National Box Office Digest (Jan 1940-Jan 1941)

JANUARY 9, 1940 13 'Shop Around the Corner’ Lubitsch At His Best MGM (The Digest Estimates 120%) Producer-director ..Ernst Lubitsch Screenplay ... Samson Eaphaelson From Play by ....Nikolaus Laszlo Stars: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart. Featured: Frank Morgan, Felix Bressart, Sara Haden, Joseph Schildkraut, William Tracy, Inez Courtney, Edwin Maxwell, Sarah Edwards, Charles Halton, Charles Smith. Photographer William Daniels Time 97 minutes Delightfully human, and thoroughly entertaining, “The Shop Around the Corner” makes no pretensions at greatness on a grandiose scale, but is content to supply its hour and a half of chuckles, laughs, and escape into the romantic land of Cinderella. The picture will please all ages, and all tastes except those of the inveterate demanders of red meat action. The Lubitsch touch has brought to life for our enjoyment an interestingly varied group of humans, has allowed us to peer behind their exteriors into their tragedies and triumphs, minor and major, and will leave any audience feeling better for the experience. There still is a fascinating land of make-believe, where love is king and boy gets girl. In its very humanness the picture advances the stock of all the players concerned. With “Mr. Smith” and “Destry” placing his popularity rating so high these days, it will be a treat for James Stewart followers. Margaret Sullavan, as the shop girl romanticist, comes as close to being the Actionized ideal of every girl seeking her boy as one could wish. Frank Morgan, as the proprietor of the shop in question, has the role around which the plot mechanics revolve, and it is a characterization right down the alley of this never-failing trouper. Principal support is in the hands of such capable troupers as Joseph Schildkraut, Felix Bressart. who will be remembered as one of the light-hearted Bolshie trio in “Ninotchka,” and William Tracv. the youngster who scored so effectively in “Brother Rat.” Laid in Budapest, the story is as universal as Cinderella herself. The shop is owned by Frank Morgan, pompous employer of the European school, in whose hands lies the daily happiness and woes of a group of employees. Stewart is his chief clerk, with after-hour dreams of love because of a mail romance he is engaged in with an unknown admirer. Miss Sullavan is the girl who comes from the nowhere to secure a job in the shop and who is, as we naively suspect and soon discover, the unknown of the correspondence. Schildkraut is the foppish trouble-maker of the staff, Tracy a self-important errand boy, Bressart the long-suffering clerk, satisfied to have his wife and babies. On the premise Lubitsch just toys around with his people until, after many moments of misunderstandings, boy yets girl. That’s all. But how masterfully well done. WARNER BROS. (The Digest Estimates 105%) Executive Producer . Hal B. Wallis Associate Producer ...Robert Lord Director Ray Enright Screenplay: Richard Macaulay, Jerry Wald. Original: Fred F. Finkelhoffe, John Monks, Jr. Featured: Eddie Albert, Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan, Jane Bryan, Larry Williams, Jessie Busley, Peter B. Good, Paul Harvey, Berton Churchill, Nana Bryant, Arthur Treacher, Ed Gargan, Moroni Olsen, Billy Wayne, Mayo Methot. Photographer Charles Rosher Time 90 minutes That's a corking bunch of younger players the Warner brothers have corralled out there at Burbank, built for sure fire appeal to the ticket-buying adolescent audiences and plenty of tolerant laughs for their amused elders. Just to keep the appeal safely on the younger side they have now added a precocious infant. Peter B. Good. If you remember your “Brother Rat” you will recall that easygoing Eddie Albert got into marriage and trouble at the same time, with the topper Jane Bryan’s presentation to him of an heir. Well, we now take up with the problems which this blessed event caused, and meet the same people. Wayne Morris, Ronald Reagan. Jane Wyman, and Priscilla Lane are all present and accounted for. though Priscilla’s part is a bit on the short side. School atmosphere is placed for background, while the youngsters battle with the “problems of life.” the chief problem being that of getting a coach’s job for family man, Eddie Albert. Wayne Exhibitors Booking Suggestion: Corking light entertainment on the class scale of Lubitsch and MGM, with straight line romantic appeal to almost all ages. Previewed January 2. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “MGM has an other hit and Lubitsch another triumph.’’ VARIETY: “Deft and sophisticated comedy hand of Ernst Lubitsch is indelibly engraved on ‘The Shop Around the Corner’.” Morris is his champion, and the brazenly cocksure conniver who always does the wrong thing with the right intentions. It doesn’t seem much of a problem to get excited about, but you don’t know all the darned crazy things that can happen in such a case until you've seen what director Ray Enright and the scripters have done in chasing the huskily healthy troupe through its paces. The pace is terrific, the gags and laughs fast and furious. It comes ^rettv close to being one of those fabled “laugh riots." With all the cast delivering effectively, it can also be mentioned that Albert continues his “Brother Rat ” characterization to exceptional ad vantage, with Jane Wyman coming in for a how for her handling of the broader comedy opportunities. Exhibitor's Booking Suggestion : 7’ fun. made to order for the youthful audiences and metty safe for all ages. Previewed Jan. 1st. WHAT THE OTHER FELLOWS SAID: REPORTER: “Director Ray Enright, with the nimble help of the sparkling script provided him by Jerry Wald and Dick Macaulay, has thrown every motion picture cliche overboard. We believe W’arners has, in this picture, the most boisterous and rowdy farce comedy that is apt to be delivered to theatres all during 1940.” VARIETY: “Built strictly for laughs — and getting plenty of them — this sequel to ‘Brother Rat’ offers welcome entertainment contrast to much of the heavy drama and sentimental offerings with which it will have to compete or ride double.” "HUNCHBACK" TOPS WEEK (Continued from Page 5) SCHOOL. 80%. This is the latest in the Jane Withers starring series and others in the supporting cast are Joe Brown, Jr., Cliff Edwards and Lloyd Corrigan. W bile “HIGH SCHOOL” has no particular first run value still it will prove satisfactory entertainment for the average neighborhood house. REPUBLIC— I RELEASE Republic's one new release this week. “MONEY TO BURN,” 71%, is another in the Hi°Mns family series starrin the Gleasons, Jimmy, Lucile and Russell. Due to the fact that this series has no big marauee values it can best be spotted in as the lower half on the averaee double bill, but should be booked with a much stronger h.o. attraction. Gus Meins directed from Jack Town] ev’s original story and screenolav. COMPETITION (Continued from Page 3) But the industry needs, and deserves, the type of leadership that will rise above the petty internal bickerings, to a broad survey of the competition we face. Maybe we are turning out too much junk in proportion to the good product; maybe we have boosted the admission price level too high for us to meet competition; may be we are too busy cutting each other s throats to realize that someone is getting too big a share of the available pie? Who knows? Who will find out? Huh? THE HIGHLIGHTER (Continued from Page 4) David Hempstead, one of those associate producers who knows his producing from the ground up, checked in at Radio last week on the new deal which starts him as a producer of top RKO attractions. . . . Another sign that George Schafer is building carefully, because this Hempstead boy has come up the production mill the hard way of having to deliver, and has a goodly share of money pictures on his ledger. RIDGE EXPLAINS CONDITIONS (Continued from Page 12) something, that Hollywood could well emulate. After all it’s these thousands of visitors and their home folks, who dron the quarters into the box office, the money that eventually gets back to studio executives. ‘Brother Rat and a Baby’ Warner Bros. Laff Hit