In the Good Old Summertime, 1949
In this remake of The Shop Around the Corner, Veronica Fisher (Judy Garland) takes a new job at a music store alongside Andy Larkin (Van Johnson), and the two take an instant dislike to one another. But what Veronica and Andy don't realize is that they've been corresponding for months via a lonely hearts service.
I just watched The Shop Around the Corner for the first time back in November--on a flight of all places!--and it was fun to see this slightly different take on the material. While I actually had the same issues with this version as with the original, I still found it pretty delightful overall.
What this version does differently that I really liked was to expand the subplots around the central love story. There's a really sweet romance between the shop owner, Otto Oberkugen (S.Z. Sakall) and his long-time secretary, Nellie (Spring Byington). There's also an endearing subplot about Andy helping out an acquaintance, Louise (Marcia Van Dyke), a talented violinist who he is encouraging to go for an audition to get her out of playing in a restaurant. (Yes, this subplot also serves to complicate the central romance by making it appear that Andy already has a girlfriend, it's still sweet).
With Garland's talents on hand, the music shop setting is leveraged to give her plenty of opportunities to "demonstrate" sheet music. I liked that the film mixed in some physical comedy, such as when Andy accompanies Veronica on the piano and messes with her by changing the key and rhythm as he plays.
And speaking of physical comedy, I was shocked and delighted to find that Buster Keaton(!!!!!) has a supporting role as Hickey, Otto's slightly inept nephew. Keaton's physical comedy gets showcased in a sequence late in the film featuring a very unfortunate violin.
The only thing I didn't love about this movie was what I didn't love about the original, and that's the mechanics between the two characters and the "balance" of how they treat each other. Garland and Johnson are both clearly good with banter, but instead of really letting them spark off of each other, the film is lopsided in both halves. In the first half, we mainly see Veronica antagonizing Andy. She says things like "Whatever I do you say it's wrong." And, like, is that true? It starts to feel like she's just being mean to him for no reason or like she's just really over-sensitive.
Then in the second half (MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!), Andy realizes that she's his mystery letter writer. And he hold onto this information. I did really like a scene where his friend Rudy (Clinton Sundberg) tells him that he CANNOT stand Veronica up, and he does initially go to their meeting. But then he just continues to not tell her and it honestly starts to feel weird and mean. He watches her being distressed and continues to write her letters, taking advantage of his "inside information" about her. At the point he does start to tell her the truth, he distinctly does not disabuse her of the notion that he's in a serious relationship with Louise---Veronica is even like "We can't--you're engaged!" and instead of saying "Oh, actually Louise is just my friend" he's like "Nah, we're good."
I get that love-hate dynamics and people deceiving each other are, at this point, the bread and butter of many Hollywood romances, but I wish I'd been able to root for them more as individuals and as a couple.
Even if you've seen the original---or the 90s version, You've Got Mail--this one is well worth checking out.