Hobson's Choice is a 1920 British comedy drama film directed by Percy Nash and starring Joe Nightingale, Joan Ritz and Arthur Pitt. [1] A Salford bootmaker is irritated to learn his daughter is to marry one of his cobblers, and his outrage grows when they set up a successful shop which challenges his own for business. [2] It is the first film based on the 1915 play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse. [3]
A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that multiple choices are available. The best known Hobson's choice is "I'll give you a choice: take it or leave it", wherein "leaving it" is strongly undesirable.
Contraband (1940) is a wartime spy film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, which reunited stars Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson after their earlier appearance in The Spy in Black the previous year. On this occasion, Veidt plays a hero, something he did not do very often, and there is also an early (uncredited) performance by Leo Genn.
John Paton Laurie was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977) as Private Frazer, a member of the Home Guard.
Frank Launder was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat.
Denis John “Jack” HildyardBSC was a British cinematographer who worked on more than 80 films during his career.
Wilfred Shingleton was an English art director. He enjoyed a distinguished career in the British film industry from his debut in 1937. Some of his early assignments were several George Formby vehicles – hugely popular with wartime audiences.
Helen Haye was a British stage and film actress.
Hobson's Choice is a 1954 British romantic comedy film directed by David Lean. It is based on the 1916 play of the same name by Harold Brighouse. It stars Charles Laughton in the role of Victorian bootmaker Henry Hobson, Brenda de Banzie as his eldest daughter and John Mills as a timid employee. The film also features Prunella Scales in one of her first cinema roles.
Albert Fennell was a British film and television producer.
Joan Maude was an English actress, active from the 1920s to the 1950s. She is probably best known for playing the Chief Recorder in the 1946 Powell and Pressburger film A Matter of Life and Death.
Harold Brighouse was an English playwright and author whose best known play is Hobson's Choice. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists.
The Years Between (1946) is a British film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Michael Redgrave, Valerie Hobson and Flora Robson in an adaptation of the 1945 play The Years Between by Daphne du Maurier. It was shot at the Riverside Studios.
Herbert Lomas was a British actor who appeared in more than forty films in a career lasting between 1931 and 1955. He was born in Burnley, Lancashire and made his first film appearance in an early sound version of Hobson's Choice (1931).
Hobson's Choice is a 1931 British comedy drama film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring James Harcourt, Viola Lyel, Frank Pettingell and Herbert Lomas. Based on the 1916 play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse, it follows the tale of a coarse bootshop owner who becomes outraged when his eldest daughter decides to marry a meek cobbler. It was produced by the leading British company of the time, British International Pictures, at their studios in Elstree.
Belle Chrystall was a British actress who appeared in a number of leading roles in British films during the 1930s. She was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1910. She came to London and after appearing on stage was given a minor part in a film A Warm Corner, directed by Victor Saville but she was given no more work after that. The filming of Hindle Wakes led her to apply for the part of Jenny Hawthorne which led her to become an instant success. She made her last film in 1940.
This Man in Paris is a 1939 British comedy mystery film directed by David MacDonald and starring Barry K. Barnes, Valerie Hobson and Alastair Sim.
The Girl on the Boat is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Henry Kaplan and starring Norman Wisdom, Millicent Martin and Richard Briers. It is based on the 1922 novel of the same name by P.G. Wodehouse.
The Silent Battle is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Herbert Mason and produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan for Pinebrook Studios. The cast includes Rex Harrison, Valerie Hobson and John Loder. It marked the film debut of Megs Jenkins. It is also known by the alternative titles Continental Express and Peace in our Time. It was inspired by the novel Le Poisson Chinois by Jean Bommart. Secret agents try to defeat terrorists on the Orient Express. The film was distributed by Paramount British Pictures.
Percy Nash (1868-1958) was a pioneer British producer, director and screenwriter, who made some 70 films between 1912 and 1927. He was a key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios. The scarcity of information on Nash and his work has meant film historians have neglected his contributions to the development of British cinema.
Walter Courtney Rowden was a British screenwriter and film director. He is sometimes referred to as William Courtney Rowden. He was known for Corinthian Jack (1921), Daniel Deronda (1921), Simple Simon (1922), and Vanity Fair (1922). His other credits include The Prisoner of Zenda (1915), At Trinity Church I Met My Doom (1922), and Hornet's Nest (1923).