Having viewed over 5,000 films I have cataloged, on this site, the twenty five films that I would consider my top echelon favorites. The list is ever changing and currently I am thinking about making the list my top 50 films The quality of the films can be questionable as of critical reviews. With that, each and every one of these 25 have made an emotional impact on me, and I love viewing these films.

My 4th film is “The Shop Around the Corner”, a 1940 flick directed by Earnest Lubitsch.  I view this film every Christmas along with many of other top favorite holiday movies.  James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are perfect in this Christmas movie set in Budapest.  The supporting cast is spot on also, with each character given important roles in the story of love most unexpected.  As quoted, “The Shop Around the Corner is a romantic comedy in the finest sense of the term.”  I totally agree.  It has it all and never gets old after each viewing.  Not an award winner, the movie, in time, is now considered one of the best films of all time, ranked recently as the 28th greatest film in cinematic history.  As for a deep look at community and the middle class, something that director Lubitsch had avoided in earlier films, he does justice to the ordinary human and their interactions and not a strong focus on the individual.  Yet each character has empathy toward each and every one, the likes and dislikes are brought strongly into focus.  The tight nit department store employees are all for one, yet to get there, a couple of the prime characters have to change their stripes or be cast out the front door of the store.  The love story is unique, yet this take has been made into three other films in the future, all being quite good.  This movie is a winner for most, and a film that makes you, in the end, feel good.  That would not have happened without the acting chops of all involved, but especially Stewart and Sullavan.