The Shop Around The Corner by Miklos Laszlo is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – I think I will include it in my Top 200, you find notes on films from The NYT 1,000 list on my blog and YouTube channel at this address https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

The Shop Around The Corner by Miklos Laszlo is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – I think I will include it in my Top 200, you find notes on films from The NYT 1,000 list on my blog and YouTube channel at this address https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

10 out of 10

 

The Shop Around The Corner is a magnum opus, one of the best motion pictures ever made, it could be used, probably was as a lesson for actors and people in the Screen Trade – by the way, one of the best books on films you can read is Adventures in The Screen Trade  https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/adventures-in-screen-trade-by-william.html

 

James Stewart is magnificent as Alfred Kralik, a clerk at The Matuschek aka Shop Around the Corner, the main character is an example, a role model, well read, honest, hardworking, generous, wise, brave, he may have all the qualities, the owner of the store depends on him, although the relationship is awkward at times

Alfred Kralik likes to be very open about his opinions, for instance, his boss likes this cigarette box, which plays Ochi Ciorni, every time you open it, and Hugo Matuschek wants to know what Kralik thinks, and he gets it good and hard, for the clerk thinks it is not a good idea, and furthermore, he has this instant feedback

 

This hero has all the character strengths identified by Martin Seligman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/flourish-by-martin-seligman.html the founder of Positive Psychology who has studied these and grouped them under transcendence, wisdom, courage, humanity, temperance, justice

While the boss is always uncertain, Alfred Kralik has a fast and clear verdict, he explains why: the owner will open the box twenty times per day (they smoked a lot back then, and almost everybody) and every time he will get that tune, so he will be annoyed pretty quick, besides the imitation leather is inferior, the glue is not good…

 

Nonetheless, the main theme of the motion picture is the connection between Alfred Kralik and Klara Novak, the latter comes to The Shop Around The Corner to ask for a job, she gets employed, but they are antagonists at work, while in correspondence they fall in love with each other, they had been exchanging letters

Hugo Matushek fires Kralik, thinking he has an affair with his wife, except when the detective he hired comes with the report, he sees it was in fact another employee, the jealous fellow tries to commit suicide, he is stopped at the right moment and the he promotes Alfred Kralik as the manager of The Shop Around The Corner

 

The audience waits to see what will happen between Kralik and Klara Novak, they fight each other as it is, but will they see that they have things in common, it is puzzling to look at a love affair that has the appearance of a clash, I am even contemplating this scenario, what if they get together, but then they see they actually quarrel so much?

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence

Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’