By gum this film be grand! It's rare to see Charles Laughton upstaged in any movie, because lets face it, he was quite the master of stealing the show in most of the film's he appeared in. So it comes to pass that in a seamless directed effort from David Lean he is upstaged by the glorious acting of Brenda de Banzie. Yes indeed. Many lady actors have done sterling work under Lean {how could they not?}, but this one be right out of the top draw .
Hobson's Choice is a wonderful mixture of comedy and drama that centres around Hobson's Boot Makers, a family run business ruled with aggressive hypocritical tyranny by Henry Hobson {a note perfect Charles Laughton}. But things change big time when the eldest of his 3 daughters {de Banzie} decides that she will not be on the shelf no longer and takes the lowly "Boot Maker" {a fresh faced John Mills as Willie Mossop} to be her husband. From the point of their union she manages to unzip Mossop's back and insert a spine into the potential talent in waiting. This then sets the film up a treat as Hobson has to observe as he loses trade to the now spine bearing Mossop and his smart as "Sir Isaac Newton" eldest daughter.
The film is a joyful character study as regards the follies of the human condition, a delightful peek at old family values and foibles in northern England; way back when. And of course with the principal actors here you get blunderbuss acting that's directed with Lean's customary style. Watch as Lean fleshes out his characters without seeming to do much. Calm and assured is the order of the day. The end result is a smashing film that I can confidently recommend to anyone who is interested in precision film making that will undoubtedly have you smiling like a loon come the finale. 9/10
Footnote: My quick research before I posted this review dug up the following info. Laughton it is believed took a big dislike to de Banzie on the set, and by all accounts he was unhappy that Mills got the part of Mossop. This led me to find out that Laughton had played the title role on stage some years earlier, so with that in mind I feel that he obviously cared about this production a lot. But as blustery as Charlie was want to be, he really should have trusted Lean because the outcome stands up well in any age.
Hobson's Choice is a wonderful mixture of comedy and drama that centres around Hobson's Boot Makers, a family run business ruled with aggressive hypocritical tyranny by Henry Hobson {a note perfect Charles Laughton}. But things change big time when the eldest of his 3 daughters {de Banzie} decides that she will not be on the shelf no longer and takes the lowly "Boot Maker" {a fresh faced John Mills as Willie Mossop} to be her husband. From the point of their union she manages to unzip Mossop's back and insert a spine into the potential talent in waiting. This then sets the film up a treat as Hobson has to observe as he loses trade to the now spine bearing Mossop and his smart as "Sir Isaac Newton" eldest daughter.
The film is a joyful character study as regards the follies of the human condition, a delightful peek at old family values and foibles in northern England; way back when. And of course with the principal actors here you get blunderbuss acting that's directed with Lean's customary style. Watch as Lean fleshes out his characters without seeming to do much. Calm and assured is the order of the day. The end result is a smashing film that I can confidently recommend to anyone who is interested in precision film making that will undoubtedly have you smiling like a loon come the finale. 9/10
Footnote: My quick research before I posted this review dug up the following info. Laughton it is believed took a big dislike to de Banzie on the set, and by all accounts he was unhappy that Mills got the part of Mossop. This led me to find out that Laughton had played the title role on stage some years earlier, so with that in mind I feel that he obviously cared about this production a lot. But as blustery as Charlie was want to be, he really should have trusted Lean because the outcome stands up well in any age.