Hobson's Choice


4:35 pm - 6:45 pm, Saturday, April 18 on Talking Pictures TV (82)

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About this Broadcast

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A cantankerous, overbearing boot-maker spends most of his time drinking while his three daughters push themselves to the limit taking care of his shop and home. A timid employee marries one of the sisters, then sets himself up as a rival for his business. Comedy, starring John Mills, Charles Laughton and Brenda de Banzie


1953 subtitles
Comedy Movie/Drama Romance

Cast & Crew

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Charles Laughton (Actor) .. Henry Horatio Hobson
John Mills (Actor) .. Willie Mossop
Brenda de Banzie (Actor) .. Maggie Hobson
Prunella Scales (Actor) .. Vicky Hobson
Daphne Anderson (Actor) .. Alice Hobson
Richard Wattis (Actor) .. Albert Prosser
Derek Blomfield (Actor) .. Freddy Beenstock
Helen Haye (Actor) .. Mrs Hepworth
David Lean (Director)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Charles Laughton (Actor) .. Henry Horatio Hobson
John Mills (Actor) .. Willie Mossop
Born: February 22, 1908 in Norfolk
Best Known For: A distinguished film and TV career.
Early-life: Born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills at the Watts Naval School in North Elmham, Norfolk on February 22, 1908. His father was a teacher and his mother worked as a theatre box-office manager. John trained as a dancer in London at Zelia Raye's Dancing School and began appearing as a chorus boy in revues on the London stage.
Career: Mills made his film debut in The Midshipmaid (1932) and went on to appear in a number of films, including Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939), before he enlisted in the Royal Engineers at the start of the Second World War. His war was cut short in 1942 by a stomach ulcer. He quickly returned to acting and went on to star in a number of acclaimed films in a career that spanned 70 years. Notable works included Great Expectations (1946), Scott of the Antarctic (1948), The Colditz Story (1954), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), Tunes of Glory (1960), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Ryan's Daughter (1970), Young Winston (1972), Gandhi (1982) and Hamlet (1996). Among his roles on TV, he starred in Quatermass, Young at Heart, A Woman of Substance and Martin Chuzzlewit. He also appeared in a number of productions on Broadway. He was knighted in 1976. He died on April 23, 2005, at the age of 97.
Quote: 'One of the luckiest things that ever happened to me was to be born with a desperate desire to become an actor.'
Trivia: Father of actors Juliet and Haley Mills. Won an Academy Award for Ryan's Daughter. He portrayed a military character, usually an officer, in a number of films.
Brenda de Banzie (Actor) .. Maggie Hobson
Prunella Scales (Actor) .. Vicky Hobson
Born: June 22, 1932 in Sutton Abinger, Surrey
Best Known For: Playing Sybil in Fawlty Towers.
Early-life: Born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth on June 22, 1932, in Sutton Arbinger, Surrey. Her mother, Catherine Scales, was an actress, and her father John was a cotton salesman. When the Second World War broke out, her parents rented a farmhouse with no gas or electricity in Suffolk to escape the bombing. As a child, Prunella was shy, but discovered her passion for acting in her teens. She began training at the Old Vic Theatre School at 17, before going on to study at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.
Career: Following stints in repertory theatre, Scales joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and also appeared in the films Laxdale Hall and Hobson's Choice. In 1963, she starred with Richard Briers in the sitcom Marriage Lines, but didn't become a household name until 1975, when she was cast as the fearsome Sybil in Fawlty Towers. Since then, she has worked regularly in theatre, film and TV. In 1992, she was nominated for a Bafta for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the Alan Bennett drama A Question of Attribution, and was awarded the OBE in the same year. Other projects include Howards End (alongside son Samuel), The Shell Seekers, An Ideal Husband and Horrid Henry: The Movie.
Quote: 'I remember an American producer coming up to me and saying: 'You're a wonderful actress. Now what are we going to do about your face?''
Trivia: Scales married actor Timothy West in 1963. They have two sons - Samuel and Joseph. She and West embarked on a narrowboating holiday to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary - their jaunt was filmed and turned into a documentary series for More4. During the making of the programme, it was revealed she has a mild form of Alzheimer's.
Daphne Anderson (Actor) .. Alice Hobson
Richard Wattis (Actor) .. Albert Prosser
Derek Blomfield (Actor) .. Freddy Beenstock
Helen Haye (Actor) .. Mrs Hepworth
David Lean (Director)

Before / After

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Whiplash
4:00 pm