Starring Gemma Craven, Robin Ellis, David Kernan, and Diane Langdon
Directed by Michael Simpson
Music by Jerry Bock; Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
We return to Europe for our next vintage Christmas tale. The 1940 romantic comedy The Shop Around the Corner starred James Steward and Margaret Sullivan as co-workers at a Hungarian perfume store who hated each other, but who were also each other's secret pen pal. This became the basis for the 1963 Broadway musical She Loves Me. The original production wasn't a huge hit, but it was well-remembered enough to be adapted into this version. Originally produced for the BBC in 1978, it eventually ran on PBS as part of their Great Performances series in December 1979. How well does it handle the story? Let's begin in front of Maraczeck's (Derek Smith) Parfumerie at Budapest, Hungary in 1937 and find out...
The Story: Head salesman Georg Nowack (Ellis) is excited about the pen pal letters he's been receiving from a mysterious woman who only signs herself "Dear Friend." He's certainly not interested in Amalia Balash (Craven), the young woman who turns up in the store and earns a job simply by passing off a difficult-to-sell cigar holder as a candy box. Seems Amalia also has a "Dear Friend" she's been writing to, one whose letters seem rather familiar.
Amalia thinks she hates Georg, but she's more concerned when he's fired because Maraczeck thinks he's been sleeping with his wife. After Maraczeck nearly ends his life, he realizes how important his head clerk is...and Amalia begins to realize that maybe Mr. Nowack isn't such a bad fellow after all.
The Song and Dance: Craven and Ellis are perfectly cast as the antagonistic salespeople who don't realize they're really in love in this sweet production. Diane Langdon and David Kernan also have a great time as flirtatious co-worker Illona Ritter and smooth-talking Steven Kodaly, whose seductive methods of getting ahead are what actually causes the trouble at the store in the first place. Bock and Harnick's best score along with Fiddler On the Roof is retained in almost its entirety and is stunningly performed.
The Numbers: We open with the cast introducing themselves in "Good Morning, Good Day." That takes us right into "Thank You, Madam," as the salespeople do their jobs with the wealthy women who come in looking for perfume. Amalia convinces the lady to buy that box by telling her "No More Candy." "Three Letters" is a montage of Amalia and Georg reading off the letters they write each other over the next few months. Georg is excited to meet his pen pal "Tonight at Eight." Amalia admits to Ilona that "I Don't Know His Name."
Sipos (Peter Sallis), an older clerk, gives "Perspectives" on the situation at the store. Kodaly seduces his "Ilona" while Sipos and delivery boy Arpad Lazlo (Nigel Rathbone) look on. Ilona, for her part, claims "I Resolve" to not fall for charming rascals like Kodaly. Amalia wonders "Will He Like Me" during the aborted date at the expensive restaurant, while the head waiter pushes for a "Romantic Atmosphere." She finally lets Georg have it with the "Tango Tragique" and laments that she's lost her "Dear Friend." Georg manages to cheer her up the next day with "Ice Cream" even as she wonders "Where's My Shoe?"
Lazlo energetically begs Maraczeck to "Try Me" as a clerk while he's in the hospital. At the store, Ilona gushes about her new romance and the handsome scholars you can meet during "A Trip to the Library." The now-fired Kodaly claims it was "Grand Knowing You," but he's going to start his own store. Everyone is excited that it's "Twelve Days to Christmas," but Amalia and Georg are only interested in remembering him and the "Ice Cream."
Trivia: She Loves Me debuted on Broadway in 1963, with Barbara Cook as Amalia, David Massey as Georg, and Jack Cassidy as Kodaly. Critics loved the show - Cassidy won a supporting actor Tony - but audiences of the early 60's preferred their musicals bigger and bolder, and it ran for a little over a year and a half. The London production in 1964 didn't even make a year. It's done much better on both sides of the Atlantic in the past three decades, including hit Broadway revivals in 1993 and 2016. The 2016 revival was so popular, it became the first Broadway show to have a performance streamed live.
This isn't the first musical version of The Shop Around the Corner. The 1949 MGM musical In the Good Old Summertime featured Van Johnson and Judy Garland in the leads and set the story in turn-of-the-century Chicago. It would be remade again as another non-musical romantic comedy, You've Got Mail, in 1998.
What I Don't Like: First of all, there's a reason this took thirty years to catch on with the general public. It's not for people who prefer their musicals on the bigger and bolder side, or who aren't a fan of operetta. There's a lot of music in this movie, and most of it is even more old-fashioned than its setting. While the cramped pastel sets do allow for a feeling of intimacy, they also make the film look like the cheap BBC production it is.
The Big Finale: I'm glad people are finally starting to succumb to the charms of this sweet and delicate romantic comedy. Perfect for cozy, quiet nights by the fire side during the holiday season.
Home Media: Alas, the only place you can currently find this in the US is YouTube. At least the copy I have linked here is the full original production, complete with vintage 1978 PBS logos and original stage show stars Barbara Cook and Daniel Massey an interview near the end.
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