The Shop Around The Corner

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that You've Got Mail was a modern remake of The Shop Around The Corner, but I had never seen the original. Now having seen the original I can certainly see why Nora Ephron wanted to rework it. If you have never seen it, do yourself a favour and see where she got her inspiration. Ernst Lubitch directed this adaptation of a Hungarian play by Miklós László called Parfumerie. He left it set in Budapest which in the beginning I thought was very odd, but it is a nice touch actually.

Let me admit at the outset that I have always had a bit of a crush on James Stewart. OK, more than a bit! How can you not adore this gentlemanly character who has just a bit of an edge to him? And can he do sexual tension or what (telephone scene from It's a Wonderful Life)?

So this is now my new fave James Stewart holiday film. I think I need to see it again now actually. And may I say, kudos to TCM for releasing it again in a package with 3 other classics. I have only watched this one and It Happened on 5th Avenue, and I am already thrilled. I still have to watch Christmas in Conneticut and A Christmas Carol with Reginald Owen over the holidays.

Hmm. What else can I say to entice you to watch this over the holidays. Oh, the scene in the coffee shop is adorable and almost exactly copied by Nora Ephron in You've Got Mail. Except that she is holding is Anna Karenina and a carnation instead of Pride and Prejudice and a rose!

(Outside the cafe window where Pirovitch is trying to spot and see Kralik's 'mystery girl')

Pirovitch: She has a cup of coffee. and a piece of cake and..(shocked) KRALIK, SHE'S DUNKING!!
Kralik: Well, why shouldn't she dunk?
Pirovitch: All right, all right.

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 Pirovitch: If you don't like Miss Novak I can tell you right now, you're not going to like this girl!

Alfred Kralik: [asking Pirovitch about cost of living for married couple] Suppose a fellow gets an apartment with three rooms. Dining room, bedroom, living room.
Pirovitch: What do you need three rooms for? You live in the bedroom.
Alfred Kralik: Where do you eat?
Pirovitch: In the kitchen. You get a nice big kitchen.
Alfred Kralik: Where do you entertain?
Pirovitch: Entertain? What are you, an ambassador? Who do you want to entertain? Listen listen, if someone is really your friend, he comes after dinner. 

Are you tall? Are you short?
Are your eyes blue? Are they brown?
Don't tell me.
What does it matter, so long as our minds meet?

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So, this is my recommendation to brighten up your holidays this year. And watch for Pepi the hilarious errand boy, and Frank Morgan (The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz) as the shop owner Mr. Matuschek. And you'll be whistling the tune Ochi Tchornya for days!

Nora Ephron- Writer/Director of the Week

"Be the heroine of your life, not the victim".  Nora Ephron sure could turn a phrase, couldn't she? In all the tributes to Nora I have read in the weeks since her death, she emerges as a wonderfully funny, kind, feminist who loved to cook (with butter). And what a great combination that turned out to be.

I know she didn't write period drama, but she sure had a fondness for Jane Austen. Wouldn't you love to be at a dinner where Jane Austen and Nora Ephron were at the same table? OK, maybe that's too much greatness at once. Separately then perhaps! And she loved films. Films with humour and romance and happy endings. I am going to be spending my summer holidays reading Nora's books, watching Nora's films, and thinking about how to be the heroine of my life. So here's a little tribute.

Heartburn with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep

Mark Forman: My wife's name was Kimberley. One of the first Kimberleys.
Rachel Samstat:My husband had hamsters.
Mark Forman: Me too.
Rachel Samstat: Not as a grownup you didn't. He had hamsters named Arnold and Shirley. And he was always whipping up little salads for them in the Slice-O-Matic and buying them extremely small sweaters at a pet boutique in Rego Park. Also, there was a certain amount of talking in squeaky voices.
Mark Forman: Both of you?
Rachel Samstat: Well, he was Arnold... and I was Shirley.

When Harry Met Sally with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan

Harry Burns: There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.
Sally Albright:Which one am I?
Harry Burns: You're the worst kind; you're high maintenance but you think you're low maintenance.
Sally Albright: I don't see that.
Harry Burns: You don't see that? Waiter, I'll begin with a house salad, but I don't want the regular dressing. I'll have the balsamic vinegar and oil, but on the side. And then the salmon with the mustard sauce, but I want the mustard sauce on the side. "On the side" is a very big thing for you.
Sally Albright: Well, I just want it the way I want it.
Harry Burns: I know; high maintenance.

Sleepless in Seattle with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks

Sam Baldwin: What is "tiramisu"?
Jay: You'll find out.
Sam Baldwin: Well, what is it?
Jay: You'll see!
Sam Baldwin: Some woman is gonna want me to do it to her and I'm not gonna know what it is!

You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

 
Kathleen Kelly: I love daisies.
Joe Fox: You told me.
Kathleen Kelly: They're so friendly. Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower? 

Julie and Julia with Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci

Paul Child: What is it you REALLY like to do?
Julia Child: Eat!

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So again, thank-you Nora Ephron for leaving the world a happier place. I dearly love a laugh!

You've Got Mail 1998

It seems fitting to blog about Nora Ephron's film You've Got Mail this week. I never really thought of myself as a Nora Ephron fan, but I guess I am. And this film is an adorable slice of the 1990s. Remember when it was exciting to get email? Before spam?

How can you not love a RomCom about books that refers to Pride and Prejudice in a lovely scene in a coffee shop where the guy has actually read the book (even though he can't stand it)? Ah, yes,and he has a Golden Retriever to boot!

Kathleen Kelly: Confession. I have read Pride and Prejudice two hundred times. I get lost in the language, words like 'Thither, Mischance, Felicity'. I'm always in agony over whether Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are going to get together. Ah! Read it. I know you'll love it.

Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly

Kathleen Kelly: Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one! It got on at 42nd and off at 59th, where, I assume, it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake, as almost all hats are.

Tom Hanks as Joe Fox

Joe Fox: Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.

The Shop Around The Corner

Kathleen Kelly: When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.  

 

Joe Fox: The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.

Joe Fox: I could never be with someone who like Joni Mitchell. "It's clouds illusions I recall/I really don't know clouds at all." What does that mean? Is she a pilot? Is she taking flying lessons? It's probably a metaphor for something, but I don't know what.

Joe Fox: Don't cry, Shopgirl. Don't cry.
Kathleen Kelly: I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.

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Thanks Nora. We're really going to miss you. But we'll always have You've Got Mail!