film’s wit and perfectly gauged performances are undimmed delights.