Weekend Recap

I knew <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/12/weigh-in-results.html">this weekend</a> was going to prove challenging when it was going to be focused around food!  Alas, I have already blown one of my <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/12/weigh-in-results.html">weekly goals</a>, and so I'm hoping I can somewhat redeem myself for the remaining 4 days I have left in my WW week.<br /><br />But wait!  What happened, you might ask?<br /><br /><b>Half Success</b><br />Saturday I had lunch with some lovely ladies at a local and delicious restaurant called Carlyle.  I had a grilled chicken sandwich with french fries.  I ate half of the sandwich and only a few fries (they were shoe string fries too).  I considered this a huge success.  I even planned to take half of it with me, but forgot the box at the table when we left.  It was probably better that way anyhow!  Then I didn't have to feel obligated to eat the leftovers. <br /><br />After that, I headed to a friend's house to visit.  Her and her husband just bought a house and so we hung out Saturday evening.  I had dinner there and tried to be modest with my eating as much as possible.  Still, I went over my daily Points+ for Saturday.<br /><br /><b>Failure Begins</b><br />Sunday was the big cookie exchange.  Could there be a worse event for a Weight Watcher?<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9vzo-4d0BbNn6y3c3jB5XtUwdh0vsLdaVSpSBP6YTl02ctbCCFw5qdEQs8cX_7bTVDPkOVhEwJWTdR_KEHhNv1kEE-iYuMS4Ho6D_fmV6mVIPjeMiiYWXi2pXAeFBiD9Pb_Af-RdSNg/s1600/Cookie+Exchange+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9vzo-4d0BbNn6y3c3jB5XtUwdh0vsLdaVSpSBP6YTl02ctbCCFw5qdEQs8cX_7bTVDPkOVhEwJWTdR_KEHhNv1kEE-iYuMS4Ho6D_fmV6mVIPjeMiiYWXi2pXAeFBiD9Pb_Af-RdSNg/s400/Cookie+Exchange+015.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tempting spread... and this didn't even include the appetizers</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>*sigh*  </i></div><br />I spent all day Sunday baking two separate types of cookies, as well as an appetizer (recipes to come for all).  <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQKkwF_BOg58C2FCjXQrKlJ1EgQqjc5y8hsSRWNZKznn2yRx6PolQAWTnlqyZx5IncxsWE1bC6BTga4ECHTsfJn6umcEnuGcJD0WcxFu0INUmFC2GzTqndrnMyYgaIV-a8cWTWECcJsA/s1600/cookie+exchange+013+redone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQKkwF_BOg58C2FCjXQrKlJ1EgQqjc5y8hsSRWNZKznn2yRx6PolQAWTnlqyZx5IncxsWE1bC6BTga4ECHTsfJn6umcEnuGcJD0WcxFu0INUmFC2GzTqndrnMyYgaIV-a8cWTWECcJsA/s400/cookie+exchange+013+redone.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hungry Girl Fiesta Bites - 1 Points+ each</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I made Fudgy Cappuccino Crinkles (1 Points+ each) from the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cook-Book-Limited-Pink-Plaid/dp/0696227320">breast cancer Better Homes & Gardens cookbook</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMt5_4YGrB31GOwy7ZJxUEU_b8mbHvt4ic9ATdBgAmBNht3YTO7FCQZyl8p5NYy5F_tW-ai1Y-YgFJFKHZDnl1BBkz5KC874rfvwTcliJFpDZotGVQ-HdRJo_bT1iQYYRrwrsLCxOeeo/s1600/cookie+exchange+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMt5_4YGrB31GOwy7ZJxUEU_b8mbHvt4ic9ATdBgAmBNht3YTO7FCQZyl8p5NYy5F_tW-ai1Y-YgFJFKHZDnl1BBkz5KC874rfvwTcliJFpDZotGVQ-HdRJo_bT1iQYYRrwrsLCxOeeo/s400/cookie+exchange+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />You can kind of see them in the lower left hand corner of the bowl.<br /><br />I also made Meemaw's Kitchen Sink Christmas Cookies from the <a href="http://www.foodnetworkstore.com/the-deen-family-cookbook-hardcover-by-deen-paula/shop/141685/">Deen Family cookbook</a> (3 Points+ each).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCCIdaAz2OVmor3zPAYIpSU6IDAhOu5obQFztMemx20yFq3CT6NiCM5_h2dswyMF1z95qQLwqKAh2IvZeQQ6K-0U2wvpLTI2XTPE3Szao3kQv0msiAbfB77VSMt6a1rb1wkigmzD7Omo/s1600/Cookie+Exchange+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCCIdaAz2OVmor3zPAYIpSU6IDAhOu5obQFztMemx20yFq3CT6NiCM5_h2dswyMF1z95qQLwqKAh2IvZeQQ6K-0U2wvpLTI2XTPE3Szao3kQv0msiAbfB77VSMt6a1rb1wkigmzD7Omo/s400/Cookie+Exchange+011.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />They had a million things in them!  But everything I made was sooooo good!<br /><br />Still, as you might imagine, it didn't end well.  Remember how I told the host that I wouldn't be taking any cookies home?  I knew that I would be interrogated by the ladies for why I wasn't taking cookies (that is the entire point to this, afterall!), and I didn't feel like fielding questions.  <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/11/part-1-how-i-approach-ww-in-public.html">I'm still not crazy about sharing my journey with others</a>.  I sampled several (or a million - who's counting?!) cookies.  Still, I brought that entire cookie bag to work today and let those people go at it.   At least that's good right? <br /><br />I kept a few favorites and hid them in the back of my pantry, like these babies:<br />  <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAdOAiyVSKC8IdlQV65L4NjlpqOAJJjFL5Pb-Ybdl5C07SK1h_20DZCuYTQtM4MxXEsATe4DO1NsUmUlEyHyLMGBvYc1ePijuHlop2UzfxxtwRIrxJ-mC2ceWzRipCSNYMKU9ZEeeLkA/s1600/Cookie+Exchange+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAdOAiyVSKC8IdlQV65L4NjlpqOAJJjFL5Pb-Ybdl5C07SK1h_20DZCuYTQtM4MxXEsATe4DO1NsUmUlEyHyLMGBvYc1ePijuHlop2UzfxxtwRIrxJ-mC2ceWzRipCSNYMKU9ZEeeLkA/s400/Cookie+Exchange+020.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies - kind of taste like <br />Girl Scouts Thin Mints</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Out of site, out of mind... I hope?!  <br /><br />How was your weekend?  Do you participate in a cookie exchange (or something similar) during the holidays?

Weekend Recap Weekend Recap

I knew this weekend was going to prove challenging when it was going to be focused around food!  Alas, I have already blown one of my weekl...

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RESURRECTION OF A CONTINENT

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Latin America unites in new bloc, US not invited</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thirty-three LATIN AMERICAN leaders have come together and formed a new regional bloc, pledging closer economic and political ties. The Community of LATIN AMERICAN and CARIBBEAN STATES (CELAC) pointedly excludes the USA and CANADA.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">­On the second day of a summit in the VENEZUELAN capital, Caracas, all LATIN AMERICAN leaders, both right and left, officially signed into effect the formation of the CELAC bloc. The foundation of the bloc has been praised as the realization of the two-centuries-old idea of LATIN AMERICAN “independence” envisioned by Simon Bolivar.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Analysts view CELAC as an alternative to the Washington-based ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES (OAS) and as an attempt by LATIN AMERICAN countries to reduce US influence in the region.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">However Washington does not see CELAC as a replacement to OAS. US Department of State spokesman Mark Toner said the US will continue <i>“to work through the OAS as the pre-eminent multilateral organization, speaking for the hemisphere.”</i></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Political analysts are of the opinion that the US views CELAC as a potential threat to its hegemony in the region.</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QvgQdiggLfg?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The 33 leaders pledged to withstand the financial crisis that has struck EUROPE and other developed countries. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">BRAZIL’S Dilma Rousseff stressed that the LATIN AMERICAN countries would need to rely more on their neighbors amid the global economic turmoil. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“The economic, financial crisis should be at the center of our concerns,”</i> Rousseff said. She said LATIN AMERICA should<i> “realize that to guarantee its current cycle of development despite the international economic turbulence, it means that every politician must be aware that each one needs the others.”  </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">CHILEAN President Sebastian Pinera, who assumed the initial rotating presidency at CELAC, expressed hopes that the bloc would help build regional cooperation despite the differences between some of the 33 member states.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The leaders also discussed cooperation in the field of drug trafficking and climate change.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">CELAC should be a <i>“political union to build a large power center of the 21st century,”</i> the VENEZUELAN president said, stressing strong regional growth as many countries in the region develop closer ties with ASIA or EUROPE and reduce their traditional reliance on the US.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The formation of CELAC was warmly welcomed by rising global power, CHINA. Hu pledged to deepen cooperation with the CELAC and underlined that in the 21st century the relations between CHINA and LATIN AMERICA have seen all-round and fast development with expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation, according to Xinhua news agency. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The countries of CELAC have a combined population of nearly <b>600 MILLION PEOPLE</b>, and a <b>COMBINED GDP OF ABOUT US$6 TRILLION</b> – about a <u>third of the combined output of the US and Canada.</u></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

RESURRECTION OF A CONTINENT

Latin America unites in new bloc, US not invited Thirty-three LATIN AMERICAN leaders have come together and formed a new regional bloc, pled...

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The Shop Around the Corner (1940): A Lubitsch Christmas

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAzt1SDq_UCjXtGsFUectodi0C84FwSFK3utZ78NgblIAlEekAFJSrW5fWEinH4E6ix2pvnwuXQlLjK0VUm0-rh_fOlwIsW0Dtl1_AeFN9lAnmkVw1gUVxcmUq9l44aL8_UMBocYH0BwXx/s1600/Shop-Around-the-Corner+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAzt1SDq_UCjXtGsFUectodi0C84FwSFK3utZ78NgblIAlEekAFJSrW5fWEinH4E6ix2pvnwuXQlLjK0VUm0-rh_fOlwIsW0Dtl1_AeFN9lAnmkVw1gUVxcmUq9l44aL8_UMBocYH0BwXx/s1600/Shop-Around-the-Corner+2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It is only occasionally that a film ages with extraordinary grace. Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 classic,</span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Shop Around the Corner</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">, has mellowed in the manner of</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> a rare and prized bottle of Hungarian Tokaji </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Aszú...</span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"></td></tr><tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRVIHjfaog4jbW36Mi0nl9Adt9qc0_NG8ULdtOUOhQOQdj1HO36fe4E2Szz1HL1vhWfxkDRn8GZAFFSufGspKyTMrUuy36bBDnM4slz8dlPgvBGAq8crDBJc7iNx9TUXkUn5gk1B6HR4C/s1600/shop+7+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRVIHjfaog4jbW36Mi0nl9Adt9qc0_NG8ULdtOUOhQOQdj1HO36fe4E2Szz1HL1vhWfxkDRn8GZAFFSufGspKyTMrUuy36bBDnM4slz8dlPgvBGAq8crDBJc7iNx9TUXkUn5gk1B6HR4C/s400/shop+7+a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Balta Street, Budapest</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Director Lubitsch, revered for sophisticated films spun with his light-as-air "touch" and at an artistic peak in 1940, took special care with <i>The Shop Around the Corner</i>. It was one of his favorites of own films, and he wrote, “Never did I make a picture in which the atmosphere and the characters were truer…” This atmosphere is unmistakable. With the first strains of “Ochi Tchornya” heard over Leo the Lion’s roar, in the dreamlike setting near Budapest’s historic Andrassy Street and in unique and distinctive characters, the spirit of old Europe is alive on screen. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Set during Christmastime in the snow-dusted capital, the story follows a series of mix-ups and missteps between employees of a picturesque gift shop in the heart of the city. Two clerks carry on a battle-of-the-sexes while romantically pursuing anonymous pen pals; the shop owner suspects betrayal at home and at work; a duplicitous clerk is up to ugly mischief and a wisecracking errand boy has an eye for the main chance…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFfYhqjUwui2PBxIzu2Zu2-uYY6knwaNWDL1IrA5th_tx_fpcS6kgoqzdwtD9qdakPeCzKIGAYfXML01IKcNMd9PuzFtI-_AqvGEN0mwDpNb3KROUFdVvKIOHUFz4gDAEoK69Si0JJWzT/s1600/shop+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFfYhqjUwui2PBxIzu2Zu2-uYY6knwaNWDL1IrA5th_tx_fpcS6kgoqzdwtD9qdakPeCzKIGAYfXML01IKcNMd9PuzFtI-_AqvGEN0mwDpNb3KROUFdVvKIOHUFz4gDAEoK69Si0JJWzT/s400/shop+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Matuschek's gift shop</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Samson Raphaelson (<i>Suspicion</i>, <i>Green Dolphin Street</i>) penned a screenplay based on Nikolaus (Miklós) László’s play; William H. Daniels (<i>The Naked City</i>, <i>Cat on a Hot Tin Roof</i>) shot it and Werner Heymann (<i>Ninotchka</i>, <i>To Be or Not to Be</i>) wrote the score.<br /><br />A sparkling ensemble cast features several of MGM’s top supporting players. Among them is Frank Morgan in one of his most interesting roles as Mr. Matuschek, the colorful charmer who owns the gift shop. A somber turn in the subplot gives Morgan a chance to portray his character's darker emotions. <br /><br />Peerless Felix Bressart plays the meek/endearing clerk, Pirovich. Versatile Joseph Schildkraut defines ‘loathsome’ as Vadas. Also in the featured cast are Sara Haden, William Tracy and Inez Courtney.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TD7Nsdb1_Lk" width="420"></iframe></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Felix Bressart and James Stewart</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The legendary  chemistry between stars James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan illuminates the screen. Stewart is at his most appealing as Mr. Kralik, head clerk and right hand man to Mr. Matuschek. In this role, Stewart's broad signature mannerisms are tempered by the sensitivity with which he portrays Kralik's romantic yearnings. But it is Sullavan's performance that mesmerizes. Her Klara Novak, a headstrong shop girl blinded by lofty ideals, is a high-strung romantic whose breathless eagerness is offset by her brittle fragility. </span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 12.0pt; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"></td></tr><tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"></td> </tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYhgyPNMYbIptxP_Hmyl3MJRCmrmPA98t_Q00R8XlBuVJHFW_bsPKmzgZ7Awk-yumiW5xTag4zML5nBlKf42iOFQQVKXolb_TdxmRNTE0_HviA802SGGJ-lu4ZfLbAPkbQ0GYghXf5G13/s1600/the-mortal-storm-margaret-sullavan-1940%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYhgyPNMYbIptxP_Hmyl3MJRCmrmPA98t_Q00R8XlBuVJHFW_bsPKmzgZ7Awk-yumiW5xTag4zML5nBlKf42iOFQQVKXolb_TdxmRNTE0_HviA802SGGJ-lu4ZfLbAPkbQ0GYghXf5G13/s400/the-mortal-storm-margaret-sullavan-1940%255B1%255D.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Margaret Sullavan</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Margaret Sullavan was discovered on Broadway by director <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">John M. Stahl</span> (<i>Leave Her to Heaven</i>) who brought her to Hollywood to star in <i>Only Yesterday</i> (1933) with John Boles. By this time Sullavan had already married and divorced Henry Fonda and would soon marry director William Wyler. By 1936 the actress was married to agent/producer Leland Hayward and about to make her best films: <i>Three Comrades</i> (1938), for which Sullavan earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination, <i>The Shopworn Angel</i> (1938), <i>The Shop Around the Corner</i> (1940) and <i>The Mortal Storm</i> (1940). In the last three she co-starred with Stewart. The pair had first worked together on <i>Next Time We Love</i> (1936), a result of Sullavan suggesting her friend Stewart for the part. In <i>The Shop Around the Corner</i>, the third of the their four collaborations, the co-stars seem to all but dance together, such is the rhythm between them. <br /><br />With the closing scenes of <i>The Shop Around the Corner</i>, Lubitsch demonstrates his consummate finesse…</span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"></td> </tr><tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal"></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCGycQSweTQgc_UXeQoQeE7cl4ekvm0DNsOlRbJwl65gzmvsbV2oZw6vrK5tBMuakXS9o-qmd2IsHGPStnDAYw8J2_BzGLumEZTELWC3Yf3Lb-ea3ZSky8pQ1qkuShgusWS8j9BH2FB_N/s1600/shop+5+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCGycQSweTQgc_UXeQoQeE7cl4ekvm0DNsOlRbJwl65gzmvsbV2oZw6vrK5tBMuakXS9o-qmd2IsHGPStnDAYw8J2_BzGLumEZTELWC3Yf3Lb-ea3ZSky8pQ1qkuShgusWS8j9BH2FB_N/s400/shop+5+a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Frank Morgan and Charles Smith</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mr. Matuschek returns to his store on Christmas Eve to total the day’s receipts, thank his staff and hand out bonuses. It is closing time and as the wistful shopkeeper departs, he says goodnight to, and we have our last glimpse of, most of the other characters as they depart for the holidays. <br /><br />When the shop's new errand boy, Rudy (Charles Smith), emerges, Matuschek takes him under his wing and out to a glorious Christmas dinner of roast goose, potatoes in butter…and “a double order of apple strudel in vanilla sauce.” The two, no longer facing a lonely Christmas Eve, strike up a jubilant rapport.<br /><br />Inside the darkened shop, Stewart and Sullavan move in perfect harmony as Kralik and Klara finally discover each other. This last scene, one of the most deeply romantic and witty ever confected, reveals the distilled essence of Lubitsch’s “touch.”</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcv9y8lr_bVCbjtWt0ieoEsDl2ThvGWLJl-sp30h0rowKzVOJQ-hsazlAOEoBcn0iWk1oNZMAQEfF4FsUIBAFdcTSTIiyTnyOuCUJJAA3rD1eTgEIqYD87voz1x5Afs8Vb0_KjzzWFXaY/s1600/shop+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcv9y8lr_bVCbjtWt0ieoEsDl2ThvGWLJl-sp30h0rowKzVOJQ-hsazlAOEoBcn0iWk1oNZMAQEfF4FsUIBAFdcTSTIiyTnyOuCUJJAA3rD1eTgEIqYD87voz1x5Afs8Vb0_KjzzWFXaY/s400/shop+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>

Ernst Lubitsch Felix Bressart Frank Morgan James Stewart Joseph Schildkraut Margaret Sullavan The Lady Eve (author) The Shop Around the Corner The Shop Around the Corner (1940): A Lubitsch Christmas

It is only occasionally that a film ages with extraordinary grace. Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 classic, The Shop Around the Corner , has mello...

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