Hobson's Choice (1954)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Absolutely amazing

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

First watched this film one Sunday afternoon back in the early sixties and fell in love with it.Great story,great acting and directing by David Lean.I have lost count how many times I have watched it and I can still watch it again and again even to this day.

I was hoping for a little more from this film. I should clarify I was not disappointed as such in the film - it was well made and had some visual polish. It had great actors (John Mills and Charles Laughton), and in particular one truly outstanding performance from Brenda de Banzie.I think the main 'problem' I have with the film is because that the script is a little pedestrian and clichéd in places. It has a lot of 'ee by gum' references sprinkled through out the dialogue.From the 'ee by gums' you should be able to locate this film as a Northern film. Indeed it is set in Manchester in the 1880's and concerns the family of the often drunken boot shop owner Charles Laughton and his three long suffering daughters and in particular his oldest unmarried daughter played by Brenda de Banzie. They are unmarried because the father will not pay dowries to marry off his daughters. In revenge she decides to get married to the fairly dim, if likable boot maker who works in the shop. They then leave to set up their own business in spite of her father's wishes.There are great moments in this film; one I think I remember already seeing in a documentary about Lean. This is where an intoxicated Charles Laughton follows the moon reflected in puddles, splashing away childlike as he goes along in fits and starts.There are some nice visuals flourishes including vistas of open city parkland, as well as in other scenes factory chimneys punctuating brooding industrial landscapes. Overall though I did not find the cinematography quite as atmospheric as I hoped although I was probably spoiled by remembering the marvellous cinematography in Leans earlier 'Great Expectations'.This is a film that relies upon the acting therefore to make it work, and does not fail because of Brenda de Banzies performance. She plays a fantastically strong female lead. Determined, and clever wanting something better than just to be stuck in a boot shop ministering to her ungrateful father.Charles Laughton is good but not great in this film (puddle scene excepting). I think Charles Laughton does his turn as Charles Laughton, which is what he does best. This should not be seen as a criticism, but it perhaps over balances this film a little bit; whereas in the film 'witness for the prosecution' his performance is brilliantly judged.John Mills performance doesn't quite work in this film either. He appears slightly uneasy in the role. It's not a bad performance, but because it's John Mills you expect a little more.I would therefore put this film in one of David Leans lesser works. It hasn't the peerless brilliance of Great expectations, the visual splendour of Dr Zhivago or the epic grandeur of Lawrence of Arabia. It does show a film maker helping what might have been creaky cliché into something better than the sum of its parts. Yet this film, and I cannot stress this enough depends on Brenda de Banzies superb performance to make it truly worth watching.I would also note that Prunella Scales(Basil Fawlty's wife) appears in an early role as one of the daughters.

A delight of a film, and a reminder that David Lean excelled as much at small, intimate stories as he did sweeping epics.Charles Laughton plays a drunken widower who tries, without success, to dominate his three daughters. He's written off the oldest as a candidate for marriage, and takes for granted that she will assume the place of her mother in caring for him. But she has different plans, practically takes Laughton's wunderkind but timid employee (John Mills) hostage, tells him they're going to get married and sets up a shoe making business with him. Mills resists a little bit at first, but warms up to her and her plan and by the end has become the man she saw in him all along.Laughton, I regret to say, grows pretty tiresome before the movie is over. His stumbling drunken antics and rages aren't as funny as he and Lean think they are, and I sort of sighed inwardly whenever the story reverted to him. But the film more than makes up for what Laughton's story and character are lacking in the story of his daughter (played wonderfully by Barbara de Banzie) and Mills. The way their relationship evolves is a marvel of writing, directing and acting, and it's tremendously sweet. De Banzie somehow makes us love her battle axe of a character, and the character itself is a wonderful creation -- a woman who's strong in ways that matter and deeply kind, able to care for everyone in her life and draw out the best in them while the whole time making it look like she just wants to have her own way.A real treat.Grade: A

David Lean directed "Hobson's Choice" in 1954 and again shows he could direct anything. This is no sweeping epic -- it's a sweet story about a grumpy old shoe and bootmaker (Charles Laughton) who is waited on hand and foot by his three unmarried daughters, one of whom (Brenda de Banzie) is considered past it for marriage (she's 30). The other two have a big problem. Daddy refuses to give them a "settlement" when married, which is all important.While cleverly arranging for her father to unwittingly pay the settlement for the two other daughters, the eldest, Maggie, decides to get married herself. Her choice is an unlikely one: quiet, shy Willie Mossop (John Mills) who works for her father as a bootmaker. And he's an excellent one, in demand by the customers. Maggie knows he can better himself. So she pushes him into a marriage he's unsure about - in fact, he's "talking" to another woman, and sets about setting the two of them up in a shoe and boot shop of their own.This is a great story -- about the real meaning of love, respect, determination, and most of all, what it means to have someone who really believes in you.Brenda de Banzie is fantastic. She's stern and practical, with ramrod posture and a severe face, but she has moments where she softens and smiles, and you know she's in love. Marvelous. John Mills is a riot as the timid Willie, who has talent but not much in the way of self-esteem.As Henry Hobson, what can be said except it's another magnificent performance by Charles Laughton. Here he's an unreasonable, demanding drunk who is nevertheless very funny. Think of him as the regal, brilliant barrister in "Witness for the Prosecution" and watch him in this - a remarkable actor.Wonderful film, beautifully acted and directed. When it ends, you'll have a big smile on your face. You can't ask for much more than that.