Product Details

• Actors: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda De Banzie, Daphne Anderson, Prunella Scales
• Directors: David Lean
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 6, 2000
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303038522
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,226 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #43 in	Video > Art House & International > United Kingdom > Comedy
  #47 in	Video > Comedy > British
  #61 in	Video > Comedy > By Year > 1950-1959

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
David Lean's finest films, from Great Expectations (1946) to Lawrence of Arabia (1962), are resolutely sober, which is more than can be said of Henry Horatio Hobson in his wonderfully comic encounter with the moon in Hobson's Choice (1954). Lean's only other comedy was Blithe Spirit (1945), but here he approaches matters of the heart with a surprising lightness of touch and wins a marvelous performance from Charles Laughton--himself soon to make his one and only film as a director, Night of the Hunter (1955). The setting is late-19th-century Salford, England (the black-and-white location filming is exceptional), and widower Henry Hobson forbids his three daughters to marry to avoid paying their dowries. Romance will not be thwarted by economics, and much humorous conflict ensues, interspersed with some serious and even disturbing moments. Brenda De Banzie is splendidly spirited as the eldest daughter, Maggie, while her fiancé is played by the ever excellent John Mills, who would later win an Oscar® for his part in Lean's much more serious love story, Ryan's Daughter (1970). --Gary S. Dalkin

Product Description
David Lean backs up vicious wit with tender romance in this thrilling adaptation of Harold Brighouse's play. As Henry Hobson, a tyrannical bootshop owner, Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap) is a comical drunk of Falstaffian proportions. When Hobson forbids his daughters to marry (their unpaid labor supports his pub visits!), his eldest daughter defiantly sets her cap for Willie, the shop's best bootmaker. Brenda de Banzie (The Man Who Knew Too Much), as the eldest daughter, hounds the flabbergasted Willie into marriage, resulting in a thriving new shop of their own. As Willie, John Mills (Great Expectations, The Big Sleep) performs a gradual metamorphoses from painfully awkward to gently confident. Together, the sweet couple turn a crafty business deal into a loving partnership.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our Favorite Movie Nobody Has Ever Heard Of, March 22, 1999

By A Customer

Hobson's Choice is the kind of movie that many of us wish they still were making. The acting is superb, the characters are delightful, the story is fun and yet has some social implications. Charles Laughton is at his best as the drunken father who uses his spinster daughters to run his business for him. John Mills shows his great ability as a character actor as the shy boot-maker. This is my wife's and my favorite movie that nobody has ever heard of. We watch it about once a year and try to share it with as many of our friends as we can. If you like old British black and white comedies this is the movie for you!!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars British humor at its absolute best., December 28, 1999

By	Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Charles Laughton stars as Henry Hobson, a hard-drinking, self-opinionated, middle-class Victorian businessman. Henry is king of his own little world, a tyrant to his three daughters and ringleader of a clutch of bar-cronies. Finally, daughter Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) decides that she must move out from Henry's shadow if she is to have a life of her own. Seizing on their simple, but talented boot-hand William Mossop (John Mills), she begins to scheme her way through to a life for herself and her sisters. Poor Henry soon finds himself hilariously outmaneuvered at every step. [B&W, created in 1953, with a running time of 107 minutes.]

This movie is a masterpiece at many levels; it is enormously funny, while at the same time showing Victorian society from a middle-class vantage point. Containing nothing really objectionable, it can be watched by all family members. As a matter of fact, my 8 year-old daughter likes watching this movie with me. I recommend this movie absolutely!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfect in every way; a delight., March 14, 1999

By	[e-mail] (San Luis Obispo county, Calif.) - See all my reviews

Well photographed and edited. The acting was sumptious; where have the lovable characters gone! The picaresque story was pithy with insights and the image of a strong, yet loving woman, goal-oriented but sensitive to her male's needs creating a team effort where everyone's abilities flourished. Truly a gem.