With the hustle and bustle of the Christmas shopping season upon us, in which of the following shopping establishments would you most like to spend some time?1. The Shop Around the Corner bookstore in You’ve Got Mail, where proprietress Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) offers up some especially excellent children’s books in a family owned bookstore. The credits list Books of Wonder Bookstore and I recognized (and drooled over) their Oz book section in the film. Tom Hanks plays the owner of Fox Books, a successful chain of discount stores, with whom Kelly is communicating via e-mail. You’ve Got Mail is a remake of The Shop Around the Corner as is In the Good Old Summertime. The latter is a musical and the store featured there is Oberkugen’s Music Shop, run by S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall.
2. The FAO Schwarz toy store in Big, where the owner of the Macmillan Toy Company (Robert Loggia) plays a couple of duets with the child-adult Tom Hanks on a Walking Piano. That truly looked like fun to me!
3. Neeley’s Department Store, owned by wealthy John P. Merrick (Charles Coburn), in The Devil and Miss Jones. Neeley’s is undergoing labor union discussion, much to the dissatisfaction of the very private Merrick, who chooses to work there and learn what is taking place. The store is well staffed by Mary Jones (Jean Arthur), Hooper (Edmund Gwenn), and Elizabeth Ellis (Spring Byington).
4. Macy’s Department Store, in 1947’s heartwarming Miracle on 34th Street. Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) actually works there as does the lovely, but skeptical, Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara). You may run into Doris’s young daughter, Susan, (Natalie Wood) while shopping.
5. Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, a toy store with a supernatural bent. Mr. Edward Magorium (Dustin Hoffman), at 243 years, is seeking to leave and chooses to bequeath his extraordinary shop to Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman). You would want to have a strong belief in magic for this store and its merchandise to truly benefit from your shopping experience there.
Cast your vote in the poll in the sidebar...and happy shopping!
This is tough, Toto. I love bookstores, so the one in YOU'VE GOT MAIL certainly appeals to me. But the department store in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET has the real Santa Claus...so it gotta get my vote!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Rick. Macy's at Christmas in the 40's with the real Santa -- a dream come true. I always wanted to see New York, but even if I did, it wouldn't be satisfactory. I would have to see it in black and white in the 30's and 40's because that's the way I always loved it!
ReplyDeleteToto, I will cast my vote for.. You’ve Got Mail. It is one of my favorite movies.
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