Featured Audience Ratings

• Cindy I

  
  I usually associate David Lean with sweeping epics, so I was pleasantly surprised by this light comedy. Charles Laughton plays Hobson, the blustery owner of a bootmaking shop in 1890s London and father of 3 daughters. The oldest (Brenda de Banzie), not married at the ripe old age of… More
  I usually associate David Lean with sweeping epics, so I was pleasantly surprised by this light comedy. Charles Laughton plays Hobson, the blustery owner of a bootmaking shop in 1890s London and father of 3 daughters. The oldest (Brenda de Banzie), not married at the ripe old age of 30 and in danger of becoming an "old maid", pursues and marries (out of spite) the best bootmaker in her father's shop. This of course infuriates her father, who had decided she shouldn't marry and should dedicate her life to caring for him and the bootshop, puts his foot down in efforts to stop her. But fortunately the daughter is as stubborn as he is, and gets her way. Laughton does comedy better than I expected he would, and John Mills as good as well as the unwitting bridegroom. A little side treat was to catch Prunella Scales (of Faulty Towers fame) as a teenager playing Hobson's youngest daughter.

• jay n

  
  Delightful!

• Randy T

  
  I imagine that it's hard for an actor to stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Charles Laughton, but John Mills does himself proud. What a delightful, very British, comedy classic.

• Stella D

  
  a lovely early comedy from david lean with outstanding cast, including a marvelous performance by charles laughton at the height of his powers

• cody f

  
  David Lean has two periods in his filmaking career Pre-Epics then Epics. Hobson's Choice is Lean's next to last film before Kwai, which would be the direction Lean would go for the rest of his career. I don't think David Lean gets the attention he deserves for his… More
  David Lean has two periods in his filmaking career Pre-Epics then Epics. Hobson's Choice is Lean's next to last film before Kwai, which would be the direction Lean would go for the rest of his career. I don't think David Lean gets the attention he deserves for his Pre-Epic films. Oliver Twist ,Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, and now Hobson's Choice are all great films. Lean also wrote all of these films and only wrote one more film during his Epic Period. Hobson's Choice is about a widowed drunk boot maker who loses control of his daughters as they get married. Laughton is wonderful in the title role and so is John Mills who plays the student who becomes the master. The film belongs to Brenda De Banzie who is Hobson's eldest daughter. She is just as bull-headed as her father, but also smarter. She takes Mills under her wing and remoulds him into a stronger person. The film also deals with the class system in England and is beautifully photographed. If you like Davis Lean's Pre-Epics then this is a must-see.