Hobson's Choice (1954) + Extras & Commentary

In 1880s Salford, England, widower Henry Hobson, owner and operator of Hobson's Boots, lives with his three adult daughters, Maggie, Alice, and Vicky, in a flat attached to the shop. Miserly, dipsomaniacal, and tyrannical, Henry doesn't allow his daughters to date; their sole purpose in life is to serve him and the shop–for no wages. He changes his mind about Alice and Vicky, for whom he will choose husbands although they've actually chosen the men they'd marry if they could. However, Henry won't provide them with dowries, which might be a challenge in finding them men he would consider suitable husbands. He considers Maggie far too useful to him as the overly-efficient, organized one, so doesn't intend to let her go–besides, at age 30, she's too old for any man to want anyway. Incensed by her father's attitude, Maggie decides to show him how wrong he is about her being an unmarriageable spinster by proposing to timid Willie Mossop, the shop's poor, uneducated, illiterate boot hand–yet best bootmaker, apparently better than any bootmaker in nearby Manchester–who has known no other professional life than the shop.

– Featurettes –
• Norman Spencer (69.4 MB)
• Prunella Scales (45.3 MB)
• Trailer (23.2 MB)

– Commentary with film scholars Alain Silver and James Ursini