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The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) poster
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The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Comedy, Drama, Romance • 1h 37m

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

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IMDbThe Movie Database (TMDB)

Best English-friendly, video & audio release

Updated 1 month ago


Upcoming

Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release


About the film

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Featured Lists
National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 1999

TSPDT
2026: #284
2025: #281
2024: #277
2023: #269
2022: #269

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: George B. Seitz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Elaine May

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:

The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.

Audio Notes:

Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.

Director: Sidney Lumet

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K

Video Notes:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered

Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice

Audio Notes:

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: F. W. Murnau

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

MoC OOP Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.

Audio Notes:

DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix

Additional Info:

Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Plaion Germany Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

4K Blu-ray said to be coming from Criterion, per Bill Hunt

Video Notes:

Includes Director's Cut and Roadshow Version

Same master as old WB Blu-ray but better encoding

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.

Best Audio:

1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS

More from Ernst Lubitsch

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Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Indicator Blu-ray > Kino Lorber see DVDBeaver 

Indicator is using a different restoration from earlier Kino Lorber Blu-ray and it has much better contrast and slightly better grain resolution

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray or OOP MoC Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray or OOP MoC Blu-ray have different grading see caps

Additional Info:

Subjective, but the concertina score by Bernard Wrigley on the OOP MoC Blu-ray is generally regarded as very weak. For example, it frequently doesn't match the action. The Meg Morley score on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray is considered superior.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2023 Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2021 Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Video comparisons: https://slow.pics/c/ryvPN8Uu

Audio comparisons: https://slow.pics/c/KEs7dwRg

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2018 Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Amazon Streaming Release

Audio Notes:

Amazon Streaming Release or potentially other streaming 

The Amazon Streaming release has more high-end detail than the Criterion Blu-ray.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Eclipse Series 8: Lubitsch Musicals Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1997 MCA Universal 'The Lubitsch Touch' LaserDisc Box Set

Additional Info:

The 1997 LaserDisc has more high end detail in the audio than the new restoration

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Audio:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kino Lorber 4k resto

Additional Info:

The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MoC OOP Blu-ray

Video Notes:

MoC OOP Blu-ray is likely to have better encoding than Kino Lorber Blu-ray judging from other movies in the boxset

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MoC OOP Blu-ray

Video Notes:

MoC OOP Blu-ray is likely to have better encoding than Kino Lorber Blu-ray judging from other movies in the boxset

More from Warner Archive

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Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive DVD

Director: Roy Del Ruth

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration of the original 3D left eye and right eye camera negatives

Director: Vincent Sherman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: George Pal

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Compton Bennett

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from original technicolor negatives

Director: Jack Conway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Jack Conway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: William Dieterle

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Sidney Lumet

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

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· last reviewed 1 month ago

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