Hobson's Choice (film)
Encyclopedia
Hobson's Choice is a 1954
film directed by David Lean
. It is based on the play of the same name by Harold Brighouse
. It stars Charles Laughton
in the title role of Victorian bootmaker Henry Hobson, Brenda De Banzie
as his eldest daughter Maggie and John Mills
as a timid employee. The film also features Prunella Scales
, in one of her first roles, as daughter Vicky Hobson.
Hobson's Choice won the British Academy Film Award for Best British Film 1954
.
) is a gifted, but unappreciated bootmaker employed by the tyrannical Henry Horatio Hobson (Charles Laughton
) in his moderately upscale shop in 1880s Salford
. Widower Hobson has three daughters. Maggie (Brenda De Banzie
) and her younger sisters Alice (Daphne Anderson
) and Vicky (Prunella Scales
) 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 (Richard Wattis
), a young up-and-coming solicitor, while Vicky prefers Freddy Beenstock (Derek Blomfield
), the son of a respectable corn merchant. Hobson doesn't object to losing Alice and Vicky, but Maggie is far too useful to part with. To his friends, he mocks her as a spinster "a bit on the ripe side" at 30 years of age.
Her pride injured, she bullies the contented, unambitious Will Mossop into an engagement. When Hobson objects to her choice of husband and refuses to start paying her, Maggie decides that she and Willie will set up in a shop of their own. For capital, they turn to a very satisfied customer for a loan. With money in hand, they get married and, between her business sense and his shoemaking genius, the enterprise is very successful. Within a year, they have taken away nearly all of Hobson's clientele. Eventually, Wiilie and Maggie fall in love. Finally, at Maggie's urging, Mossop goes into partnership with Hobson, now an almost-bankrupt alcoholic, on condition that Hobson take no further part in the business.
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.
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. TV Guide
gave the film four stars, characterizing 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." In the opinion of Daniel Etherington of Channel4, the "character interactions between the couple and the old bugger of a dad are fascinating, funny and moving." His verdict is, "Displays the Lean mark of quality and sterling work from its leads. A gem."
at the 4th Berlin International Film Festival
in 1954 and British Film Academy Award Best British Film 1954.
1954 in film
The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
film directed by David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
. It is based on the play of the same name by Harold Brighouse
Harold Brighouse
Harold Brighouse was an English playwright and author whose best known play is Hobson's Choice. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists.-Early life:Harold Brighouse was born in Eccles, Salford, the...
. It stars Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
in the title role of Victorian bootmaker Henry Hobson, Brenda De Banzie
Brenda De Banzie
Brenda D. M. De Banzie was a British actress of stage and screen.She was the daughter of Edward De Banzie and his second wife Dorothy, whom he married in 1908. In 1911, the family lived in Salford....
as his eldest daughter Maggie and John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
as a timid employee. The film also features Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
, in one of her first roles, as daughter Vicky Hobson.
Hobson's Choice won the British Academy Film Award for Best British Film 1954
8th British Academy Film Awards
The 8th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1955, honored the best films of 1954.-Best Film: Le Salaire de la peur *The Caine Mutiny*Carrington V.C.*The Divided Heart...
.
Plot
Willie Mossop (John MillsJohn Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
) is a gifted, but unappreciated bootmaker employed by the tyrannical Henry Horatio Hobson (Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
) in his moderately upscale shop in 1880s Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
. Widower Hobson has three daughters. Maggie (Brenda De Banzie
Brenda De Banzie
Brenda D. M. De Banzie was a British actress of stage and screen.She was the daughter of Edward De Banzie and his second wife Dorothy, whom he married in 1908. In 1911, the family lived in Salford....
) and her younger sisters Alice (Daphne Anderson
Daphne Anderson
-External links:...
) and Vicky (Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
) 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 (Richard Wattis
Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
), a young up-and-coming solicitor, while Vicky prefers Freddy Beenstock (Derek Blomfield
Derek Blomfield
Derek Blomfield was a British actor who appeared in a number of film and television productions between 1935 and his death in 1964.-Career:...
), the son of a respectable corn merchant. Hobson doesn't object to losing Alice and Vicky, but Maggie is far too useful to part with. To his friends, he mocks her as a spinster "a bit on the ripe side" at 30 years of age.
Her pride injured, she bullies the contented, unambitious Will Mossop into an engagement. When Hobson objects to her choice of husband and refuses to start paying her, Maggie decides that she and Willie will set up in a shop of their own. For capital, they turn to a very satisfied customer for a loan. With money in hand, they get married and, between her business sense and his shoemaking genius, the enterprise is very successful. Within a year, they have taken away nearly all of Hobson's clientele. Eventually, Wiilie and Maggie fall in love. Finally, at Maggie's urging, Mossop goes into partnership with Hobson, now an almost-bankrupt alcoholic, on condition that Hobson take no further part in the business.
Cast
- Charles LaughtonCharles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
as Henry Horatio Hobson - John MillsJohn MillsSir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
as Will Mossop - Brenda De BanzieBrenda De BanzieBrenda D. M. De Banzie was a British actress of stage and screen.She was the daughter of Edward De Banzie and his second wife Dorothy, whom he married in 1908. In 1911, the family lived in Salford....
as Maggie Hobson - Daphne AndersonDaphne Anderson-External links:...
as Alice Hobson - Prunella ScalesPrunella ScalesPrunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
as Vicky Hobson - Richard WattisRichard WattisRichard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
as Albert Prosser - Derek BlomfieldDerek BlomfieldDerek Blomfield was a British actor who appeared in a number of film and television productions between 1935 and his death in 1964.-Career:...
as Freddy Beenstock - Helen HayeHelen HayeHelen Haye was a British stage and film actress.She began acting on the stage in 1898 and debuted in London in 1911 as Gertrude in Hamlet. Her film career began in 1917. She often worked with director Alexander Korda...
as Mrs. Hepworth, the satisfied customer and financial backer - Jack Howarth as Tubby Wadlow, another Hobson employee
- Joseph TomeltyJoseph TomeltyJoseph Tomelty was a Northern Irish character actor and playwright. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage, starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play Over the Bridge.-Early life:...
as Jim Heeler - Julien Mitchell as Sam Minns
- Gibb McLaughlinGibb McLaughlinGibb McLaughlin was an English film actor. He appeared in 118 films between 1921 and 1959. He was born in Sunderland, England and died in London, England.-Selected filmography:* The Road to London...
as Tudsbury - Philip Stainton as Denton
- John LaurieJohn LaurieJohn Paton Laurie was a British actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. Although he is now probably most recognised for his role as Private James Frazer in the sitcom Dad's Army , he appeared in hundreds of feature films, including films by Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier...
as Dr. MacFarlane
Soundtrack
Malcolm ArnoldMalcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
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
Pit orchestra
A pit orchestra is a type of orchestra that accompanies performers in musicals, operas, and other shows involving music. In performances of operas and ballets, the pit orchestra is typically similar in size to a symphony orchestra, though it may contain smaller string and brass sections, depending...
of 22 players, and he enlisted the help of a Belgian cafe owner to play the musical saw
Musical saw
A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin...
for one pivotal scene. After a night of drinking at The Moonraker
Moonrakers
Moonrakers is the colloquial name for people from Wiltshire, a county of South West England in the West Country.-Legend:This refers to a folk story set in the time when smuggling was a significant industry in rural England, with Wiltshire lying on the smugglers' secret routes between the south...
, 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.
Reception
In his New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review, Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
called Hobson's Choice "a delightful and rewarding British film", and praised the performances of the three leads and its producer/director. TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
gave the film four stars, characterizing 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." In the opinion of Daniel Etherington of Channel4, the "character interactions between the couple and the old bugger of a dad are fascinating, funny and moving." His verdict is, "Displays the Lean mark of quality and sterling work from its leads. A gem."
Awards
The film won the Golden BearGolden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
at the 4th Berlin International Film Festival
4th Berlin International Film Festival
The 4th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 18 to June 29, 1954.-Films in competition:* Det stora äventyret by Arne Sucksdorff* Hobson's Choice by David Lean* Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa...
in 1954 and British Film Academy Award Best British Film 1954.