Lean Quest! Hobson's Choice

"Don't worry, Mr. Laughton. I'm sure Lord Olivier isn't in the best of health either..."

So, after, I dunno, a little over three years (or a little less than two months), Lean Quest! finally comes to a close. As of right this moment, I have seen every single film directed by David Lean. Rather than rest on my laurels (because I have a job, homework and studying to procrastinate from), I shall regale you with this final review. Not of Lean films period - you'll notice many notable titles have yet to be reviewed or copy-and-pasted for this site - but for the Lean Quest!

Hobson's Choice is one of Lean's late-early, or middle-middle, or what you have films. By Lean standards, it's a mite odd, as it's a straight comedy. And David Lean isn't exactly a director known for his comedic prowess. It's not a bad film, and certainly better than the stupefyingly dull last entry in this series, but as with our last two offerings, by Lean standards it's a bit of a let down.

Based on a play by Harold Brighouse, the play tells the story of the Hobson family. Henry Hobson (Charles Laughton), is the middle-aged, drunken boot maker who has lost his wife and keeping his daughters in a state of repression. His oldest daughter Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) rebels, deciding to strike out on her own, bringing her Father's talented but gormless employee Willie Mossop (John Mills) along with her, for a more or less forcible marriage, and to start their own business. While Mr. Hobson wallows in alcohol, his daughter and former employee become a huge success, and ultimately Hobson is forced to sell out to them.

Now, I think we need to reiterate a key point for the sake of either elucidating the argument or padding the review: David Lean is not a comedic director. The only other straight comedy he did was Blithe Spirit - admittedly, a very good film, but then he was directly adapting a Noel Coward play. When he does tackle comedy in his other films - exceptions being made with Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia - he displays British humor at its worst: stiff, insistent, and oh-so-proper, distinctly lacking in a little thing we call wit. Brief Encounter is plagued by the annoying doubles-act of Stanley Holloway (who was only ever funny in The Lavender Hill Mob) and Joyce Carrey, whose sequences not only seem out of place, but actively bog down an otherwise wonderful film. Holloway proves similarly grating in This Happy Breed, whose idea of comedy is getting drunk and singing army songs with Robert Newton. (Aren't you getting married in the morning, Stanley? Make sure you get to the church on time.) If you can name any hilariously side-splitting scenes from other Lean movies, or even chuckle-worthy moments, I'll retract this whole paragraph. Lean is a dramatic director, and while he may excell at an occasional witty line, he's clearly not that comfortable in the laughter territory. And so we come to Hobson's Choice.

Hobson's Choice has its merits, no doubt. On a technical level, it's quite good. The cinematography and direction are good, with a few stand-out pieces of direction. The opening scene is quite clever, parodying Great Expectations as it prowls through Hobson's boot shop, ended by a drunken Hobson belching. A similarly striking shot has Hobson throwing a stack of leaflets into the air, and they trail after him in the wind. In a film with more substance than this, it would be quite impressive. Auteurists will note Willie and Maggie's decidedly awkward wedding night, which brings strongly to mind the equivalent scene in Ryan's Daughter. And there's an odd scene of a Temperance march, blaring Shall We Gather At the River?, which put this writer strangely in mind of a completely unrelated film...

I think we can address the film's sense of humor pretty quickly, or else through the characters. The movie doesn't lend itself to easy analysis: I should probably read something into Mr. Hobson's bourgeois oppression of his three daughters, which signifies misogyny and social restrictions on women, blah blah blah, but I'm not up for it and the film isn't good enough to warrant such an analysis. The movie has an odd sense of humor. It tries for Noel Coward-esque drawing room humor, but it doesn't come off. Whether this is from the screenplay for the cast being a bunch of cigar-store Indians, I can't entirely tell. Maybe it's both. And that brings us to Mr. Hobson.

Although his character is secondary to the drama (billing aside), Charles Laughton naturally dominates the film. The movie clearly is designed with Hobson to be the ultimate Fool, allowing Willie and Maggie to perform the light comedy and drama and then wander in and steal the show through sheer force of weight. This is both a blessing and a curse, as Mr. Laughton gives a performance that is bafflingly schizophrenic. Laughton has some fine moments of comedy, particularly when he sits down to, you know, act. But just as much of the film is devoted to his acting like, well, a drunken clown - waddling and stumbling and falling down holes in the street and belching and goggling and generally making himself into a huge nuisance. A pity, as I've loved Laughton in the few other works I've seen him in, most notably his great turn as the hilariously corrupt Senator Gracchus in Spartacus, but his performance here is simultaneously atrocious and excellent - I know not what to make of such a conundrum at 11:45 on a Tuesday night.

As for our leads? At the risk of pissing someone off, it has to be said: John Mills is one of the most bland, stiff and boring actors I've ever seen. He did give one astonishing performance in Tunes of Glory, managing to match and at times even overtake the great Alec Guinness - but in everything else I've seen him in (particularly his work with Lean) he's been a dull, stiff, overly earnest bore. So basically, here he's playing John Mills in a David Lean film, only he spends the whole movie saying "By Gum!" Great. Brenda de Banzie is alright, but her character is quite obnoxious and thus it's very hard to care about her.

Malcolm Arnold contributes the score, and it's annoying to the extreme: loud, intrusize, and all-too-insistent of the film's whimsicality, it's the worst kind of score this kind of film could have. The score is at its absolute worst during the puddle-chasing scene, which might be funny if it weren't for the blaring "Oh 'e's drunk!" trumpets and whakced-out theramin. Taking into account Arnold's work here, his banal action/melodrama score for The Sound Barrier and his if-it-weren't-for-Colonel Bogey-it-would-define-generic work on Bridge on the River Kwai, one thanks God that Lean found Maurice Jarre for his later epics.

Well, Hobson's Choice is a decent waste of time, but it earns the dubious distinction of being a mediocre Lean film. It makes the bottom three with In Which We Serve and The Sound Barrier. Perhaps if I had more of a tolerance for stiff-as-a-board Brits who couldn't generate a laugh at Three-Mile Island, or wooing theramins and blaring drunk trumpets, or fat guys falling down constant, I would enjoy it more. Oh well, at least it has that opening shot, and the hilarious moment where a giant rat winks at the drunken Hobson. Yes, you read that right.

So, I'm done with Lean Quest! Everybody PARTY!

Rating: 6/10 - Use Your Own Discretion