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The love-hate relationship.

It’s been a staple of romantic comedies since before Shakespeare pitted Kate against Petruchio and Beatrice against Benedick, all the way through the moment when Harry met Sally.

In the best love stories, the lovers begin as enemies.

Then life plays a trick on them.

In the 1940 Christmas classic “The Shop Around the Corner,” Alfred (Jimmy Stewart, five years before becoming George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”) is a Budapest sales clerk who takes an instant dislike to the brassy new hire Klara (Margaret Sullavan). The feeling is mutual. As the war of words and manners escalates, neither is aware that the long-distance pen pals they’ve each been writing long poetic letters to, and gradually falling in love with, sight unseen, are in fact each other.

Their emotionally unpredictable boss, Mr. Matuschek, is played by Frank Morgan, best known as the title character from the previous year’s “The Wizard of Oz.”

The snowy little gem of a film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, will be screened Monday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m., at the Sebastiani Theatre. Though hardly as celebrated or well-known as the aforementioned “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Shop Around the Corner” – based on the Hungarian play “Parfumerie,” by Miklos Laszlo – has proven surprisingly influential, and is today considered a near-perfect example of the cinematic love-hate romance. Not to mention making a case for the old-fashioned pleasures of writing down one’s feelings in the form of actual letters.

Nine years after its release in 1940, the black-and-white December-set film was remade as a splashy Technicolor big-screen musical, surprisingly retitled “In the Good Old Summertime.” Starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson – and still following the basic storytelling of the original, now set in Chicago – the 1949 musical remake features the melancholy tune “Merry Christmas.”

An entirely different musical adaptation appeared on Broadway in 1963. Now titled “She Loves Me,” and back to being set in Budapest, the decidedly fluffier show features songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (“Fiddler on the Roof”), and has been revived numerous times, including a hit run earlier this year on London’s West End.

And that’s just talking about the stage.

Where the story has really found traction is on the big screen.

A third movie adaptation, “You’ve Got Mail” – technically the least faithful to Laszlo’s original play – hit the theaters in 1998, and proved tremendously popular. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the story turned the mismatched correspondents into bookstore owning business rivals. Hanks’s massive mega-chain is threatening to put Ryan’s adorable mom-and-pop bookstore – called, get this, “The Shop Around the Corner” – out of business. The script by Nora Ephron updates the letter-writing mechanics of the story to the modern era, with the two swapping emails, setting the whole story this time in New York City.

With the arguable exception of “She Loves Me” – a refreshingly sweet adaptation with addictively confectionary songs, including one crowd-pleaser about ice cream – it’s hard to beat the original Jimmy Stewart version. The twisty plot is filled with colorful characters, and the dialogue is as consistently punchy and fun as the best of director Ernst Lubitsch’s many indelibly complex romantic comedies, including “Heaven Can Wait,” “To Be or Not To Be,” and “Ninotchka.”

Ironically, the film’s best moments occur after Stewart’s character discovers the mix-up, as he endures Sullavan’s continued disdain, while launching a series of desperately funny maneuvers to win her heart without the use of pen-and-ink.

As is often the case in the best romantic comedies, doing so requires becoming a better human being, and perhaps tapping into a bit of the old Christmas spirit.

“The Shop Around the Corner” screens Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Sebastiani Theatre, 476 First St. E. Admission is $9.

Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.

The love-hate relationship.

It’s been a staple of romantic comedies since before Shakespeare pitted Kate against Petruchio and Beatrice against Benedick, all the way through the moment when Harry met Sally.

In the best love stories, the lovers begin as enemies.

Then life plays a trick on them.

In the 1940 Christmas classic “The Shop Around the Corner,” Alfred (Jimmy Stewart, five years before becoming George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”) is a Budapest sales clerk who takes an instant dislike to the brassy new hire Klara (Margaret Sullavan). The feeling is mutual. As the war of words and manners escalates, neither is aware that the long-distance pen pals they’ve each been writing long poetic letters to, and gradually falling in love with, sight unseen, are in fact each other.

Their emotionally unpredictable boss, Mr. Matuschek, is played by Frank Morgan, best known as the title character from the previous year’s “The Wizard of Oz.”

The snowy little gem of a film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, will be screened Monday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m., at the Sebastiani Theatre. Though hardly as celebrated or well-known as the aforementioned “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Shop Around the Corner” – based on the Hungarian play “Parfumerie,” by Miklos Laszlo – has proven surprisingly influential, and is today considered a near-perfect example of the cinematic love-hate romance. Not to mention making a case for the old-fashioned pleasures of writing down one’s feelings in the form of actual letters.

Nine years after its release in 1940, the black-and-white December-set film was remade as a splashy Technicolor big-screen musical, surprisingly retitled “In the Good Old Summertime.” Starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson – and still following the basic storytelling of the original, now set in Chicago – the 1949 musical remake features the melancholy tune “Merry Christmas.”

An entirely different musical adaptation appeared on Broadway in 1963. Now titled “She Loves Me,” and back to being set in Budapest, the decidedly fluffier show features songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (“Fiddler on the Roof”), and has been revived numerous times, including a hit run earlier this year on London’s West End.

And that’s just talking about the stage.

Where the story has really found traction is on the big screen.

A third movie adaptation, “You’ve Got Mail” – technically the least faithful to Laszlo’s original play – hit the theaters in 1998, and proved tremendously popular. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the story turned the mismatched correspondents into bookstore owning business rivals. Hanks’s massive mega-chain is threatening to put Ryan’s adorable mom-and-pop bookstore – called, get this, “The Shop Around the Corner” – out of business. The script by Nora Ephron updates the letter-writing mechanics of the story to the modern era, with the two swapping emails, setting the whole story this time in New York City.

With the arguable exception of “She Loves Me” – a refreshingly sweet adaptation with addictively confectionary songs, including one crowd-pleaser about ice cream – it’s hard to beat the original Jimmy Stewart version. The twisty plot is filled with colorful characters, and the dialogue is as consistently punchy and fun as the best of director Ernst Lubitsch’s many indelibly complex romantic comedies, including “Heaven Can Wait,” “To Be or Not To Be” and “Ninotchka.”

Ironically, the film’s best moments occur after Stewart’s character discovers the mix-up, as he endures Sullavan’s continued disdain, while launching a series of desperately funny maneuvers to win her heart without the use of pen-and-ink.

As is often the case in the best romantic comedies, doing so requires becoming a better human being, and perhaps tapping into a bit of the old Christmas spirit.

“The Shop Around the Corner” screens Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Sebastiani Theatre, 476 First St. E. Admission is $9.

Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.