Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1940: Frank Morgan in The Shop Around the Corner

Frank Morgan did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Hugo Matuschek in The Shop Around the Corner.

Frank Morgan is perhaps best known for a role that I'll be covering eventually, but one element that is often found in most of his roles is that he plays a fellow who is at least somewhat nervous. This is usually played for laughs. That is the case here for the early scenes of the film, and why not there is something quite enjoyable about the way Morgan's voice fluctuates, and the way his face just seems to be so filled with anxiety in a moments notice. Morgan is a delightful side character in these scenes showing the somewhat problematic state of the shop through Mr. Matuschek behavior. Morgan is consistently entertaining in just his reactions in creating this almost constant mood of unease in Matuschek as he so badly wants everything in the shop to run smoothly though everything that goes wrong makes him become particularly troubled. Morgan while funny does a good job of making this seem like an honest and natural state of his character by just so well realizing the Matuschek's inability to relax that causes him to constantly get worked up even with minor difficulties.

What's notable here is although Morgan's depiction of Matuschek's nervousness does derive some humor for the film, it is not the sole purpose of it in this film. Morgan does not make Matuschek's behavior as simply a joke, because he does not turn him into just a caricature. Morgan actually does something very intelligent in that he creates the sense that as the story progresses Matuschek's behavior slowly becomes not nearly as funny. Technically speaking Morgan allows the humor at Matuschek expense to work because there still seems to be a good spirit in his portrayal, and the nervousness is just his way. As the story progresses though Morgan slowly loses this spirit and there just becomes something far less jovial about his attitude towards everyone. Morgan makes this work especially well because of how naturally and gradually he portrays it. He does not just suddenly change, but rather Morgan realizes the change as though Matuschek is going over something in his mind again and again that is causing him considerable distress. 

Eventually this leads him to unexpectedly his best employee Alfred (James Stewart), and in the scene Morgan is very effective by presenting the terribly dour state of mind that Matuschek is in at this time. Morgan is terrific because he so subtly portrays this descent of the man, as his performance shows a man falling apart though as a meek man. When Matuschek attempts suicide Morgan is rather heartbreaking because it is unexpected through wholly earned in the way Morgan made it always something that was there through the way he quietly creates the depression that he only grows until the final breaking point that comes from finding out that his wife has been having an affair. Morgan is great in his next scene where he is attempting to recover from his nervous breakdown and must apologize to Alfred who he had wrongly been suspicious of. Morgan is incredibly moving in depicting the sad state of regret as Matuschek finally verbalizes what has been troubling him for so long. Morgan in the final scenes of the film again does not cheat the character as he does not show a full recovery. Instead Morgan is quite haunting by portraying Matuschek as attempting to rediscover the joy of life, and while there is some success Morgan still coveys that a sadness still remains in the man. It's a very strong and surprisingly nuanced performance by Morgan, that brings a great deal of poignancy to the film's darker moments.