Black & White World

Hobson’s Choice (1954)

Delightful comedy from David Lean with an Ealing Studios feel to it.  I’m starting to prefer Lean’s small films to his epics—of course epics aren’t really my genre, but if they were, Lean is the go-to guy, the undisputed master.  Still, I think Brief Encounter is better than anything else he ever did, though I would put Hobson’s Choice on the high end of the scale.

Proving once more that 90% of directing is in the casting, Lean assembles an excellent cast, including the ever-formidable Charles Laughton, John Mills (before he was a Sir), and Brenda De Banzie, whom I had never heard of but she is fantastic in the role of the strong-willed and single-minded daughter Maggie.  Maggie is a character not often glimpsed in the movies:  a woman who comes across as strong, smart and forceful without seeming like a bitch, who manages to be supportive of her husband’s career without coming off like a doormat.  She’s decades ahead of her time.  In fact, 50 years later I still don’t see women like this portrayed in the movies.

Laughton sinks his teeth into the role of the bombastic Hobson, a boot shop owner who prefers to spend his time at the pub rather than his shop, who devises a plan to marry off his younger daughters—but keep the eldest at the shop, since she’s “too old to marry” and too necessary to the shop.  John Mills is the mousy employee who blossoms into a businessman in his own right under the tender instruction of the aforementioned Maggie.  With such excellent work from Laughton and De Banzie, it’s hard to believe there’s enough room on the screen for Mills to shine too, but he does.  His marriage night preparation scene is among the funniest in the movie.

Miscellaneous casting note:  Prunella Scales, probably best known for her work as the shrewish Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s, appears here as one of Hobson’s young daughters (according to IMDB, she was 21).  Her flair for comedy is evident even at this young age.

1. Along with “Advise and Consent”, my favorite Laughton role

   Posted by  on  06/03  at  07:09 PM

2. I haven’t seen Advise and Consent, but two of my favorites by Laughton are Witness for the Prosecution and This Land is Mine.

   Posted by  on  06/03  at  08:31 PM

3. He’s great in “Witness”, as well. Have you seen “The Big Clock”?

   Posted by  on  06/05  at  06:00 PM

4. I have indeed seen The Big Clock—another excellent performance.  Has he ever made a disappointing film?  Just Jamaica Inn, that’s all I can think of.

   Posted by  on  06/06  at  08:13 PM
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