This affable film is a musical remake of Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 classic "The Shop Around the Corner." Though actually it's not so much a musical as it is a movie with some songs added, nearly all of them performed by Judy Garland, who happens to be the best reason for seeing this movie at all.
Lubitsch's film is, of course, perfect in every way and needed no remaking, but if someone had to remake it, they could have done a worse job than this. Garland is delightful in the role originated by Margaret Sullavan, and Van Johnson makes a surprisingly strong stand-in for James Stewart (and even sounds remarkably like him at times). Instead of a curio shop, the action takes place in a music store, which provides more opportunities for spontaneous singing. This film is nowhere near as dark as the original, and one of the best parts of the Lubitsch version, the subplot involving the store's owner, is pretty much written right out of this version.
The title doesn't make a lick of sense, since nearly the entire film is set during Christmas. I guess "In the Good Old Wintertime" didn't have the same ring to it.
Grade: A-
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