Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Hobson's Choice Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 4, 2014

Winner of BAFTA Film Award for Best British Film, David Lean's "Hobson's Choice" (1954) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include two brand new video interviews with actress Prunella Scales and associate producer and co-writer Norman Spencer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The boss

Henry Horatio Hobson (Charles Laughton, Island of Lost Souls, Ruggles of Red Gap) is the widowed owner of a bootmaker’s shop somewhere in Salford, Lancashire. Business is so good that he spends the majority of his time in the local pub while his three daughters run the place for him.

Hobson is presented with a difficult dilemma when his two younger daughters, Vicky (Prunella Scales, The Hound of the Baskervilles) and Alice (Daphne Anderson, Au Pair Girls), conclude that it is time for them to find proper husbands. There are plenty of suitable candidates, but Hobson refuses to pay the traditional dowry settlement and the working environment inside the shop immediately changes. During the chaos, the eldest daughter, Maggie (Brenda De Banzie, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps), approaches Hobson’s illiterate but extremely talented bootmaker and quickly convinces him that they were meant to be together. Initially shocked and then seriously angered by the rebellious move, Hobson allows Maggie and Willie Mossop (John Mills, Ice Cold in Alex, The Colditz Story) to leave, convinced that it is only a matter of time before they come back begging to be employed again.

But the ambitious Maggie borrows money from a former client of Hobson’s store and convinces her future husband that they can open their own store and survive without her despotic father. At first the poor man doubts her plan, but when people begin visiting their place he realizes that Maggie was right.

Meanwhile, Vicky and Alice also leave Hobson and many of his regular clients begin shopping at the ‘other place’. A local doctor then warns Hobson that if he does not stop drinking if he wishes to grow old.

The last of director David Lean’s black-and-white films, Hobson’s Choice is a charming comedy that effectively targets conventional Victorian manners, attitudes, and values. It feels a bit dated, but its energy and witty one-liners make it quite easy to enjoy.

The entire cast is excellent, but Laughton is a level above everyone else. His frequently unbearably rude and pretentious character is the heart and soul of the film. Indeed, even when one already knows in advance that he will be humiliated or be forced to eat his own words yet again, his reactions and facial expressions never fail to surprise.

De Banzie is the other big star in the film. Her determined to win every meaningful battle Maggie is the type of woman modern business leaders are afraid of -- she is too smart and too efficient, ready to manipulate even those who genuinely like or love her.

Mills, the great British actor, was not Lean’s first choice to play the illiterate bootmaker -- Robert Donat was initially contracted by Lean and associate producer Norman Spencer but he suffered multiple asthma attacks and had to be replaced -- but he is terrific. Especially during the second half, where he follows his wife’s instructions and forces Hobson to accept him as his partner, he is a pleasure to behold.

Based on the popular play by Harold Brighouse, Hobson’s Choice was lensed by Jack Hildyard. Director Lean and Hildyard also worked together on the multiple Oscar winning film The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Hobson's Choice Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, David Lean's Hobson's Choice arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

Recently restored by the BFI National Archive in association with StudioCanal, Hobson's Choice looks quite beautiful on Blu-ray. Indeed, there are substantial improvements in every single area we typically address in our reviews. Image depth and contrast stability, in particular, are greatly improved when one compares the new restoration with previous standard definition presentations of the film (see screencaptures #1 and 8). Color saturation is also a lot more convincing -- the blacks and whites are very well balanced and there is an excellent range of nuanced grays. There are traces of careful grain management, but the film does have a pleasing organic appearance. Also, debris, scratches, cuts, damage marks, and stains have been carefully removed without affecting the integrity of the film. Overall image stability is very good -- there are no problematic frame transitions and tightness around the edges of the frame is terrific. Lastly, there are no serious encoding issues to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Hobson's Choice Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, StudioCanal have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

I am even more pleased with the audio presentation than I am with the video presentation. Indeed, the improvements are quite dramatic -- clarity and especially depth are far better than they are on the R1 DVD release of Hobson's Choice. Additionally, various stabilization improvements have been introduced during the restoration. Clicks, thumps, background hiss, and pops have been removed as best possible. As a result, the audio is now very well balanced and free of the age-related issues that typically plague older films.

Hobson's Choice Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Prunella Scales - in this new video interview, actress Prunella Scales (Vicky Hobson) discusses her contribution to Hobson's Choice, David Lean's directing methods, Charles Laughton's performance, etc. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Norman Spencer - in this new video interview, associate producer and co-writer Norman Spencer discusses his professional relationship with David Lean, the hiring of John Mills (Robert Donat was initially contracted to play Willie Mossop), the tone and pacing of Hobson's Choice, etc. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

Hobson's Choice Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is fantastic to see that so many different studios and distributors are restoring and promoting David Lean's early films and are making them available on Blu-ray. A new generation of film lovers who are familiar only with the British director's lavish epics now have the opportunity to explore virtually his entire body of work. Hobson's Choice, director Lean's final black-and-white film, has been recently restored by BFI National Archive and StudioCanal and is introduced on Blu-ray via the latter's Vintage Classics series. I like the restoration and StudioCanal's technical presentation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.