Hobson's Choice (1954) on Netflix
NR19541h 48mComedyDramaRomance
Widower Henry Hobson runs a boot shop in Salford and refuses to pay the settlements that would let his daughters marry. His eldest, Maggie, proposes to Will Mossop, the shop's bootmaker.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.7/1010,251 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1880s Salford, Henry Hobson owns a boot shop and rules his household. A widower with a taste for drink, he has kept his three grown daughters, Maggie, Alice and Vicky, working in the shop and keeping house for no wages. Alice and Vicky have suitors, but Hobson will not pay the marriage settlements, and he says Maggie is too useful to lose. Maggie, thirty, decides otherwise and proposes to Will Mossop, the shop's gifted bootmaker, on her own terms. With a loan of £100 from Mrs. Hepworth, a wealthy customer who admires Will's work, the pair set up a shop of their own in a rented basement.
Cast
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Hobson's Choice (1954)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Composer Malcolm Arnold took the film's comical main theme from his own opera The Dancing Master, and scored it for a small pit orchestra of 22 players. He hired a Belgian cafe owner to play the musical saw for one pivotal scene.
- Robert Donat was originally cast as the bootmaker Will Mossop but had to pull out because of his asthma.
