In The Shop Around the Corner, James Stewart plays Alfred Kralik.
Alfred is a clerk at a Budapest leather-goods shop who exchanges anonymous letters with a romantic correspondent. He does not realize that his ideal pen pal is Klara Novak, the new employee he frequently clashes with at work. Margaret Sullavan plays Klara, creating the film’s central contrast between hostile workplace encounters and affectionate private letters.
Ernst Lubitsch directed the 1940 film, which was adapted from the Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László. The movie is widely regarded as a classic of romantic comedy because its misunderstandings arise from personality, pride, and concealed identity rather than from a contrived crime or adventure plot. Its correspondence-based romance later influenced other films, including You’ve Got Mail, which relocates the same basic premise to modern New York and email communication.