461 Hobson's Choice

[Jeff]

Hobson's Choice

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/1538/461_box_348x490_w128.jpg[/img]

An unsung comic triumph from David Lean, Hobson’s Choice stars the legendary Charles Laughton as the harrumphing Henry Hobson, the owner of a boot shop in late-Victorian Northern England. With his haughty, independent daughter Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) decides to forge her own path, romantically and professionally, with the help of none other than Henry’ prized bootsmith Will (a splendid John Mills), father and daughter find themselves head-to-head in a fiery match of wills. Equally charming and caustic, Hobson’s Choice, adapted from Harold Brighouse’s famous play, is filled to the brim with great performances and elegant, inventive camera work.

Special Features

- New high-definition digital transfer—restoration by the BFI National Archive, funded by the David Lean Foundation and StudioCanal
- Audio commentary featuring film scholars Alain Silver and James Ursini, co-authors of David Lean and His Films
- The Hollywood Greats: Charles Laughton, a 1978 BBC documentary about the actor’s life and career, featuring interviews with his friends and colleagues
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A new essay by critic Armond White

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[Bete_Noire]

Wow...crickets? I would've at least expected a few snarky comments about the Armond White essay by now.

[fiddlesticks]

It's not his first. He provided liner notes for Trouble in Paradise as well, and perhaps others.

I'm a big fan of this film. It's very clever and brilliantly acted by all parties, especially Brenda de Banzie. But not being especially enamored of commentary tracks, I don't see anything here that will likely induce me to double-dip on it.

[domino harvey]

It's not his first. He provided liner notes for Trouble in Paradise as well, and perhaps others.

I believe his liner notes for George Washington were what first ignited many of the fires of hatred against Armond White on the board

[devin]

An unsung comic triumph from David Lean, Hobson’s Choice stars the legendary Charles Laughton as the harrumphing Henry Hobson, the owner of a boot shop in late-Victorian Northern England. When his haughty, independent daughter Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) decides to forge her own path, romantically and professionally, with the help of none other than Henry’ prized bootsmith Will (a splendid John Mills), father and daughter find themselves head-to-head in a fiery match of wills. Equally charming and caustic, Hobson’s Choice, adapted from Harold Brighouse’s famous play, is filled to the brim with great performances and elegant, inventive camera work.

Surprised nobody caught this yet.

[HerrSchreck]

Not exactly a firestarter of a typo... like putting up 1.33 for Magnificent Obsession when you plan 2.0:1.

[Haggai]

Excellent, I had missed whatever speculation there was about this one coming at some point from Criterion. Looking forward to picking it up.

[colinr0380]

Very unexpected news for me, and nice to see the first Salford-set film enter the Collection! I'll certainly be picking this up and the commentary and documentary are a nice addition - it is certainly a film that is powered by Laughton's performance so understandable that it has an extra focusing primarily on the actor.

Here's the opening sequence

[Cinephrenic]

This was in the Janus oeuvre for years, and I too was surprised to see this get a release. I thought they might release this on Eclipse or the rumoured 'Lean' set. Very good news for Lean fans indeed.

[Person]

CL's burp when he opens the door is fucking hilarious! Great, great film. Massively uplifting.

[Jonathan S]

The 1978 BBC documentary on this set is important for the interviews with Elsa Lanchester, Billy Wilder, Lillian Gish, Christopher Isherwood and others, but Barry Norman tows the Lanchester/Charles Higham line in his presentation of Laughton, particularly with regard to the actor's sexuality. Norman describes him as "a practising - one might almost say accomplished - homosexual, indulging in a series of sordid and often extremely belittling affairs".

This very old-fashioned (even in 1978) view of Laughton was happily corrected by Simon Callow in his published biography and in his 1987 TV documentary, which I would have much preferred to be included in this release (it was a Yorkshire TV production for Channel 4, though, not BBC). It includes a moving interview with Laughton's long-term lover Terry Jenkins, who in Callow's assessment gave him "the most mutually rewarding emotional relationship of his life." Jenkins speaks of how Laughton "wanted, as all people do when they're in love, to live their life all over again with their loved one." Hardly "sordid and belittling"!

[Sloper]

Simon Callow is a bit dismissive about this film, and especially about Laughton’s performance. I think the argument goes along the lines that the moody, ‘expressionist’ Lean style (there’s a great Lost Weekend-ish hallucination scene) destroyed the charm of Brighouse’s play, and that Laughton was hamming it up and wishing he were elsewhere.

Personally, having seen the play performed live a few years ago, I’d say it’s a clever and entertaining piece, and mercifully free of sentimentality, but kind of irritating if you’re not in the mood. The film, on the other hand, represents Lean at his early, small-scale, black-and-white best, so that even for those who (like me) could live without the play itself, the abundance of cinematographic gorgeousness provides all the entertainment needed.

And with all due respect to Callow, I think he’s dead wrong about Laughton’s performance – it’s one of his best, a genuinely funny, three-dimensional portrait of a character who could so easily (and no doubt often is) simply a grotesque caricature. He brings out every drop of wit and nuance in the script, and there are countless little moments when his intonation of a certain word, or some small facial gesture, just leaves my jaw hanging open. I do love this man very much, even when he’s bad, but this is the kind of Herodian part he was born to play. There’s a brilliant scene in the pub where Hobson tells all his friends what he really thinks of them – his bitter, inebriated abandon is just a joy to watch.

The rest of the cast is perfect, with Brenda de Banzie and John Mills (I always forget it’s him) giving beautifully self-effacing performances. And then there’s the gorgeous period sets, the great (though slightly overbearing) Malcolm Arnold score…and it’s David Lean…

And given how overpriced the Region 2 edition of this is at the moment, and with commentary from Ursini and Silver, and even an old-fashioned doc on Laughton is welcome… This is the first Criterion release I’ve got really excited about for ages.

[Jonathan S]

And given how overpriced the Region 2 edition of this is at the moment

It's currently £6.99 from hmv.com or UK and other European buyers can get it with nine more beautiful Lean restorations for only £17.99 from play.com - the David Lean Centenary Collection discussed in the International forum.

I also disagree with Callow about this film, especially Laughton's performance. Perhaps Callow's legit stage background has made him immune to the jolly vulgarity of British music hall which I think influenced Laughton's characterisation (and Malcolm Arnold's score). Even so, I always find Callow's genuinely considered views more interesting than anything I've ever heard from Barry Norman (I'm speaking generally now) who strikes me as little more than a barometer of received opinion.

My only problem with the film (which I've now bought on three different DVDs!) is John Mills, whom I find especially resistible in comedy, but perhaps that's just me. I love Laughton's portrayal, although - having grown up only a few miles from the Salford setting - I'm often aware he's a Yorkshireman attempting a Lancashire accent!

[Sloper]

My mistake about the price... Anyway I'm a commentary fiend, so I'll still get the Criterion.

Agreed about Callow and Norman - the latter is kind of the Brit equivalent of Leonard Maltin, not much more than a likeable light entertainer (I loved him when I was a kid though, and Film '94 was as good as television got...). Callow's biographies are terrific - the Road to Xanadu turned me onto Welles, Marlowe, Shakespeare and theatre generally when I read it ten years ago. Can't wait to find the time for Hello Americans.

As to Mills, I normally have a guilty dislike for his acting. I can't stand him in Great Expectations or Ryan's Daughter, and have always thought he's just nice but bland in everything else (he even managed to be boring in The October Man). For some reason his turn in Hobson's Choice really works for me, which may have more to do with the character of Willy Mossop than anything else. There's always a great deal of pleasure in seeing the worm turn. In the stage version I saw, the actor playing Mossop really stole the show, and while Mills obviously doesn't do that, I think his big-eyed harmlessness is a great advantage here. It seems like quite an atypical role for him, a bit like de Havilland's in The Heiress, because it foregrounds all his limitations and then forces him to overcome them (albeit quite tentatively). Also, Brenda de Banzie helps him enormously. She carries all their scenes together.

[colinr0380]

Agreed about Callow and Norman - the latter is kind of the Brit equivalent of Leonard Maltin, not much more than a likeable light entertainer (I loved him when I was a kid though, and Film '94 was as good as television got...).

In some ways it is good to see Barry Norman getting honoured with a place in Criterion collection extras! As the presenter of the BBCs long running main film programme (with Jonathan Ross taking over after Norman quit in disgust at being moved around the schedule, often to post midnight slots) he deserves a place even if he isn't the most insightful (or progressive in sexual politics, by the sound of it!) commentator!

If anyone is interested in trivia, he is also the son of Leslie Norman - whose most prestigious film was Dunkirk starring John Mills! (Though I'm more fond of X The Unknown!) I guess it is a small world, at least in the British film industry!

[colinr0380]

DVD Beaver review

[cdnchris]

Hobson's Choice DVD Review

[Jonathan S]

Do Criterion acknowledge that the BBC documentary on Laughton has been cut by at least five minutes? I gather from the above linked reviews that it runs only 44 minutes, where as my off-air (BBC) recording runs almost 49 minutes - and that's at the faster PAL speed. I expect it is due to unlicensed film clips, which would be understandable of course.

[cdnchris]

I don't recall there being a mention of the documentary being edited and I didn't notice any stand out spots where an edit may have occurred. There's a few clips in it, the ones I recall off hand being The Private Life of Henry VIII, I, Claudius and of course Hobson's Choice. Stills were also used for a few films, though I couldn't tell if this was actually something from the documentary or placed in by Criterion.

[zedz]

There's a few clips in it, the ones I recall off hand being The Private Life of Henry VIII, I, Claudius and of course Hobson's Choice. Stills were also used for a few films, though I couldn't tell if this was actually something from the documentary or placed in by Criterion.

Criterion will often substitute stills for clips where they can't get the rights, so these are probably where the lost minutes come from. This could also be taken as oblique confirmation that Henry VIII is in the pipeline (among the Korda titles), but I think we already knew that.

[colinr0380]

There has been a precedent in the Mike Leigh interview with Will Self on the disc of Naked, which has many of the film clips edited out (mostly clips from early in the programme giving a brief run through of Leigh's career - Abigail's Party, High Hopes, Secrets & Lies and his then latest film Topsy Turvy) but keeps the two longest excerpts from Naked itself intact.

That was not 'officially acknowldeged' by Criterion either (I compared the DVD version with my copy of the same programme from when it was first shown on the BBC because I was sure that there had been more clips), but I didn't find it too much of a problem, certainly nothing on the same scale of the Cineastes de notre temps cut ups furore where there might be a case made against Criterion that cutting those shows down into short excerpts treated the original programme badly.

Interestingly during the interview with Rohmer in the Six Morals Tales set, it seems as if Criterion edited clips from the films into it - I'm not completely certain, but there is a big difference in quality between the 70s interview footage and the sparkling footage from La Collectioneuse, for example, that seems suspicious!

[dad1153]

Watched "Hobson's Choice" on Criterion DVD last week. It takes a skilled director like Sir David Lean (whom I associate with 'cast of thousands' epics) to not only make a modest Victorian-age British comedy look great (loved the 'falling down a shaft' perspective shot) and deliver a typical larger-than-life lead performance from Charles Laughton (following the tradition of lovable movie lushes dating back to W.C. Fields). Somehow though Lean manages to spread the wealth around and make the supporting cast stand out from beneath Laughton's tall shadow. Brenda De Banzie is a firecracker delight as Maggie (but let's be real here, the last time she was 30 was in 1930! #-o) and John Mills is superb in the trickier-than-it-looks role of idiot savant boot maker Willie Mossop (shades of Sellers in "Being There"). I've known happy couples like this (outgoing wife with shy/passive husband) when I was growing up and it struck a chord with me to see them depicted like Maggie and Willie are in "Hobson's Choice." I love how Maggie encounters both financial and personal satisfaction (for herself, Mossop and her sheepish sisters) while teaching a**hole dad a thing or two about tradition vs. individualism within the context of patriarchal Victorian society. It totally rings true (within's the movie's rose-colored fiction) that a strong woman like Maggie would need a muppet like Mossop (whom she turns around) to stand-up to the elder Hobson on her behalf by the movie's end. Every other supporting actor was OK (loved Helen Haye's liking of Mossop's boots being the key to Maggie's plans) but the three lead performers are the main attraction.

There's not a single surprise in this predictable tale (which at times feels like a Victorian "All In the Family" movie) but that's OK because we're having so much fun watching Lean pulling all the (invisible to us) levers that every little laugh, alcohol-induced misstep and small triumph (Willie's face and body after his honeymoon had me laughing out loud!) adds to a satasfying whole that's every bit as enjoyable as the individual components. Hated Michael Arnold's annoying soundtrack though. It's better suited for a "Little Rascals" two-reeler than... a Victorian-set working class British comedy. :-"

[HistoryProf]

The wife caught this on TCM a few months back and fell in love with it, so I picked it up for her - plus I was plenty happy to own it anyway. We watched it last night and it was everything she said it was and more. Simply adored it from start to finish. Brenda De Banzie and John Mills are fantastic, and Loughton is, well, Loughton in all his glory. It really is as close to a 'perfect' film as you can get. It does not aspire to be anything more than it is, and there is not a sour note in it, while the laughs keep coming, often at Charles' expense.

It made me wonder why Brenda De Banzie was never more popular, as she's magnificent here. She reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it. Her back and forth with Mills throughout the film is just a joy to watch...just a wonderful movie. (and it made for a nice double bill with Make Way For Tomorrow, as it lifted the fog of depression MWFT had pushed ashore.)

[HistoryProf]

oh, and why on earth do they give essay assignments to Armond White - especially for something like this? I was rather annoyed reading it not knowing who the author was at first, which moved on to nonplussed as I got towards the end and knew it could be none other after this line: "This phantasmagorical image is the link between Lean’s professed fondness for Orson Welles’s chiaroscuro and Laughton’s fantastical The Night of the Hunter." I can't begin to imagine the conversation that resulted in someone at Criterion thinking it was a good idea to ask him to write an essay for this utterly delightful film.

if only he wasn't so obsessed with his word of the day calendar, Luc Besson, and Steven Spielberg, he just might have something to say...until then....

[Cold Bishop]

I don't know. That's actually a pretty comprehensible sentence. Of course, I don't know what image he's talking about, so he may be using the words wrong.