Hobson's Choice
Encyclopedia
Hobson's Choice is a play by Harold Brighouse
, the title coming from the popular expression, Hobson's choice
— meaning no choice at all.
The first production was at the Princess Theatre
in New York. It then transferred to London on June 24, 1916 at the Apollo Theatre
, before moving to the Prince of Wales Theatre
on 20 November 1916 (starring Norman McKinnel
). The play was adapted for film several times and as a Broadway musical. The Crucible Theatre
Sheffield
staged a revival in June 2011 directed by Christopher Luscombe and starring Barrie Rutter
, Zoe Waites and Philip McGinley
.
The story is set in Salford in 1880. It bears many resemblances to the stories of Cinderella
and King Lear
: Deceased mother; three daughters, two of whom are pretty and frivolous, the third of whom is smart and hardworking; a fairy godmother (Mrs. Hepworth).
.
One day, Mrs Hepworth, a rich customer of Hobson, demands to know who made her boots: it is Hobson's underpaid bootmaker, Will Mossop. She insists that all her and her daughters' boots must from now on be made by Will, and tells him to inform her if ever he should leave Hobson's. Maggie, who is a talented businesswoman and considered too old and plain to marry, proposes marriage to Will. Will reluctantly agrees. When Hobson comes back, she tells him that she intends to marry Will, but he laughs at her, and threatens to beat Will for courting her. At this, Will leaves the shop, and Maggie goes with him. They borrow £100 from Mrs Hepworth, set up a shop on their own, and marry as soon as the banns of marriage
have been called.
A month later, Hobson falls into the warehouse belonging to the father of Fred Beenstock, Vickey's love. Maggie comes back to tell her sisters that she is going to marry them off herself. Hobson has refused to settle any money on them, without which they are unlikely to find decent husbands. With the help of lawyer Albert Prosser, Alice's love, they issue a writ claiming damages from Hobson for trespass, damage to corn sacks and spying on trade secrets. Hobson eventually agrees to pay, the money is settled on the girls and they can now get married.
Thanks to Will's skill as a bootmaker and Maggie's business acumen, their shop is very successful and, within a year, they have taken nearly all of Hobson's trade. Hobson is almost bankrupt and drinking himself to death. After an attack of delirium tremens
, he asks each of his daughters to look after him. They all refuse, but eventually Maggie agrees to do so provided that Will takes over his business, with Hobson remaining as a 'sleeping partner' only.
The play has been filmed several times, originally as a silent film in 1920
, with Joan Ritz
as Maggie and Arthur Pitt as her father. It was filmed again with sound
in 1931, with James Harcourt
as Hobson, Frank Pettingell
as Mossop, Joan Maude
as Alice, and Viola Lyel
as Maggie. The best-known film version is that of 1954 directed by David Lean
. It starred Charles Laughton
as Hobson and Brenda De Banzie
as Maggie. John Mills
played Will Mossop, Maggie's suitor, and Prunella Scales
made her second film appearance as Vicky Hobson.
It was Americanized in the 1983 TV version, set in 1914 New Orleans, starring Jack Warden
as Hobson, Sharon Gless
as Maggie, and Richard Thomas
as Will. It was broadcast on CBS
TV on December 21, 1983. The New York Times review summarized the story line thus: "Burt Prelutsky's script transposes the setting to New Orleans, and the year, for whatever arbitrary reason, is 1914. Henry Horatio Hobson, owner of a successful shoe store, is still a carousing drunk, complaining about how fate has saddled him with three daughters. Maggie, his eldest, can barely conceal her contempt for daddy's more outrageous ways, and she is determined to get out from under his domination. As her vehicle toward that end, she chooses Will, a gentle and illiterate master shoemaker working in Hobson's basement." The review goes on:"Much of the problem would seem to be rooted in the casting. Jack Warden is an accomplished actor but he is at his best in the big-city settings of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. He is not terribly persuasive as a New Orleans gentleman, albeit a drunken one. Sharon Gless is more successful with Maggie, giving the character an admirably unyielding integrity. But her performance doesn't quite jibe with that of Richard Thomas as Will."
Broadway
The 1966 Broadway
musical
Walking Happy
is based on the play.
Ballet
An English ballet adaptation of the same title, with choreography by David Bintley
and music by Paul Reade
, premiered on 13 February 1989 by Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet at Covent Garden
, London. A video production of the ballet has been seen on television broadcasts, and released on DVD.
Harold Brighouse
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.-Early life:Harold Brighouse was born in Eccles, Salford, the...
, the title coming from the popular expression, Hobson's choice
Hobson's choice
A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore between taking the option or not; "take it or leave it". The phrase is said to originate with Thomas Hobson , a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England...
— meaning no choice at all.
The first production was at the Princess Theatre
Princess Theatre
The Princess Theatre was a joint venture between the Shubert Brothers , producer Ray Comstock, theatrical agent Elisabeth Marbury and actor-director Holbrook Blinn...
in New York. It then transferred to London on June 24, 1916 at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, before moving to the Prince of Wales Theatre
Prince of Wales Theatre
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...
on 20 November 1916 (starring Norman McKinnel
Norman McKinnel
Norman McKinnel was a Scottish stage and film actor and playwright, active from the 1890s until his death...
). The play was adapted for film several times and as a Broadway musical. The Crucible Theatre
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....
Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
staged a revival in June 2011 directed by Christopher Luscombe and starring Barrie Rutter
Barrie Rutter
Barrie Rutter is an English actor and the founder and Artistic Director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England....
, Zoe Waites and Philip McGinley
Philip McGinley
Philip McGinley is an English actor, best known for playing the role Tom Kerrigan in Coronation Street.- Biography :...
.
The story is set in Salford in 1880. It bears many resemblances to the stories of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
and King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
: Deceased mother; three daughters, two of whom are pretty and frivolous, the third of whom is smart and hardworking; a fairy godmother (Mrs. Hepworth).
Roles
- Henry Horatio Hobson
- Maggie, Alice and Vickey Hobson (his daughters)
- Mrs. Hepworth (a wealthy customer of Hobson's)
- William Mossop (in love with Maggie)
- Albert Prosser (a lawyer; in love with Alice)
- Fred Beenstock (in love with Vickey)
- Timothy “Tubby” Wadlow
- Jim Heeler
- Ada Figgins
- Dr. MacFarlane
Plot
A cobbler, Henry Hobson, has three daughters: Maggie, Alice and Vickey. The daughters work in the shop unpaid. Hobson spends his time drinking with the fellow members of the masons at the 'Moonraker's Arms' pubPublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
.
One day, Mrs Hepworth, a rich customer of Hobson, demands to know who made her boots: it is Hobson's underpaid bootmaker, Will Mossop. She insists that all her and her daughters' boots must from now on be made by Will, and tells him to inform her if ever he should leave Hobson's. Maggie, who is a talented businesswoman and considered too old and plain to marry, proposes marriage to Will. Will reluctantly agrees. When Hobson comes back, she tells him that she intends to marry Will, but he laughs at her, and threatens to beat Will for courting her. At this, Will leaves the shop, and Maggie goes with him. They borrow £100 from Mrs Hepworth, set up a shop on their own, and marry as soon as the banns of marriage
Banns of marriage
The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" are the public announcement in a Christian parish church of an impending marriage between two specified persons...
have been called.
A month later, Hobson falls into the warehouse belonging to the father of Fred Beenstock, Vickey's love. Maggie comes back to tell her sisters that she is going to marry them off herself. Hobson has refused to settle any money on them, without which they are unlikely to find decent husbands. With the help of lawyer Albert Prosser, Alice's love, they issue a writ claiming damages from Hobson for trespass, damage to corn sacks and spying on trade secrets. Hobson eventually agrees to pay, the money is settled on the girls and they can now get married.
Thanks to Will's skill as a bootmaker and Maggie's business acumen, their shop is very successful and, within a year, they have taken nearly all of Hobson's trade. Hobson is almost bankrupt and drinking himself to death. After an attack of delirium tremens
Delirium tremens
Delirium tremens is an acute episode of delirium that is usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol, first described in 1813...
, he asks each of his daughters to look after him. They all refuse, but eventually Maggie agrees to do so provided that Will takes over his business, with Hobson remaining as a 'sleeping partner' only.
Adaptations
Film and televisionThe play has been filmed several times, originally as a silent film in 1920
Hobson's Choice (1920 film)
Hobson's Choice is a 1920 British comedy drama film directed by Percy Nash and starring Joe Nightingale, Joan Ritz and Arthur Pitt. 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...
, with Joan Ritz
Joan Ritz
-Selected filmography:* Enoch Arden * The Harbour Lights * The Coal King * The Little Minister * The Romany Rye * Darby and Joan * Rodney Stone * The Croxley Master...
as Maggie and Arthur Pitt as her father. It was filmed again with sound
Hobson's Choice (1931 film)
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. A coarse bootshop owner is outraged when his eldest daughter decides to marry a meek cobbler...
in 1931, with James Harcourt
James Harcourt
James Harcourt was a British character actor. He was born on 20 April 1873 in Headingley, Yorkshire.He started work as a cabinet maker, and drifted into amateur dramatics...
as Hobson, Frank Pettingell
Frank Pettingell
Frank Pettingell was an English actor.Pettingell was born in Liverpool, and educated at Manchester University...
as Mossop, Joan Maude
Joan Maude
Joan Maude was an English actress, active from the 1920s to the 1950s...
as Alice, and Viola Lyel
Viola Lyel
-Selected filmography:* Hobson's Choice * Let Me Explain, Dear * Channel Crossing * Over the Garden Wall * A Political Party * The Farmer's Wife * This Man Is Dangerous...
as Maggie. The best-known film version is that of 1954 directed by David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
. It starred Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
as Hobson and Brenda De Banzie
Brenda De Banzie
Brenda D. M. De Banzie was a British actress of stage and screen.She was the daughter of Edward De Banzie and his second wife Dorothy, whom he married in 1908. In 1911, the family lived in Salford....
as Maggie. John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
played Will Mossop, Maggie's suitor, and Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
made her second film appearance as Vicky Hobson.
It was Americanized in the 1983 TV version, set in 1914 New Orleans, starring Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
as Hobson, Sharon Gless
Sharon Gless
Sharon Marguerite Gless is an American character actress of stage, film and television, who is best known for her roles as Maggie Philbin on Switch , as Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series Cagney & Lacey and as Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series Queer...
as Maggie, and Richard Thomas
Richard Thomas (actor)
Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...
as Will. It was broadcast on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
TV on December 21, 1983. The New York Times review summarized the story line thus: "Burt Prelutsky's script transposes the setting to New Orleans, and the year, for whatever arbitrary reason, is 1914. Henry Horatio Hobson, owner of a successful shoe store, is still a carousing drunk, complaining about how fate has saddled him with three daughters. Maggie, his eldest, can barely conceal her contempt for daddy's more outrageous ways, and she is determined to get out from under his domination. As her vehicle toward that end, she chooses Will, a gentle and illiterate master shoemaker working in Hobson's basement." The review goes on:"Much of the problem would seem to be rooted in the casting. Jack Warden is an accomplished actor but he is at his best in the big-city settings of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. He is not terribly persuasive as a New Orleans gentleman, albeit a drunken one. Sharon Gless is more successful with Maggie, giving the character an admirably unyielding integrity. But her performance doesn't quite jibe with that of Richard Thomas as Will."
Broadway
The 1966 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Walking Happy
Walking Happy
Walking Happy is a musical with music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by Roger O. Hirson and Ketti Frings. The story is based on the play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse...
is based on the play.
Ballet
An English ballet adaptation of the same title, with choreography by David Bintley
David Bintley
David Bintley, CBE, is a former English ballet dancer, the current artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.- About :...
and music by Paul Reade
Paul Reade
Paul Reade was an English composer. Born in Lancashire, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music and worked at English National Opera as a repetiteur....
, premiered on 13 February 1989 by Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, London. A video production of the ballet has been seen on television broadcasts, and released on DVD.
External links
- Project Gutenberg ebook
- Hobson's Choice at the Internet Broadway Database