Here it is, folks: my final DVD from Netflix. I made a point to pick a reputed classic and also to wait until after October, but perhaps I should have waited for late December, because my hunch that the story would take place around Christmas was correct. Perhaps I dimly remembered something similar from She Loves Me, a musical adapted from it. I know it wasn't the case in the modernized remake, You've Got Mail.
In keeping with the source material, Miklós László's play Parfumerie, the setting is Budapest, albeit with mostly American-accented English. Despite long being the best salesman at a gift shop, Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) has begun to lock horns with boss Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan), for reasons not immediately clear. He locks horns considerably more with new hire Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan). But he and a pseudonymous pen pal he discovered through a newspaper ad have become smitten with each other. Less than halfway through the picture, he realizes that Klara is that pen pal. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a comedy if he told her right away....
For someone who's seen only SLM and YGM before, probably the biggest surprise in TSAtC is how serious it can get. We are made to feel sorry at times for Alfred, Klara, and Hugo, all of whom have understandable reasons for miserable periods. I could not find good information on Parfumerie to compare.
With that in mind, I have to say this is an early example of the many romantic comedies where both leads are jerks. Klara eventually admits to initiating the hostility out of stupidity. That doesn't get Alfred off the hook, considering his dishonest part in her breakdown. I don't entirely believe how easily she forgives him in the end. It almost feels sexist.
Neither do I entirely believe how much they love their pen pals. I've come close to falling for online acquaintances on occasion, but planning to marry one I've never met is a bridge too far. Nonetheless, I somewhat appreciate how long these two get to know each other, both in person and on paper, before they're ready to embrace.
Lest you think there are only three characters of note, the shop has five other employees. I'm afraid the remaining two women (Inez Courtney and Sara Haden) don't stand out; I've already forgotten what they're like. But Pirovitch (Felix Bressart) is quite the gentle toady, Ferencz Vadas (Joseph Schildkraut) tries to be amiable but comes across as too oily, and errand boy Pepi Katona (William Tracy) is a smart aleck with designs on a promotion to clerk. They contribute to what I deem the greatest strengths of the movie: acting and dialogue. Too bad they had no apt counterparts to my recollection in SLM and YGM.
The more I dwell on it, the more effective chemistry I could sense. This may sound contrary to my bits of negativity above, but...well, maybe I'm more like Alfred and Klara than I thought: taking the intellectual side apart from the emotional factor right in front of me.
There's enough good here that I can see why the tale keeps getting retold. I also see why the formula doesn't always work: It must be handled with care. TSAtC may well be the best version. I certainly count it among my favorite Ernst Lubitsch works, Ninotchka being the prime competition.
No comments:
Post a Comment