| Hobson's Choice | |
|---|---|
) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Lean |
| Produced by | David Lean Alexander Korda |
| Written by | Harold Brighouse (play) Wynyard Browne David Lean Norman Spencer |
| Starring | Charles Laughton Brenda De Banzie John Mills Daphne Anderson Prunella Scales |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Edited by | Peter Taylor |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films London Films United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £206,579[1] |
Hobson's Choice is a 1954 British romantic comedy film directed by David Lean.[2][3] It is based on the 1916 play of the same name by Harold Brighouse. It stars Charles Laughton in the role of Victorian bootmaker Henry Hobson, Brenda De Banzie as his eldest daughter and John Mills as a timid employee. The film also features Prunella Scales in one of her first cinema roles as Vicky.
Hobson's Choice won the British Academy Film Award for Best British Film 1954.
Plot
Willie Mossop is a gifted but unappreciated bootmaker employed by the tyrannical Henry Horatio Hobson in his moderately upmarket shop in 1880 Salford in Lancashire. Hard-drinking widower Hobson has three daughters. Maggie and her younger sisters Alice and Vicky have worked in their father's establishment without wages and are eager to be married and free of the shop. Alice has been seeing Albert Prosser, a young up-and-coming solicitor, while Vicky prefers Freddy Beenstock, the son of a respectable corn merchant. Hobson does not object to losing Alice and Vicky, but Maggie is far too useful to part with. To his friends, he mocks Maggie as a spinster "a bit on the ripe side" at 30 years of age.
Her pride injured, Maggie bullies the browbeaten, unambitious Willie into an engagement. Willie informs her that he is already engaged to his landlady's daughter. Maggie goes to his lodgings and extricates him (to his great relief). When she tells her father of her intentions, he tells Willie that he will "beat the love" out of him with his belt. Willie declares he has no love for Maggie, but if his employer strikes him, he will stick to Maggie like glue. After Hobson hits him, the couple leave to set up their own business.
They go to Mrs Hepworth, a very satisfied customer, to borrow £100. When Mrs Hepworth asks about security, Maggie states that Willie and his skill are the security. With money in hand, they are married and find a basement where they can live and set up shop. Willie dreads his wedding night, but it all turns out well, and he emerges a changed man. The next morning, they make their first sale: a pair of bootlaces for one penny. Between Maggie's business sense and Willie's shoemaking genius, their business thrives. Within a year, they have not only paid off the loan, they have also taken away nearly all of Hobson's clientele. Under Maggie's tutelage, the meek and illiterate Willie is transformed into a confident man of business, and he and Maggie have fallen deeply in love.
Meanwhile, Hobson drinks too much and starts insulting all his drinking buddies. As he is stumbling home from the local pub, he falls into the basement of Beenstock & Co through their trapdoor. He is found sleeping there the next day. Freddy Beanstock sends for Maggie, who then hatches a plan. Hobson is served with a notice for trespass and damage.
Hobson does not attend Willie and Maggie's wedding, though Maggie's sisters reluctantly do, at the insistence of their fiances. The wedding dinner is held in Willie's basement shop. Hobson comes afterward, seeking Maggie's advice regarding his legal troubles. She forces him to bargain with Albert Prosser, representing Freddy Beenstock. Maggie coerces her father into paying £500 to settle the matter. Hobson then realises he has been tricked: the money will be the wedding settlement for the two younger sisters.
On New Year's Day, Hobson hallucinates and sees giant mice. Dr. MacFarlane diagnoses "chronic alcoholism". He sends for Maggie. Will comes with her. He treats her sisters as equals for the first time, much to their shock. Hobson wants Maggie to return, and offers Willie his old job back. However, Willie will not settle for anything less than a partnership, with Hobson as a silent partner. Hobson grudgingly accepts. Willie wants to change Maggie's brass wedding ring for a gold one, but she keeps the brass ring to remind them of their beginnings.
Cast
- Charles Laughton as Henry Horatio Hobson
- John Mills as Will Mossop
- Brenda De Banzie as Maggie Hobson
- Daphne Anderson as Alice Hobson
- Prunella Scales as Vickey Hobson
- Richard Wattis as Albert Prosser
- Derek Blomfield as Freddy Beenstock
- Helen Haye as Mrs. Hepworth, the financial backer
- Raymond Huntley as Nathaniel Beenstock
- Jack Howarth as Tubby Wadlow, another Hobson employee
- Joseph Tomelty as Jim Heeler
- Julien Mitchell as Sam Minns, the publican
- Gibb McLaughlin as Tudsbury
- Philip Stainton as Denton
- John Laurie as Dr. MacFarlane
- Dorothy Gordon as Ada Figgins
- Madge Brindley as Mrs Figgins
Production
Robert Donat was originally cast in the role of Will Mossop but had to pull out due to his asthma.[4] The outdoor location scenes were filmed around the Salford area with Peel Park serving as the courting place for Maggie Hobson and William Mossop.[5]
Soundtrack
Malcolm Arnold took the comical main theme for the film from his opera The Dancing Master. Throughout the film, it is linked to Hobson so often that he even whistles it at one point. Arnold wrote the score for a small pit orchestra of 22 players, and he enlisted the help of a Belgian cafe owner to play the musical saw for one pivotal scene. After a night of drinking at The Moonraker, Hobson is seeing double, and he fixates on the reflection of the moon in the puddles outside the pub. Arnold deploys the musical saw to represent the willowy allure of the moon, as the clumsy Hobson stomps from puddle to puddle, chasing its reflection.[6]
Reception
Box office
The film was one of the most popular at the British box office in 1954.[7]
Critical
In his New York Times review, Bosley Crowther called Hobson's Choice "a delightful and rewarding British film", and praised the performances of the three leads and its producer/director.[8] TV Guide gave the film four stars, characterising it as "a fully developed comedy of human foibles and follies with Laughton rendering a masterful, sly performance, beautifully supported by de Banzie and Mills."[9] In the opinion of Daniel Etherington of Channel 4, the "character interactions between the couple and the old bugger of a dad are fascinating, funny and moving."[10] His verdict is, "Displays the Lean mark of quality and sterling work from its leads. A gem."[10]
Awards
The film won the Golden Bear at the 4th Berlin International Film Festival in 1954[11] and British Film Academy Award Best British Film 1954.[12]
Home media
Hobson's Choice is available on VHS (Warner Home Video in the UK), DVD (as part of The Criterion Collection), Blu-ray, and LaserDisc.
References
- ^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p503
- ^ Variety film review; 3 March 1954, page 6.
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; 12 June 1954, page 94.
- ^ "illness May Silence Donat's Golden Voice". The Sunday Herald. Sydney. 2 August 1953. p. 14. Retrieved 7 July 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Anon. "Filming of Hobson's Choice in Peel Park". Salford Archive. University of Salford. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ Jackson, Paul R.W. The life and music of Sir Malcolm Arnold: the brilliant and the dark, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32 no. 3. p. 259.
- ^ Bosley Crowther (15 June 1954). "Hobson's Choice (1953)". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- ^ "Hobson's Choice". TV Guide. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- ^ a b Daniel Etherington. "Hobson's Choice Review". Channel4. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- ^ "4th Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- ^ David Lean at Hollywood.com
Bibliography
- The Great British Films, pp 162–164, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press, ISBN 0-8065-0661-X
External links
- Hobson's Choice at IMDb
- Hobson's Choice at AllMovie
- Hobson’s Choice: Custom-Made an essay by Armond White at the Criterion Collection