Hobson's Choice - Criterion Collection
by David Lean
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brenda De Banzie, Charles Laughton, John MillsDirector: David Lean
Brand: IMAGE ENT.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-02-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Criterion Collection
Product features:
- 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's prized bootsmith Will (a splendid
Movie Reviews of Hobson's Choice - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Forget Laughton........Mills and Di Branzie steal the show.
Summary: 4 Stars
Laughton is a bore in this one. Always the same, never changing, no nuance. A boring narcissist... Mills moves a million miles in character, from totally subservient to being the man of his own house......and wife. And for an English movie this is quite amazing as there is so much emphasis on keeping in one's own class. Here in the USA we dont think of class as limiting. So we miss that aspect of the story.
Of the three daughters stuck with Hobson for a father, slave driver, as they work all day for no money when he just goes to the tavern and gets plastered. The younger daughters are pretty dumb, but Di Branzie applies her brilliance at running the bootery to her own unfulfilled life. She carefully plans and bends everone to her will.....and for everyone's benefit. But most important, she brings Mills out of his tight cocoon and teaches him to have pride, confidence, and ......to love her. He doesn't love her and says so, but that doens't stop Di Brenzie......she has it all figured out and has an answer for everything. A super survivor. Mills is brilliant as the changeling. In fact, you hardly notice him early in the movie. Then each little push to his self respect and self-sufficiency is a joy.
Summary of Hobson's Choice - Criterion Collection
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's 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 EDITION 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
Britain's greatest-ever film director David Lean wasn't feted for providing belly-laughs. His 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. 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 marvellous 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 (the b/w 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--the shaving scene when Laughton gets the DTs is a queasily unbalanced. Brenda De Banzie is splendidly spirited as the eldest daughter, Maggie, while her fiance 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
Stills from Hobson's Choice (Click for larger image)
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