Hobson's Choice

Hobson's Choice (1954) is a David Lean comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM. The setting is Victorian Salford: a boot shop, a stubborn widower, and three unmarried daughters their father is in no hurry to release. Paying out dowries pains him too much.

Henry Hobson (Charles Laughton) is a blustering, ale-loving tyrant used to having his home and workshop revolve around him. His eldest daughter Maggie has other plans. She marries Will Mossop (John Mills), the quiet, illiterate, brilliantly skilled bootmaker from the cellar, and all but drags him into becoming a businessman and master in his own right. The louder the father rages, the cooler and shrewder the daughter plays her hand — and the old man's grip starts to slip.

Lean adapted Harold Brighouse's stage play, and the result took the BAFTA for Best British Film and the Golden Bear at Berlin. Laughton is impossible to look away from, and the story of a woman quietly authoring her own future feels strikingly modern. It's a treat for anyone who loves black-and-white classics with real bite. Stream Hobson's Choice (1954) online on iFILM.